All 5 young hatched right on schedule on the 5/17 (28th day of incubation). They seem to be doing well, parents are quite attentive. If you would like a look inside my nest box go to:
http://kestrelcam.no-ip.biz User:Guest (capitalize the "G"), Password:kestrel
This is the third year kestrels have nested in my box. In past years I was frustrated because I could not see activity in the box, so this past winter I installed a video cam. in my box. If you would like a peek inside the box go to http://kestrelcam.no-ip.biz My pair are currently incubating 5 eggs which I expect to hatch about May 20.
It's really handy for making my reports to the Kestrel Partnership without disturbing the birds. Also pretty cool to be able to sit in my home and watch the birds at any time (except night).
I don't know if it is just me but the last three times I have tried to answer someones group discussion I am unable to send in my reply. any one else having this problem?
We had a male kestrel appear on our patio over the winter. He spent his nights on our patio light. We put up a nesting box in our backyard in January. We are in Meridian, ID in a busy subdivision. He and a female kestrel are now in the nesting box and although I haven't climbed a ladder to peak in the nesting box I am almost positive there are eggs in it based on the kestrels' behavior. Today they were both sitting on the nesting box and it appeared he was feeding the female for a short time before she went back inside. They weren't bothered by my kids in the backyard until this past weekend, when the female would fly into the nearby tree and make a lot of noise if we got near the nesting box area, which leads me to believe she must be laying eggs?
Sometimes when female is in box, male comes to cavity, they have a conversation and then he leaves. I think this is when she is attempting to lay another egg. It happened on egg two, I don't remember if I wrote that up in the tweet on egg one
We have 5 eggs in our original box! None in the new box yet, but no starling nests either. There has been a pair of kestrels hanging around that box too.