Hello!
Welcome to the 2016 KestrelCam season! We're back with a brand-new camera courtesy of Bosch, and a new streaming platform on Youtube. If you notice the two cams are out of sync, 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.
If you would like a version of this thread that shows the newest posts first, click here!
Remember to be respectful and courteous to other viewers, and enjoy the show!
-Delora Hilleary
Comments:
Hiya Marcia!
Hiya Marcia!
Magpies are too large to fit in the nest box :)
Looks like this year all chicks are robust and healthy so far!
Thanks for the info, I saw
Thanks for the info, I saw three magpies around and on the box this evening. This time the adult kestrel did chase them off. What's amazing is that the nestlings seem to sense danger and become very still when they the magpies are out there.
These birds are so beautiful! And thanks for all you do to keep the view clean and focused.
OMG they look like they grew
OMG they look like they grew overnight!
What is the chicks response
What is the chicks response when you clean the camera? Especially now that they seem so interested in looking out of the hole.
Part 1
Part 1
This afternoon, while the female kestrel was feeding the chicks, the male kestrel dropped by and delivered a mouse. One of the male chicks snatched it from him. Here is an image of the male chick enjoying a meal of mouse all to himself. His siblings were too focused on ma and had no idea what was going on behind them.
Part 2
Part 2
After feeding the chicks, the female kestrel left. A short while later, Big Girl noticed her sibling had some food. Of course, she wanted it, so she snatched it from the little guy. He voiced his displeasure and tried to get it back. Didn't work. Big Girl ate the rest of the mouse. On the bright side: The little male kestrel did eat most of the mouse.
Adorable little chats on
Adorable little chats on there, awesome :D
Thanks! :) The situation was
Thanks! :) The situation was a bit amusing.
The cam seems to be off line
The cam seems to be off line for an extended period of time.
My apologies, it seems the
My apologies, it seems the software crashed sometime during the night, and I was asleep until now! All fixed now :)
website seems to be buffering
website seems to be buffering every 15 seconds or so for me. Anyone else?
That may have been my bad, I
That may have been my bad, I was still remoted in. I restarted the cams and exited, it's running smoothly at my house now.
That may have been my bad, I
That may have been my bad, I was still remoted in. I restarted the cams and exited, it's running smoothly at my house now.
Nope still doing it for me.
Nope still doing it for me.
Thanks for all you do.
It kept buffering for me, too
It kept buffering for me, too, so I performed a Google search on "buffering problems" and found this site. http://www.dacast.com/blog/how-to-stop-buffering-on-your-live-video-stre...
[Sidebar: Oooh, the kestrels are experiencing a thunderstorm.]
I lowered the bit rate to 0.5 and that ended the buffering.
To do this, just mouse over the live kestrel cam image. The YouTube link and a cog wheel (to the left of it) will appear. Click on the cog wheel (settings) and then change the speed to a number lower than what it is currently set. When I clicked on it, it was set at the normal speed (1 mbps). Lowering it to 0.5 worked for me. You might have to play around with it to get it right. Also, empty your cache before changing the settings. Hope this works out for you!
Thanks! I'll try that.
Thanks! I'll try that.
You're welcome. I forgot to
You're welcome. I forgot to mention that every time you visit the site, you will have to lower the bit rate because the page will default to the normal setting.
Wow, thanks for the helpful
Wow, thanks for the helpful advice! I was honestly baffled about why it was running smoothly for some users but not for others. We dropped the bitrate a smidge on the cam output itself this morning as well.
Thanks for the bit of tech help there! :)
A bug just flew in and one of
A bug just flew in and one of the chicks caught it and ate it!
LOL. The bug was an appetizer
LOL. The bug was an appetizer.
Big Sister has been flapping
Big Sister has been flapping her wings for a few minutes. Very beautiful bird. Sky quite overcast.
I only see 3???
I only see 3???
OK there they are all 5. whew
OK there they are all 5. whew.
Young kestrels are very, very
Young kestrels are very, very good at squishing themselves into small spaces, such as under the ledge :)
OMG! one of the chicks just
OMG! one of the chicks just perched in the cavity. And another is getting on the ledge!!!!
Is that the first time anyone
Is that the first time anyone has seen one of the chicks actually perch in the cavity or get on the ledge?
That was so exciting, I screamed and scared the cat.
LOL
I saw one of the males
I saw one of the males perching on the ledge yesterday! :D
The camera was just back
The camera was just back online and I saw 2 of the chicks up on the ledge looking out the hole! Now the camera is off again.
They definitely started to be
They definitely started to be interested in the outside world. Now two of them looking out of the cavity.
A lot of pushing and shoving
A lot of pushing and shoving going on at the hole!
Flap
Flap
Flap
Hop up to the hole
hop down
who's going out first?
You going out first?
Not me man, it's a long way down.
Flap
Flap
I posted on the page that I
I posted on the page that I saw a chick leave. I didn't. It's just that one minute there were 5 - one in each corner and 1 on the ledge. then within 3 or 4 minutes I could only see 3. I don't see how the unseen 2 can be so hidden now. But, I do suspect at least one is tucked away in the corner. Birds typically fledge in early AM don't they? This was at 8 PM or so, PDT.
I am currently seeing all 5,
I am currently seeing all 5, They are really good at tucking up below the ledge.
I think they got banded. They
I think they got banded. They looked a bit scared right now.
Congratulations on the
Congratulations on the banding!
Delighted to see the little males looking out of the cavity! There should be pictures......
cute!. Two chicks looking out
cute!. Two chicks looking out at the same time.
They are very quiet today.
They are very quiet today. Banding was probably stressful for them.
Good job getting it done before they flew the coop.
the were very quiet but now
the were very quiet but now they are back to normal.
Often the male kestrel
Often the male kestrel delivers the food to the roof, where the female kestrel takes it over and brings it to the chicks. I would think that this happens even more often outside of the camera range.
I watched all morning with my
I watched all morning with my class of 5 year olds. Just waiting for one to take the leap! Will watch with them again tomorrow!
Awwww the little male and
Awwww the little male and female looking out the hole right now are too cute!
We are finished with the
We are finished with the first round of our nest box visits and we have 43 active boxes. This is somewhat lower than the low 50's that we have had in the past few years. Possibly we will have more when we check the boxes for a second time in early June. They have been initiating their nests a week to 2 weeks earlier this year.
Parents land, but often do
Parents land, but often do not bring any food, like if they were luring the chicks out of the box.
Three chicks looking out of
Three chicks looking out of the cavity at the same time.
Just saw two male chicks and
Just saw two male chicks and a female looking out, then the third male hopped onto the female's back to also see, for a moment there were four chicks peering outside, then the female hopped off the ledge back into the box. [Probably wasn't happy to be used as a perch by her one brother.]
Edit: The female is now trying to stand on her brothers' backs to see but they keep shoving her off XD.
She ended up shoving away one of the little males for a spot.
Yes, I think I saw this too.
Yes, I think I saw this too. Getting crowded around that hole. Also interesting friendly fighting when food is delivered.
For the first time, I saw one
For the first time, I saw one of the males perched in the cavity (as opposed to looking out of it while perched on the ledge). He didn't stay there long; returned to the box, but it's a sign of approaching fledging.
Yep I saw that too!
Yep I saw that too!
"Aww man, we are stuck in
"Aww man, we are stuck in this box another night".
maybe tomorrow.
In the previous years I
In the previous years I noticed that they sometimes returned to the box to sleep in the first days after fledging.