Kestrel chicks fly free at last

This film follows the story of six stunning kestrel chicks as, one by one, they fledge the nest and head off to live their lives in the wild.

These kestrel chicks were lucky to survive a series of traumatic attacks on their nest and so it is amazing to see them now take off safely. Things almost went horribly wrong when first a jackdaw and then a barn owl invaded the nest. However, thanks to their brave parents, and especially their ferocious kestrel mum Mrs Kes, they survived the ordeal.

This episode takes up the story now that the chicks are three weeks old and developing fast. They are just beginning to be steady on their feet, although there are a few tumbles! It's interesting to watch the kestrel chick's flight feathers growing through and to see them practise their flapping and hunting techniques whilst in the nest.

As the chicks get older their parents spend less time with them, but they still visit with regular food deliveries and dinner times in the nest become very noisy and frenzied.

They begin to spend more and more time in the entrance to the nest watching the world go by. Only the worst weather can keep them in. Watch the fear on their faces as they experience their first rain storm! It is a delight to watch them find their wings one by one. Watch as the eldest is the first to venture out of the nest. As it gets up the momentum to leap out, it flaps its wings furiously, bashing one of its siblings on the head as it does so!