General Discussion : 2017 KestrelCam Discussion

Hello! Welcome to the 2017 KestrelCam season!

We're back with a great camera courtesy of Bosch, and a new streaming platform on Youtube. If you notice a problem with streaming, try refreshing the page and restarting the streams. If you have technical issues or any other kind of issue, please use the contact staff link to get assistance. Please feel free to report any spam or disrespect to AKP staff.

Remember to be respectful and courteous to other viewers, and enjoy the show!

Stay on the lookout for live chats this year, every Tuesday and Thursday at noon MST. I'll be chatting with everyone to answer any and all questions.

Click here to view this thread with the most recent comments on top!

-Delora Hilleary

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Comments:

TerriFla's picture

Yay! I am so glad to be back this year. Can't wait to watch with my class again!

Jill from MN's picture

This year's opportunites to watch even sooner will teach me a lot!   I'm really looking forward to the cams.  

mcaldwell's picture

A Kestrel pair is laying claim to our nesting box and have been sitting on the box daily as well as hunting in the surrounding fields here in Peyton, Colorado.  Boise chicks have fledged ahead of us the past three seasons.  Spring is evident so I am predicting eggs on the KestrelCam by first week of April 2017.  

Minot's picture

Is it possible to get an email notification when the KestrelCam is up and running?

Delorahilleary's picture

Hi Minot! I will be posting here once the cams are up - which will give everyone an email :)

NM-Kestrel-Laura's picture

Yay! So excited to have our first-ever over-night stay by a kestrel in the box. We had no takers on the box last year, so we moved it to a different location on the property. One month later, bingo. I'm also excited that it is a male, hoping that he will be able to lure a female to lay her eggs here.

mcaldwell's picture

Hi Laura,  

Is NM for New Mexico?  How high is your nesting box?  What type of camera do you have?  How does it hold up in all kinds of weather?  

Thank you!

Michelle

NM-Kestrel-Laura's picture

HI, Michelle,

Yes, I'm in New Mexico! It's approximately 10-11 ft to the bottom of the box. The ground slopes away rapidly on that side so it seems higher. Our camera is a vivotek camera (the one that is recommended) that we have had for 2 years now.  It is mounted on the nest box roof in a plastic utilty box designed for outdoor electrical components. There is a hole drilled in the roof of the box under the camera for access to the interior. It should hold up to weather, but time will tell. It was not a cheap camera, but does very well--infrared at night and during the day makes a nice crisp image.

This was the first time that we had a customer, though! :)

NM-Kestrel-Laura's picture

Oops. Did I post that last one in the wrong place? New to this--sorry! 

Delorahilleary's picture

Nah, we're always fine with seeing how other boxes are doing! It's all good! Our male is currently wooing a female to the box as well while we do cam testing.

Delorahilleary's picture

Good morning everyone!
I'm pleased to announce the KestrelCams page is now live! Courtship is in full swing, and the female has been roosting in the nest box at night. Any predictions on when the first egg will show up? We will all certainly find out!

If you notice any issues or problems, feel free to shoot me a personal message or email kestrelpartnership@peregrinefund.org. I'll hold our first live chat tomorrow (3/14/2017) at noon MST.

Let's get kestreling!

-Delora Hilleary

TerriFla's picture

Can we get the link set up to see recent comments at the top? Thanks.

TerriFla's picture

Yay! The cameras are on!

Jill from MN's picture

The male was on the box ledge for ten minutes calling out to the female.  I still hear him call somewhere nearby.

Delorahilleary's picture

We're watching for that first egg. It could happen anytime :)

Jill from MN's picture

Is it raining?   I see raindrops in the nest box as the female sits in there.   Just after 8:00 pm Boise time.

 

Delorahilleary's picture

Radar says no, but I definitely had some dark clouds and little sprinkles on the way home. We're definitely in for some rain tomorrow - it's been very wet winter and a rather wet spring so far!

Jill from MN's picture

Thank you, Delora, for your answer about the rain.   Could have been something about pixels with the camera, too, I was thinking.

Today I managed to see the female in the box during my lunch hour, just before she left.  I wonder if she's looking for her mate before she decides to fly off.   A few evenings ago after I saw the male on the nest box ledge, the female eventually zoomed into the box with a resolute little chitter.  (Love the audio.)   Hope I see the kestrels at least a few more times, perhaps even together, before she settles down and lays her eggs.  First day of spring!

A sign of good hunting to come, all that rain will bring insects for the nestlings.

Jill from MN's picture

On the bedding material this year:  I wonder if there might be too much in the nest box this year, actually.  I have seen the female kicking it behind her like snow being plowed rather than seeing a scrape in the box - a funny sight.  But the new chicks will be so tiny I hope they don't get lost....

