New Kestrels

This is the third year we've had kestrels in this box by the house. Before we painted & repaired the place they used to nest in a hole some ancient flicker had made in the clap boards. I put this up and they moved right in.

Kestrels are in decline. They are N.America's smallest & most colorful falcons. They eat small animals. Mice, shrews, voles, etc. The adults feed three to four voles/day to each chick and continue feeding them foe a couple of weeks after they leave the nest.. They have four to five chicks per year,

Click to enlarge for best effect.

 There were four of them

 My old friend Jim Anderson from Bend came by and banded them. Jim was my mentor when I was a teenager and the reason for many of my interests. Ecology, wildlife photography and flying to name a couple.
We got them just as they were ready to leave and missed one as it "flew the coop" that morning. 

I replaced them after banding, but Jim's grandson took them out as my hand was to large to fit through the hole with a bird in it. I have plans to add a door to the side of the box as well as a small "bird cam" I picked up from a guy in Oregon City.

.

Lots of photo ops the next day when they flew.

I had time to take one shot of the pair. I looked away and one was gone, but this is my favorite shot.

  The other followed.

Daisy thought that was pretty funny. 

Kestrel banding for Father's day!!

When we painted and fixed up the exterior of the old farm house, we closed up the hole in the wall (no doubt a gift from a flicker), that the kestrels have been using to nest in. I put up a box on a nearby tree and they decided that it was a good enough substitute. (We figured one hive of bees in the walls was enough without adding birds).
My old friend from Bend Jim Anderson and his wife Sue dropped by unexpectedly yesterday. After visiting the bee hives, I mentioned that the Kestrels by the house had babies, he just happened to have a set of #3B bands in his truck. What are the chances of that happening?
Sue did the honors & passed them down one at a time. After Jim banded them, we carried them back up to the box.

One actually closed his eyes and took a short nap on his back.

There were five of the little cuties.