Wednesday 19 June 2019

The urban Kes 'des res'

I popped back to the urban Kestrels nest site this morning
 
I had been thinking about their nest site - it must be ideal for them - the window has been boarded up from the inside so total privacy - some of the window panes are broken so easy access - and some of the panes are intact so shelter from wind and rain - a perfect 'des res' for a Kes !
 
There were two of them huddled together when I first arrived
 

 
But one of them appeared to be more active than the other two (there are definitely three juveniles)

 
Proof below that there are three juveniles - I think this has got to be my favourite image from today


 
The more active chick was investigating every perch

 
and all the youngsters spent a long time preening

 
The active one was seen running across the middle shelf several times


The image below was captured as a Red Kite soared behind me - they watched it intently until it soared out of view
 

 
The sequence below are of when the adult male bought in some food - he is the orangey blur in the bottom left hand corner



 
Whatever prey he had he deposited it inside the bottom broken pane and flew away
 
After the 'lunch break' the active one started stretching it's wings again and I watched whilst holding my breath as he appeared to fall out of the window and land on the brickwork
 
 


 
But he managed to right himself and get back in via the bottom broken pane
 
I only left because I was meeting a few of the other volunteers at Cranford CP today - we were being interviewed by a couple of media students from Uxbridge College - this is for a short promotional video about Cranford CP and I cannot wait to see what how it comes out



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