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!
Thanks Dom; I wouldn't have known as have never seen a kestrel close up before. The saturation is very fetching, though - and I fear the male may not be as colorful as captured on a previous pic of mine.
Unknown said:
15.05 edit: hope this isn't a double post but not getting a response on 'reply' button: Going now, last peep shows chicks alone, preening now and then, lovely to watch them developing day by day.
All four chicks doing well - at least 6 slow worms brought in today along with a couple of sand lizards - One of the chicks had a real problem swallowing a live slow worm whole. It had to shake its head a lot to get it all down!
Cannot believe how quickly their adult feathers are coming in. Off to the hospital later so will miss watching them for a day or so :-( Mimms - yes there is a similar programme on mac but still can't work out how to convert files.
1130 one of the big chicks just tried a little flight from the back to front of the box!
Jo T Always on the side of the feathered guy!
Aaaargh! Our kestrel chicks have been kidnapped and replaced by impostors in improbable chicken costumes!
Can we have them back please?
And this is just the height of bad manners:
Swiftly followed by a second which they all decided to simply ignore:
And another one! It's a slow worm massacre!
10 minutes later and it's still hanging out of this one's gob...