The female kestrel in my garden has won yet another a bitter battle to protect her eggs - this time fighting off marauding jackdaws in a bloody and vicious fight.

Watch kestrels live on my nest cam:    • Live From Fotherdale | Robert E Fuller   and follow their story in this playlist:    • Kestrels 🦅 Mr & Mrs Kes | Wild Lives ...  

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ABOUT THIS FILM
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Formidable falcon

Mrs Kes is a formidable falcon and last year bravely fought jackdaws, barn owls and a tyrannical tawny owl to keep her eggs safe. (Click here to read the story: https://robertefuller.com/diary/how-i...)

Defending the nest

Now she has had to summon up her strength again as barn owls, a new male kestrel, not her mate, and a pair of marauding jackdaws mount a series of devastating raids on her nest. Nest sites are hotly contested in spring, and my cameras reveal that the battle for the best site is brutal.

Eggs scatter

In the last of several vicious clashes, the female kestrel gets covered in blood and her eggs scatter across the floor of the nest. Exhausted by the battle, she does her best to continue incubating but makes no effort to collect her eggs back together.

Intervention

I don't like to intervene with wildlife, but it's clear that if I don't this clutch will fail. I gather the eggs up together and thankfully Mrs Kes returns to incubate them. However, three of the eggs are worryingly cold.

Hatching date approaches

These eggs are due to hatch any day now. I hope the chicks have survived. It is has been a bitter ordeal for this kestrel pair. And especially for Mrs Kes. Laying and brooding six eggs is tough enough, the female has laid over half her body weight in eggs! But doing this in the face of constant attacks just shows how hardy these birds have to be.

Incubation story

Mrs Kes’ laid her first egg on Easter Monday, April 5, 2021. It was bitterly cold and she didn't lay her second until April 8th. But she then laid her third on April 10th, and her fourth on April 12th. Incubation usually begins once the third egg is laid and lasts roughly 27-29 days. The fifth and sixth eggs were laid on April 14th and 16th respectively.

Mr Kes

Males are as invested as females in incubation and the eventual raising of the chicks. Mr Kes even practised sitting on the first egg when he discovered it. He also continues to support her by bringing her food and helping to fight off competition.

Kestrel chick

Kestrels incubate their eggs for 30 days on average, and so I am expecting the eggs to hatch from today, May 10th. These will hatch at two day intervals.

ABOUT ME
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I am a British wildlife artist and filmmaker on a mission to share my love for wildlife with the world. As well as creating detailed animal film and art portraits, I promote wildlife tours around the world and do all I can to help conserve and protect wildlife here at my home in Yorkshire. I hope that by putting nature in the frame I can foster a deep love for wildlife amongst my followers.

You may like to purchase my artwork which you can find on my website: https://www.robertefuller.com. Many of my paintings are portraits of the wonderful characters you watch here!

You can also follow me on these platforms:
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© Robert E Fuller

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