PostScript: Amazingly, a friend who lives 3 miles from us has had Kestrels nesting in the eaves of her 3 story house (former hotel). Today, 6/25/2000, I went over and got a few photos. There are 3 fledglings and 2 adults that they see morning and evening. I saw an adult make a food delivery to one begging youngster. Photos were hard to get looking nearly straight up into the sky. Many thanks to Kathleen for hosting a family of American Kestrels right in town! They certainly were easier to see than ours have been!
10th and last week 2020
I have tried and failed to reverse the order of these reports so they start at Week One. Sorry, but you get to read the story from end to beginning unless someone can tell me how to fix it. I tried copying and pasting each week in order but all that did was freeze up the site. Also, my photos are all mixed up date and time wise. I think I need to reset after I put a new battery in. So the photos may not jibe with the description.
Anyway, here is the finale as far as I know it...
June 14, Sunday
At both 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. (while doing horse chores) I saw a bird on the box and heard begging.
4:07
p.m. Bird on Box, disappeared. I moved my OP (Observation Point) to
east of the Kestrel field, against trees. A photo shows a bird on the
lookout tree, preening. I could not see it except through the camera.
Although my notes go silent, photos show the (presumably) young female on the gourd at the far side of the field.
4:40
p.m. 2 crows landed on lookout tree. Kestrel flew to top of box.
Female. While writing this she disappeared -- into box? No! Onto ground.
4:45
p.m. She flew to top of box. A swallow dive-bombed her. I heard begging
each time the swallow dove so I think it's the Kestrel begging and
she's a fledgling.
4:52 p.m. she flew to lookout tree.
5:07 p.m. I left. She was still in the tree.
June 15, Monday
4:33 no birds seen
4:44 noticed a bird hidden in lookout tree... don't know if it was there all the time.
5:30 still in tree.
June 17, Wednesday
9:30
a.m., young female on box and 1 in tree. 1 flew on to box. Lots of
begging. Action came fast and confusing. One flew to box opening then to
tree. One on top flew to one on box opening and flopped to ground and
back up. One at entrance flew to tree.
In the afternoon, I spent an hour watching for Kestrels. None on box; none in tree. Checked later... nothing.
I
have not seen or heard any Kestrels during my morning horse chores
since Wednesday... or evening chores. Lots of other birds utilizing the
Lookout Tree.
9th week 2020
Sunday, June 7
After a morning hoeing the garden, I decided to take part of the afternoon off watching the Kestrel nest box activity. I arrived at my observation chair at 2:25. No Kestrels were in sight. I woke up at 2:50 with Nightingale's big, black beautiful head sniffing me. She moved off a little after she determined that I was awake. But Jessie Anne was right in front of the distant nest box. I just waited until the three horses moved a bit as I was too lazy to move my chair.
The horses soon moved apart enough that I could see the nest box in the distance between Jessie Anne and Mr. Smith
At 3:25, a head poked out of the nest box. I heard begging from the box. I will put the times according to my camera below each photo.
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| 3:37 |
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| 3:38 |
Then head and bird flew to the lookout tree. More brief begging came from the box.
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| 3:39 |
The tree bird (female) preened
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| 3:45 | |
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| 3:45 |
At one point (3:38 by my watch which is not what my camera would have said), the tree bird flew out of the tree and circled back to it. Remainder of times are from my camera.
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| 3:52 |
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| 3:52 |
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| 3:54 |
Male flew to top of box. Female flew off. Lots of begging sounds from box. Male left. My notes say "no one brought food, nestlings begging". But then my notes say: "Male flew into box and stuck head out. "
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| 3:56 |
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| 3:56 |
My notes say: "one bird on tree". From the photo, it looks like that bird is the male. Don't know how that jives with my notes. Maybe I was still tired.
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| 4:01 | |
Monday, June 8
The next day, while cleaning the horse barn at 8:45 AM, I heard begging . One bird flew in fluttering to another bird on back of box, then flew into box. This got me wondering if the flutterer was a fledgling!
3:40 p.m. when I quit working in the garden and went out to watch there were no birds present. According to my notes, nothing was happening until 3:45 when a female came out of the box and sat on top. Lots of begging from within briefly. After about 5 minutes she flew to ground and back up to box, without food. Nestlings (or somebody) begged when she alit again on back of box. She looked down, apparently hunting.
