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

fluff I think from all the flapping  :)

Delorahilleary's picture

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 :)

TerriFla's picture

Food fight!!!

TerriFla's picture

Are you doing live chat anymore?

TerriFla's picture

wow! it's really windy tonight.

Delorahilleary's picture

I'm watching a band of thunderstorms come in on the radar :) exciting!

cb0324's picture

strange, only one male. the egg which did not hatch was probably a male egg I would guess.

 

cb0324's picture

Is there a reason why I do not have any sound on thecams?

Delorahilleary's picture

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.

cb0324's picture

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.

TerriFla's picture

a chick just flew up and grabbed on to the bolt that is across from the hole!

TerriFla's picture

Just now!!! Perched in the hole!!! Big step!!!!

TerriFla's picture

around 16:57-58

TerriFla's picture

That's not snow is it? Just rain?

Delorahilleary's picture

Yup, just rain. We're in for a thunderstormy day! I drove through a small downpour to get to work, haha.

TerriFla's picture

heavy storms here yesterday with quarter sized hail at my house! more rain today.

cb0324's picture

Sometimes the adults come back to check on the chicks and perch in the cavity from outside

Jill from MN's picture

Hi, Delora - will the outside cam be focussed on the cavity and the chicks next week as it gets closer to fledge time?

Delorahilleary's picture

I can see if we can zoom in - that's a good idea!

D Brekke's picture

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.

Delorahilleary's picture

Thanks for the kind words! I'm glad you're watching!

TerriFla's picture

all 4 on the ledge looking outside!!!

TerriFla's picture

Darn! Both cameras out for a long while this am.

Delorahilleary's picture

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!

TerriFla's picture

I just knew someone was going to go while they were down!

Maybe tomorrow!

TerriFla's picture

Also I am hearing some noise from the mic every now and then. Maybe it's drying out?

cb0324's picture

I noticed once the same thing

Delorahilleary's picture

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!

cb0324's picture

the two females are so ready to go.

cb0324's picture

crowded at the opening. A lot of flapping.

Nu-Sun Cinema's picture

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

Shauna's picture

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.

Delorahilleary's picture

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.

Nu-Sun Cinema's picture

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

TerriFla's picture

Fledge #1!!!!!!

TerriFla's picture

#2!!!!!!

TerriFla's picture

#3!!!!!!

TerriFla's picture

Delora! Wake up!!! Exciting morning in the nesting box!!!!

Delorahilleary's picture

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. 

TerriFla's picture

Next year send me your phone number and I will call and wake you up, since I usually see them first!

LOL

Jill from MN's picture

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.

TerriFla's picture

Yay!!!! All four have left now!!!!!

Shauna's picture

Ok I missed all the others, but saw the last chick fledge.  How cool is that.

TerriFla's picture

Very cool! Reward for watching all this time!!!  :)

TerriFla's picture

#4!!!!!! All the chicks have left the nest!!!!!

Delorahilleary's picture

Thanks for posting all the times!

TerriFla's picture

Now everyone go make a donation!!!  :)

Jill from MN's picture

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'.

D Brekke's picture

Will they use their box as a home base & come back to it or are they gone gone?

TerriFla's picture

No they will return.

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

 

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