Our Kestrels are now live on the Arne website! The female has been sitting on the eggs for 32 days so the first should hatch any time. She seems particularly restless today and sometimes you can even hear the chicks calling from the eggs. Who will be the first to see a hatched chick? It would be great to see everyones observations on this forum so we can keep updated with all the excitement! To see the webcam follow: http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/a/arne/webcam.aspx
As the chicks get older the parents will try to spend less time in the box, so not to be swamped, so yes I suspect the female will start to just dump prey and leave like the male. Last year one of the youngsters hung around the carpark for a few weeks but yes they will all stay close by untill the parent have had enough and will push them out...
Thank you for answering my question Robert. Sorry if I ask too many!
Just checked in on the family (after getting home from the office) and think I probably just caught their supper (taken at 2106):
They were all taking their turn and then 'the one at the front' grabbed it (whatever it was).
They obviously have a love/hate relationship - fight over food and then still huddle together to keep warm!
A rodent and small bird (?) brought in in quick succession. Mum had to tear one open, shared it around a little, before big chick cornered it and consumed the main part. Hungry smaller chick had a quick tussle before tackling the untouched rodent instead. It couldn't really get to grips with it and abandonded it to one of the others who had better technique.
Even after a day away I can notice the difference in the size of the chicks, they are still growing fast and more proper feathers appearing, looked like two shrews brought in this morning.
You can already watch the little chicks starting to strengthen their wing muscles by starting to flap around, also they are trying to get their talon technique of grabbing down, with somethimes hilarious consequences (they are not the most stable things on their feet)
Chicks are still all well, lots more feathers coming through. Lots of food coming in but it difficult to see exactly what. Which ever chick grabs the food ussually takes it to the corner of the box and crouches right over it! I am still thinking that we might have all four fledge!
Okay, who has stolen our chicks and replaced them with these imposters?!!!
WOW! Hard to think they came out of an egg so small!
And the 5th egg is still there for comparison! Excellent. :-)
they were eating lapwing chicks yesterday afternoon just before I left to come home..3 chicks were brought in..
Capturing the Light with an original perspective displayed in every Photograph..perhaps
The chicks are so big now and what is really making me smile is the yellow feet that have become apparent in the last few days. It is just an indication of how powerful and impotant these are for hunting when they fledge. Today is a very wet and cold day so not much food coming in. We are hoping that they are big enough to weather the storm (forgive the pun) and the forecast is much better tomorrow. Yesterday the male brought in three Lapwing chicks (as nikonPete said), we are not sure where these came from but probably from farmland just off of the reserve. Once the male had found 1 of the chicks he would have gone back to pick the rest off.