The horses noticed me...
What follows is, I hope, like a movie frame by frame, since I didn't take a movie but rather stills. The female sat atop the box and looked down, hunting, but not finding. One time she did fly to ground and back up, without food that I could tell. When she got back up to the box, the nestling(s) (or someone) begged.
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| 4:04 |
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| 4:04 |
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| 4:04 |
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| 4:11 |
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| 4:11 |
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| 4:11 |
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| 4:20 |
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| 4:20 |
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| 4:23 |
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| 4:23 |
Quite suddenly at about 4:30 she flew off to the west and came back quickly with the male, took something from him, and flew up to the tree east of the lookout tree to eat. Male stayed on box briefly, then went inside.
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| 4:33 |
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| 4:33 |
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| 4:33 |
The female eating whatever the male brought her...
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| 4:34 | |
The nestlings (or somebody) begged when the female flew off the first time and when both landed on the box and when the male went into the box.
Tuesday, June 9, and Wednesday, June 10
at morning horse feeding (7:30) bird on box with nestling begging sounds that stopped when bird flew off or in. I had no binocs and was only glancing occasionally so don't know which.
On Wed., June 10, at 10:30 when I let the horses out, again there was a bird atop the box with begging from inside (apparently). Both at 7:30 and 10:30, I thought I could only hear one voice from inside the box.
Thursday, June 11
2:10 one on box, flew
to tree, I heard begging sounds from inside box? as it flew. It might
have eaten something while in tree. Another bird was in the tree and
flew off, so in retrospect, I'm thinking the bird that flew from the box
was a juvenile who got a handout from the bird in the tree.
2:25
Starling landed on the nest box. No reaction from anything inside box
or anywhere else. Could no longer see a bird in the tree. Things got
progressively more confusing.
2:33 Kestrel flew to box,
went inside. No begging sounds. Came out and sat on top. Flew down to
catch something then up and around and into box. No begging sounds. Now I
was thinking this was a fledgling. I could not tell from my distance if
it was a male or female but definitely not an adult male.
about 2:45 a large bird landed in lookout tree... band-tailed pigeon
size but I didn't get a good look before it flew. No reaction from any
Kestrel anywhere.
3 p.m. bird came out of box, flew to gourd post southwest of nest box, preened.
About
3:10, a starling flew to nest box. (Lots of starlings feeding on bugs
in that field.) The kestrel flew down into the grass near base of gourd
post. Then back up to post. Starling flew toward kestrel. Kestrel dove
and ducked and took evasive action. Starling veered off and left. I
don't know that it was paying any attention to the Kestrel but the
Kestrel must have thought it was. So now I was/am convinced this Kestrel
is a juvenile. When it flew the wings appeared all brown so must be a
female. As soon as the starling left, the Kestrel flew to the nest box
and popped inside. It did not come back out before I left at 3:30. Scary
world out there!
About ten minutes later, two big birds landed in lookout tree. Band-tailed Pigeons. No birds had landed in that tree while the Kestrels were on duty this last month plus so something has definitely changed.
Friday, June 12
Confident that all would become clear this day, I took up position at 12:45 p.m. The action started right away. A female came out of box and flew directly to top of lookout tree, no circling, preened.
Shortly an accipiter flew across from west to east near me with our resident Red-winged Blackbird screaming and pursuing, from a safe distance. The Kestrel atop the tree paid no attention, but the lookout tree was a long way from the accipiter flight path.
1 p.m. The Kestrel in the tree circled out and back to the west, met the incoming male, both landed on the nest box, somebody begging the whole time (presumably the female). Female took food and ducked inside nest box.
The male flew to the tree and preened.
Female back on box, fluffed up. I could hear begging that sounded distant and did not seem to be coming from bird on top.
1:15 Bird on tree gone. Bird still on top of box. No begging.
As usual I was distracted by the horses, this time in the field between me and the kestrel field. Fortunately, Mary soon arrived and helped with the Kestrel sightings.
Cowbirds were riding around on the horses, catching flies.
1:16 female on top of box flew to ground in front of box and then back up. We heard begging, presumably from inside box. Could not tell she caught anything.
Female walked to front of box. We heard begging that stopped when she walked to back. She came to front again and we heard begging. she went inside, begging stopped.
