Holly and I were new "parents" and not sure if there were Kestrel babies in the box - so I watched the parents leave and I slunk (thank you Dr. Seuss) out to see. I put my Go Pro to the box opening and ??
these cute little Kestrels smiled for the camera. I very quickly shot a short video so as not to stress out the little ones. You can see in the bottom left of the next photo that there were five Kestrels in the box. Must have been crowded in there with Mom in there too.
We waited with baited breath to see the Kestrels take their first flights. On June 28th I looked outside and saw a female Kestrel on the ground - walking around - which was really strange. I quickly realized that our first Kestrel to leave the nest was this pretty female - nearly the same size as her full grown mother.
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| The first to venture from the box |
Her brother peered from the box - ready to take that first big step into the world.
Finally - after a few moments - he leaped to take his place in this glorious world.
Okay, the landing was anything but glorious.
Two Kestrels out of the box and we were glued to the scene - we couldn't wait to see the others join their siblings. The first two began a curious display - they acted more like cat's than birds. They scratched themselves all morning - I would imagine they were preening their feathers but it really looked like they had cooties.
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| I have many photos of them scratching all morning |
The morning stretched into afternoon before the next Kestrel left the nesting box. Big sister looked up at her brother who peered toward the box to see who would join them next.
Tomorrow I will pare down the 50 images of the next boy to leave the nest - his departure was not nearly as definitive as his siblings. I chuckled as I took the photos and hope you will find them fun too.
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