January & February Update
Update: Pairing up and Finding a Home
What's been happening this month
The kestrels that live around my art gallery and studio are looking for the perfect nest site to raise their young, but they've got competition from the resident barn owls and tawny owls who are looking for their own place to nest too. Read on to find out what happens in the ensuing 'nest box wars'.
Click here for the very latest on their story in my March update.
Scroll down to see the paintings inspired by these nest camera studies.
February 25th 2019
Kestrels Invade 'Beech Stump' & Dig A Nest
Kestrels Preparing A Nest
What's this? The cameras have caught the kestrels inside Beech Stump. I thought that this nest box was gong to be where to the tawny owls were going to nest!!! And this insolent female kestrel isn't happy with the hollow that the tawny owls have dug. Watch as she tries to adjust the shape of it. She uses her wings and her claws to dig. Occasionally she goes back out to the box calls her mate for help. The kestrels have taken advantage of the fact that the tawnys are not in here at the moment........ will they abandon where I thought they were going to nest and try to colonise this nest box instead?
https://youtu.be/5TLlLbqa16Y
Click the image above to play the video
February 24th 2019
Kestrels Confront Invading Barn Owls in the Skies
Kestrels Defending The Nest
A battle has begun over the nest boxes in the garden. Competition for the best nest sites can be fierce at this time of year, as all the birds of prey are choosing where they want to nest at the same time. Watch the kestrels go for the attack after the barn owls swoop far too close to what they'd like to be their new nest site at Sycamore Stump.
https://youtu.be/zRNj4yY3RGY
Click the image above to play the video
February 16th 2019
Kestrels Choose Nest Site
Kestrel Courtship
Watch this video of Mr and Mrs Kestrel as they take a look at Sycamore Stump nest box. They have nested and raised their young here for the last few years now. Typically the male will choose a suitable nest site and then call for the female to come and view it. I'm hoping they will nest here again. Watch this lovely footage of them as they inspect this box for size.
https://youtu.be/lYkDGxQWf0k
Click the image above to play the video
February 3rd 2019
Kestrel Bond Still Strong
Kestrel Courtship
The bond between the kestrels living in my garden is still very strong. Look at how tenderly the male is feeding the female in this clip. This is very different to last year, when this female was really very aggressive. She used to rip the food right out of his beak! She is so much more docile now.
Click here to read my 2018 Kestrel Cam Blog to see how grumpy she used to be!
https://youtu.be/E-yR9PFYwBM
Click the image above to play the video
January 24th 2019
Love In The Snow
Kestrel Courtship
Last year I learned that kestrels begin their courtship whilst there is still snow on the ground and this was confirmed again after a fall of snow here in Yorkshire last night. The pair are sharing a catch and Mr Kes is showing us that he still has the touch when it comes to wooing. Watch them touch beaks in what can only be described as a loving manner. It means that they already have a strong bond which bodes well for the breeding season to come.
https://youtu.be/antb8RD_m38
Click on the image above to play the video above
Kestrels In My Garden
The History of Mr & Mrs Kes
Stories from a live kestrel nest camera
If you're new to their story, the male kestrel, Kes, has lived in my garden for 12 years. He has a colourful history: a few years ago I discovered on the cameras that he had two females on the go at once and even raised two sets of chicks. Last year he successfully raised two chicks with a new mate, after his long-term partner, Mrs Kes, died two years ago.
Click here to read the story of Mr Kes's infidelity.
Click here to read their story during 2018's breeding season.
Kestrel Artwork
My Kestrel Paintings
Inspired By Watching These Kestrels
My webcams help me to research these birds for my paintings. Here are a few of the paintings inspired by watching and learning about this bird pair up close.
Kestrel | Art Print | Shop NowRead More
What happens next in my Kestrel Nest Camera:
March 2019 Update - Courting and Mating: https://www.robertefuller.com/kestrel-nest-camera-courting-and-mating-march-update/
How I set up the surveillance cameras for my kestrel nest camera
Click here to read how I set up the systems to watch these kestrels:
https://www.robertefuller.com/laying-a-network-of-surveillance-cameras-to-watch-kestrels-in-the-garden/
Follow my other nest cameras:
Barn Owl Nest Camera 2019: https://www.robertefuller.com/category/nestcams/barn-owl-nest-camera/
Tawny Owl Nest Camera 2019: https://www.robertefuller.com/category/nestcams/tawny-owl-nest-cameras/
Read more about my adventures with kestrels here:
Read about the time I watched Kestrels clash with Short Eared owls: https://www.robertefuller.com/kestrels-clash-with-short-eared-owls-in/
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