1:20 We heard begging. Female flew from tree to box (according to my notes but I don't have written down that she left the box and flew to the tree. ??). She hung on entrance then went inside.
1:35 female out of box and flew to tree. Swallow dive bombed Kestrel in tree
2-2:25 2 starlings on box briefly. Female flew to corner gourd post, as yesterday, worked her way east from gourd post to wood post and back to box, periodically dropping down to the ground but I could not tell if she
caught anything. This was the first time I've seen a Kestrel hunt from
these perches.
I heard begging. She flew then back into box. Heard begging when she came out. Male dove into box. Lots of begging.
Male must have left at some point as my next note says he brought something and dropped it alongside box as female, begging, met him. She went down to retrieve it but could not tell that she had. Lots of wing flapping and begging from female.
2:26 male flew off to the west. Female went back into the box. Begging stopped. And came back out. More begging.
Female hunted from fence post to fence post then up to tree
Rather than having everything figured out, I am now more confused than ever.
8th week 2020
Sunday, May 31
7:10 a.m. 2 birds on top of box, heard begging
inside that continued for several seconds. One bird went close to 2nd
(maybe food hand off?) then moved to entrance of box, hung for several
seconds and then went in. 2nd bird stayed on top for a few seconds then
flew off (no binocs and I'm not sure of the order... just sure begging
inside same time as 2 birds on top.)
Monday, June 1
7:45 a.m. One called and must have flown to one on box. Then saw 1 on top ?? (I was cleaning paddock)
In the afternoon, Mary watched while I fed horses their lunch. Here are her notes:
2:15pm male on back edge of box.swallows diving.
adjusted a few feathers and flew past lookout tree.
2:20 male on lookout tree.
2:50 male flew to top of box, female
flew out
I joined Mary about then. Here are my notes
2:47-2:52
male flew in circle, landed on box, female flew out; male sat looking
in. Male flew to tree then down to evergreen left then back up to
lookout tree. Lots of begging from inside box the entire time.
2:58
female flew high then dove to box and hung at entrance, then went in...
may have been hunting and brought something back. Male on tree.
3:30 male to box. Female out of box and to tree. Heard begging from box when female left.
3:40 female flew around from tree. Heard nestlings. Male still on box.
3:42 male went into box and quickly out and flew off. Heard nestlings. Female came back and went into box.
Busy week haying so did not watch again until hay safely in barn
Friday, June 5
7 a.m. bird on box while I was cleaning horse paddock
in afternoon with Mary:
12:35
heard begging. Saw male on box, female flew in. then male but he came
out quickly. Begging stopped when she flew in. She flew out at 12:44
into tree.
12:50 male flew to tree
12:52 female back to box and in
12:58 male flew from tree (off hunting?)
The
most noticeable thing about this week was the nestlings sound older and
louder than they have in the past. Mary thinks, by her calculations,
that they should be about ready to fledge.
I'm hoping to see 3 or more birds at once this coming week!
7th week 2020
Wednesday 5/27
7 a.m. and 9 a.m. kestrel in tree
Thursday 5/28
7:20 a.m. kestrel in tree
1:40-2 p.m. sat watching with friend Mary, no Kestrels in sight or sound
3:20 p.m. Mary and I were back. Bird in top of lookout tree
3:48 p.m. male flew from tree in a circle, landed on box. Female at
entrance hole, came out to top of box. Saw no food exchange. He stayed
on box. She flew to tree. After a minute he flew to tree.
They may have
copulated. She flew around field for 6 or 7 minutes, not hunting,
apparently exercising and enjoying being out of the box. She landed in
top of a tree to the east. Then flew to lookout tree and landed with
male there.
Then she flew to box and went inside. No sounds heard from
box. It was hard to follow this sequence of events. We were mesmerized
by the beautiful flight of the female. She looped and soared with
apparent pleasure. Later I wondered if she might have been a fledgling,
not an adult, exercising her wings. But she landed with no trouble so
probably not. Since it is not possible to tell adult from juvenile
females in the field, there's no way to know which she was.
8:10
p.m. (at horse feeding time) Kestrel on tree. Kestrel flew to box making
churring sound, almost ran into kestrel sitting on back of box but
circled back to tree. Soon kestrel on box flew to tree, bounced down to
next tree east. ?????
