I’m not really into watching the television, but this week I
have been glued to the box. I’ve set up CCTV cameras in a kestrel nest box and
it has had me entranced. Putting it all in place has been a logistical challenge. We
dug trenches and buried cables then had to link the footage up to television screens
in my studio, house and gallery.
My heart skipped a beat when I turned on the screen for the
first time to see a male kestrel walking to the back of the box, lying down and
flicking his feet to form a kestrel-sized nest scrape. The female arrived at the entrance. He bowed his head over
and over again as if to say, ‘c’mon look how well suited this one is.’ She sat
down on his nest scrape but looked less than impressed by his handiwork. She
found an uncomfortable bit on one side and started to peck it. It didn’t help that they were getting hassle by up to 26
jackdaws. She went off for a viewing in another nest box close by in a huge elm
tree stump that I had put up a few years earlier.
The male was quite impressed and dug a fresh nest scrape. The
female changed her mind - she strutted around picking fault. It wasn’t to be and she flew down the valley looking at
three other sites in hollow ash trees. A stand-off between the couple ensued. They sat apart for a
whole 12 hours each outside their chosen nest site. By the end of the day the
male looked dejected and by evening he gave in. He passed her a morsel of food
and they made up by mating.
By morning it was all change and they were back at the first
nest box – in spite of the fact that it was now half full of twigs as the
jackdaws had moved in. The male took a look and I could almost see him roll his
eyes before he valiantly tried to remove a few of the tangle of twigs! That night I got my ladder out gave them a helping hand by
pulling out all the sticks that the jackdaws had put in and put a bag of fine
bark chips into the box too.
The following morning the kestrels were battling with two
very annoyed and newly evicted jackdaws. Events turned serious, when I saw the
kestrel going into the box followed closely by a thuggish looking one. On
screen, I watched the kestrel grab at the jackdaw and with their feet locked on
to each other they tussled in the box. This was going to be a fight to the
death. It was difficult to watch. I ran down to the box and frightened the jack
daw away.
The female returned to guard the site half an hour later she
thought it was worth fighting for, but the male kept clear for three hours as
if he was trying to entice her further away. The jackdaws surprised by the
strength of this diminutive bird of prey have kept away so far.
On Wednesday morning the first egg was laid by the female in
the first box while I was making breakfast. “An egg,” I shrieked, and called my
daughter Lily to come and have a look. “Is it a chocolate one?” she asked. It
certainly looked chocolate coloured on screen. “No it’s a real one” I explained.
We both looked back at the screen intently, amazed at what we were seeing. Lily
piped up “It’s our special egg for Easter, isn’t it Daddy?” It certainly was.