Delorahilleary's picture

It entertains me when the male or female end up with little flecks of bedding on their back after scooping a scrape, haha! Worry not, I actually put in the same level of bedding as I did last year. By the time the chicks hatch, it will be fairly flattened from getting sat on so much during incubation. Right now, the digging and re-digging of scrapes seems to just be fluffing the stuff.

It's much more of a danger to have eggs laid on bare wood :)

Jill from MN's picture

Hi, Delora!   Always nice to see something from you.  Thanks for the reassuring details on how the bedding gets broken in!   It truly adds more to nest box watching this year to start earlier, during mating season.   I look forward to seeing the mom-to-be getting broody... 

Wish I had lunch time during chat!  : ....(

Delorahilleary's picture

Hiya everyone!
We have added the link to the intro of this thread that lets you view the newest comments on top!

You can click here also.

Cheers!

TerriFla's picture

Windy out there. Thanks for the link for newest posts!

TerriFla's picture

No one has been home all day  :(

 

Delorahilleary's picture

I saw the male perch in the entrance once, but indeed, I haven't seen anyone since the female left this morning. I couldn't really blame them, however...it's sunny and warm out. I wanted to leave the office and wander myself!

Nu-Sun Cinema's picture

The Kestrel will not start full incubation until all eggs are laid. This helps with keeping the little ones near same size and hatch dates. So you will see periods with no one on the eggs. Feel free to explore our Kestrel Korner web page. We have been working with the Kestrtel Partnership for 4 years.

Here is a link to mor information   http://www.nu-sun.com/html/kestrel_korner.html

Our live stream will start when first egg is laid.

Thank you,

Nu-Sun Cinema

TerriFla's picture

Are there extra holes cut in the box this year? It seems more wind is getting in.

Delorahilleary's picture

Nope! It's the same box as last year. There is only the one hole - the entrance. The side panel is covered with a plastic strip, and it's there mostly to let light in for the camera during the day. It has been a windy and stormy spring for us, however! :)
-D

TerriFla's picture

oh shoot! I missed the chat again. Darn east coast time.

TerriFla's picture

a large black and white bird flew by the box 2 times.

Delorahilleary's picture

Sounds like a magpie :) We have tons of those. Fiesty and smart corvids!

TerriFla's picture

I thought so! Any danger to our couple?

TerriFla's picture

Rain! No one home.

TerriFla's picture

Is there enough bedding? I am seeing the wood on the bottom of the box.

Delorahilleary's picture

I put in the same amount as last year, it seems these two like to dig deep! It's re-covered often, though, like now it's all covered again. I'll be keeping an eye on it.

TerriFla's picture

I noticed that the time stamp on reports seems to be off the clock on the screen by 3 minutes.

it matches up ok in the comments.

Delorahilleary's picture

This is because the stream video is a bit delayed in time - this is to have a buffer up on the video to ensure smooth streaming. It also keeps the streams up and running over minor network interruptions. It shouldn't impact data collection, however, as we can easily offset the data to match the streams at the end of the year. :)

3 minutes is rather far behind, though - I'll see what's up there.
-D

Delorahilleary's picture

I did a test report and it matched up to me - just about 30 seconds behind, which is fine with the video delay.

TerriFla's picture

Thanks I know you sometimes use our reports for big events like egg laying and fledging!

TerriFla's picture

Oh man! It's windy out there right now!

Delorahilleary's picture

I noticed the female sat around in the nest box more than usual yesterday. No egg yet...but I have a feeling it's incoming!

Delorahilleary's picture

Alright guys, the first egg is here! I'm pretty thrilled. Check out the news update tab for more details :D
-D

Jill from MN's picture

How TOTALLY mega exciting!   I am so glad that things will start to perk up in the nest box soon.   BTW that is the brownest egg I have ever seen on the KestrelCam.   How does diet, water source, etc., affect the color of an eggshell?

Absolutely delighted here.

TerriFla's picture

Just knew it would happen as soon as I had to go back to work.

Darn!

Delorahilleary's picture

I created a video for anyone who missed the first egg glimpse. Check it out here: 

https://youtu.be/MBI_VmV1rnM

It's also viewable on the video archive sidebar under the livestream itself, under the starling and flicker videos. Enjoy! :)

Jill from MN's picture

Thank you so much!   A touching editing job....

 

Delorahilleary's picture

Thanks for the compliment on the video :)

TerriFla's picture

Some bad weather for our little family right now. Thursday looks even worse. :(

TerriFla's picture

You have weird weather. One minute so windy and the next minute sunny.

Delorahilleary's picture

That's a Rocky Mountain spring for yah :) It's fun seeing kestrels kiting and hovering in the wind, completely still in the air while they hunt.

Posted in General Discussion by Delorahilleary 7 years 3 weeks ago.