Friday 5/29
7 a.m. one on tree
8:10 p.m. (while waiting for horses to come in) two came out of nest box
quickly and flew. One to tree. Don't know where the other went. I heard
clucking/begging sounds from inside the box after they left.
6th week 2020
May 17, Sunday
5 pm. one on tree all the time I cleaned horse paddock
Tues. 5/19
10:15-10:30 a.m.; one on tree; 1 heard begging and immediately tree bird flew into box and quickly out. Begging stopped. How did the chicks know that parent had food? Was the mother bird inside and knew somehow?
5-5:10 p.m.; one on tree at 5 pm.; almost immediately I heard begging and one on tree flew to box. 2 adults on box. I did not see if 2nd came out of box. One was holding something big, flew to tree and began eating. Other hopped into box.
I took lots of photos this week in an attempt to figure out what was
happening. None of the photos are great and I still don't totally
understand. All I can say is it seems they are still taking food inside
for the chicks and the male is still feeding the female.
5:13 one on tree flew to tall fir west (where eagles sit) and continued
eating. In a few minutes it flew to the box and went in. Photo shows
that was the female. One flew off to the west; could have come out of
box but I didn't see where it came from.
In photo below, lookout tree is at far left across field, eagle tree is at far right, high above the other trees.
Here is the eagle tree somewhat closer...
...and closer with the Kestrel top right
Here is the kestrel with food in its talons at the top of the eagle tree...
Wednesday 5/20
9:30 a.m. One on nest box (no camera or binocs). Flew shortly or into box?? was gone anyway
2:10-2:30 no birds sound or sight (naturally, since I had my camera this time)
Thursday 5/21
7:10 a.m. Bird flew into box, no camera or binocs
4:44 male flew in with food apparently. Female left and flew to
lookout tree and ate. Male sat on top of box for a couple minutes, then
flew to lookout tree. Female moved to next tree east and ate.
He flew in. She moved left.
4:52
heard begging from nest briefly. Looked up and female gone from tree so
must have gone into box (blink and a bird disappears)
Friday 5/22
7:20 a.m. none on tree or box. Adult Bald Eagle on tall fir to west (the one Kestrel flew to on 5/19)
Saturday 5/23
4:45-5:15 no birds in sight
5:30 on my way back from creek male brought food. Female flew to
tree, ate, then male flew from top of box to tree. After a minute or
two, they moved and sat together. I don't know if there was a food hand
off or what.
5:40 female flew to box, sat at opening, then flew in.
5th week 2020
May 12, Tues.
One in tree 7 a.m. during paddock cleaning
2 p.m. one in tree (horses' lunch time)
4 p.m. one in tree, flew. I heard calling at 4:15 and male landed on box. I heard brief begging/calling from inside box when male landed
5/13, Wed.
observed from 3:15-4:00 pm.
3:15 none in sight
3:25 female head poking out of box. Actually if you look closely you can see her feet perched on the bottom of the entry hole.
3:30 male flew to top of box (female had withdrawn her head) first on the lip (as in photo), then on the back top
male hopped from overhang to back of box. female came out of box and apparently got something from male's beak; flew to deciduous tree then to lookout tree and pulled something apart with her bill that was being held in her feet. I could not see anything.
about 3:35, male flew to tree near female. Begging sounds came from box
about 3:40, female flew to box and went inside. Begging sounds stopped.
In researching what Kestrels feed their young, I found out that no raptors except vultures regurgitate food for their youngsters. However, Kestrel chicks when quite young cannot digest fur/feathers/etc. so my guess is the female was pulling all the indigestables off the critter before serving it to her chicks.
May 15, Friday
6:50 a.m. heard loud begging sounds from fog-shrouded nest box when I broke off dead branches at my observation spot to add a 2nd chair for a friend coming this afternoon (chairs set up 9 feet apart. :-))
2:50 p.m. observing with friend Mary
none in sight but Mary heard begging sounds from nest. While I had my binocs on lookout tree, Mary watched nest box and saw a bird fly into it. Begging sounds stopped. We watched until 3:30, no more activity
Saturday, May 16
6:50 heard begging sounds while cleaning horse paddock, saw bird fly off
2:50 p.m. heard begging sounds when I put the horses out on grass. Saw 2 kestrels on box. I went for my camera and binocs. No birds when I got back. Watched until 3:50... saw/heard nothing
4th report 2020
May 3, Sunday
6:55-7:20 Two on tree. 7:20 (when I looked while cleaning horse paddock) one was gone.
