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
Comments:
fluff I think from all the
fluff I think from all the flapping :)
Fluff indeed. They are losing
Fluff indeed. They are losing all that white quickly, and with the dry environment inside of the box, it does a lot of floating!
Around here, cottonwood tree fuzz is more common than poplar, and only near rivers :)
Food fight!!!
Food fight!!!
Are you doing live chat
Are you doing live chat anymore?
wow! it's really windy
wow! it's really windy tonight.
I'm watching a band of
I'm watching a band of thunderstorms come in on the radar :) exciting!
strange, only one male. the
strange, only one male. the egg which did not hatch was probably a male egg I would guess.
Is there a reason why I do
Is there a reason why I do not have any sound on thecams?
The microphone (or the wiring
The microphone (or the wiring to the microphone) kicked the bucket last week, unfortunately. We had a very wet winter and spring. Unfortunately, we can't fix anything until after the kestrels are fledged - we don't want to risk a premature fledge by disturbing the nest now.
Once all the nestlings have fledged, we can look into the wires and microphone in detail and figure out what needs fixing for next season.
Too bad. Not only i love
Too bad. Not only i love their sounds, but it was very important as activity alert so you could do other things rather thyan watching the cam all the time and it will be even more so once they start flkedging and vocalizing outside. But it is what it is, and risking premature fledging would be a bad thing.
a chick just flew up and
a chick just flew up and grabbed on to the bolt that is across from the hole!
Just now!!! Perched in the
Just now!!! Perched in the hole!!! Big step!!!!
around 16:57-58
around 16:57-58
That's not snow is it? Just
That's not snow is it? Just rain?
Yup, just rain. We're in for
Yup, just rain. We're in for a thunderstormy day! I drove through a small downpour to get to work, haha.
heavy sorms here yesterday
heavy storms here yesterday with quarter sized hail at my house! more rain today.
Sometimes the adults come
Sometimes the adults come back to check on the chicks and perch in the cavity from outside
Hi, Delora - will the outside
Hi, Delora - will the outside cam be focussed on the cavity and the chicks next week as it gets closer to fledge time?
I can see if we can zoom in -
I can see if we can zoom in - that's a good idea!
I can see I need to add a
I can see I need to add a ledge in my box for next year. I enjoy watching this live cam along with Nu-Sun Cinema & the Decorah Eagles in Iowa. Thanks so much.
Thanks for the kind words! I
Thanks for the kind words! I'm glad you're watching!
all 4 on the ledge looking
all 4 on the ledge looking outside!!!
Darn! Both cameras out for a
Darn! Both cameras out for a long while this am.
Yeah, it's the first time
Yeah, it's the first time both were down. We must have had an internet outage while I was asleep. I fixed them at 8:30 when I woke up!
I just knew someone was going
I just knew someone was going to go while they were down!
Maybe tomorrow!
Also I am hearing some noise
Also I am hearing some noise from the mic every now and then. Maybe it's drying out?
I noticed once the same thing
I noticed once the same thing
I'm hearing it too. A bit
I'm hearing it too. A bit staticy, isn't it? We're suspecting wiring corrosion, but we'll take it all apart after the nestlings fledge and figure it out!
the two females are so ready
the two females are so ready to go.
crowded at the opening. A lot
crowded at the opening. A lot of flapping.
High all. We have a situation
High all. We have a situation we have never encountered in our 7+ years of study. We have 4 eggs this year and 15 days ago the first egg hatched. Today on June 3/2017 we have 1 hatchling and 3 eggs. It is safe to say the 3 eggs are inviable. Our question is, what will happen to the 3 eggs??
Link to our live stream http://www.nu-sun.com/html/2017_report.html
Thank you, Nu-Sun Cinema
Yes, I've been watching now
Yes, I've been watching now and then, and the female seems almost like she's still half-way incubating as well as rearing the 1 chick.
I'm curious about what happens to "invalid" eggs. I mean if they rot, then break (is it in that order?) are kestrels bothered by the smell? Do they have a strong sense of smell? Maybe they aren't particular.
On the other hand, if the eggs are actually fertile and hatchable, what happens if they do hatch, many days after the first chick hatched? Will the older chick be aggressive toward them? Will the parents be as attentive to them as to the older one?
Also wondering, if they are "duds", why so? Was there a cold snap in your area at some point? Or other problem?
Nice cam to watch.
It is probably true that the
It is probably true that the 3 eggs are unviable. It is not uncommon for birds to simply lay eggs that do not hatch - perhaps they were not fertilized, perhaps something occurred with the embryo, it is hard to say! It is good that one hatched at least!
The other eggs will likely be mostly ignored until they break or are eaten by something. Birds of prey do not have a strong sense of smell, so that will likely be unnoticed. Often, unhatched eggs just present as some broken shells at the end of the season, after the nestlings are active and jumping all over from stregnthening flight muscles.
Well thanks Shauna for your
Well thanks Shauna for your intrest. Some very good questions.
We would think the 3 eggs will not hatch. All eggs were laid starting April 18-24. Mom idead read the kestrel book 1 egg approximatly every 48 hours. Incubation started on about April30. Most eggs should hatch in 27-31 days. In this case only 1 hatched. There was some cooler weather but no different than previous years. There was a situation a few years ago we had 5 eggs and 4 hatched very close togather and the 5 six days later. The 5th chick was bullied buy its siblings and perished and was consumed. This is called sibliside. We appreciate you watching our live stream http://www.nu-sun.com/html/2017_report.html
Later this season we will be extracting feathers from our nestling for Parnerships Genoscape Project DNA testing.
Have a great day, Nu-Sun Cinema
Fledge #1!!!!!!
Fledge #1!!!!!!
#2!!!!!!
#2!!!!!!
#3!!!!!!
#3!!!!!!
Delora! Wake up!!! Exciting
Delora! Wake up!!! Exciting morning in the nesting box!!!!
Oh man, of course they go at
Oh man, of course they go at 6:30am on a Saturday! I was not awake, haha. Nice catch!
I grabbed archive video, I hope that uploads correctly.
Next year send me your phone
Next year send me your phone number and I will call and wake you up, since I usually see them first!
LOL
And so I wake up to see one
And so I wake up to see one forlorn looking little male looking out of the cavity! That was quick! Congratulations, Terri, on seeing the young females fledge.
Yay!!!! All four have left
Yay!!!! All four have left now!!!!!
Ok I missed all the others,
Ok I missed all the others, but saw the last chick fledge. How cool is that.
Very cool! Reward for
Very cool! Reward for watching all this time!!! :)
#4!!!!!! All the chicks have
#4!!!!!! All the chicks have left the nest!!!!!
Thanks for posting all the
Thanks for posting all the times!
Now everyone go make a
Now everyone go make a donation!!! :)
And it's an empty nest, folks
And it's an empty nest, folks! Congratulations to the 2017 Kestrel Kids and their parents! That was so quick and so stealthy for most of us that there may be a new expression coined to describe surprises like this - 'gone like a kestrel chick on a Saturday morning'.
Will they use their box as a
Will they use their box as a home base & come back to it or are they gone gone?
No they will return.
No they will return.