We have all waited patiently with fingers crossed to see if our pair of buzzards would settle down and raise a family on our webcam nest but after a lot of early activity they seem to gone to somewhere else. So not to worry here at Arne we have always got something else up our sleaves and I am sure a lot of you will remember our kestrel family from last year. They had a brilliant 2011 by succesfully raising four healthy chicks including the smallest one that worried a few people early on.
We have decided to put this nest back online now and you can also come and watch it in the visitor centre. The female is sitting on 5 eggs at the moment and this is the same as last year although one failed to hatch. We are not sure when she laid her eggs as she was already sitting on the 5 when we turned the camera back on a week ago. However we think she is at least 2 weeks earlier than last year and the first chick actually hatched on the 21st May 2011. It is a bit difficult to predict when they will hatch but the female will incubate for about 28. So given this information please feel free to have guesses on dates!
To Watch this webcam online follow the link on our main web page or click here http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/a/arne/webcam.aspx
Don't be confused by the buzzard information still on the page it will be updated in the next couple of days!
Mum's just come back and kicked Dad out! Must find a quicker way of navigating from webcam to this Forum!
Lol! I know what you mean, I keep looking at my ironing pile and just can't tear myself away from webcam!
Jo T Always on the side of the feathered guy!
brilliant!! :-)
5 mins away and missed the food being brought in! Little'uns being fed a nice big juicy ? - bit big for a vole? Sorry, I MUST brush up on screen captures later.
did anyone see what she is feeding them?
Well done mum and dad! Now the hard work begins (again). Hope the sand lizards are well hid this year...
Possibly a rat? Quite large - they must be full up now. Really don't want to go out later now!
Mum just fed the 2 chicks on bits of the rat from the larder and then, er, dropped the rat out of the nestbox!
Back now and licking her lips, if such a thing was possible.
Blimey I have a day off and look what happens. I will have to check the web cam out.
To Darren - welcome to the excitement that is the kestrel cam. I saw that you were a bit concerned that you thought that the female kestrel had been disturbed. If I can put your mind at ease this pair has nested here for several years and has succesfully raised a succession of healthy chicks - last year the pair raised four which was a record for them! We have a lot of machinery on the farm so there will be a certain amount of noise as people come and go but this has never adversly effected the kestrels and they are pretty tolerent. However we are mindful of their presence and try and keep noise to a minimum!