1:50 p.m. One on tree.
2 p.m. 1 on box, 1 in tree. Box bird flew to tree. 2 birds on tree until 2:20.. 1 disappeared. 1 eating something. Other on tree until I left at 2:30
Monday, May 4
6:50-7:20 no birds on tree or box
3:45 p.m. no visible birds but at 4 p.m. I noticed a lump lower down, could have been Kestrel hunkered down lower because of windy, cold weather
Tuesday, May 5
no birds 77-7:20 a.m.
while digging tansy at 2 p.m., 1 bird on tree.
2:20 heard begging sounds possibly coming from inside box
2:40 bird on box and bird with head sticking out
Both birds flew. Soon both on tree. Photo show small rodent in talons of female (back bird)
By 3 one on tree; other may have been back inside as begging sounds had stopped.
Friday May 8
3 p.m. One bird on tree, went hunting. Came back to tree with something hanging out of bill. I moved to where I could see front of box and tree
Female in nest box hanging head out.
Female flew to tree, apparently got food and took to box. (I thought I could see something hanging out of lower bird's mouth but does not show up in photos.)
3rd report 2020
Timeline: April 26, Sunday, one on tree from about 7:40-7:55 a.m.
April 29, Wednesday, one on tree about 3:20 p.m. I was northwest of the lookout tree and west of the box. Lookout tree is dead center in this photo. Nest box not visible to the left of the photo.
A few minutes later, one appeared atop the box. Must have come out from inside it but I was watching the lookout bird.
It flew down to ground and then up to lookout tree and the pair copulated. The studies say Kestrels copulate often even after eggs are laid and being incubated
After copulation, they preened. The female apparently had caught something when she flew to the ground from the box as she spent the next fifteen minutes or so picking at something she must have been holding onto in her talons.
Other bird flew off after five minutes or so and went west out of my sight. I did not see where it went, or if it came back, and never saw one go to the box but it probably did. I was not watching nonstop... I was trying to get a photograph of Black-throated Gray Warblers in trees around me. Never succeeded.
April 30 Thurs. 5:50 p.m. 2 on tree, copulated. I walked to horse barn at 6, watching the tree and the box periodically. I did not see one fly but shortly there was only one on the tree so the other must have flown... somewhere. I never saw it go to box but I wasn't looking every minute and they seem to be very sneaky.
2nd report 2020:
Timeline: April 20, at morning horse feeding none visible at first, then 1 appeared atop tree, then one on top of box, then 1 flew inside box - photos. Other stayed on top of box until I left. Gone later.
April 22, Earth Day, 1 on box about 7 a.m. (morning horse feeding), flew off
April 24, Friday, 1 on Lookout Tree about 2:15 p.m. (lunch feeding for horses)
April 20: kestrel on distant tree,
then disappeared and male appeared on top of nest box.
Soon after the female flew in to the box (literally... she flew straight in without landing on the box first). I think the male looks a little startled!
First report 2020:
Timeline: April 9, 2 kestrels on nest box, male fed female
April 16, 1 on lookout tree between our field and neighbor's, flew to nest box
April 17, one on lookout tree, one came out of nest box and joined male on tree, copulated, female flew back to box and went inside
April 18, one on tree
April 19, one on nest box, flew to tree
Photos April 19, showing nest box and lookout tree orientation
thanks to my Nikon Coolpix camera that brings things up closer than my binoculars do. Photos taken from horse barn paddock
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| those bushes in the background are actually about 1/4 mile away |
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| male kestrel (gray wings) on top of nest box. photo from horse barn |
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| nest box pole on right in green field, lookout tree at left beyond |
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| nest box pole more visible without fence in the way. lookout tree appears a little closer |
lookout tree brought gradually closer with my Nikon Coolpix camera...
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| the dot near the top of the lookout tree is the male kestrel |
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| dot is starting to look more like a bird |
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| And there he is, a long, long way away |
The following photos were taken April 17 by my Lumix that does not have as big a lens (but does have water spots that I don't know how to get rid of). I was in the woods, somewhat closer but from a different angle.
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| Both were on taller tree at first, apparently copulated, male flew down to lower tree |
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| male |
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| female |
