I Tawt I saw a Puddy Tat!!

This is the back ally where almost all of the
Kestrel pictures were captured. The building on the extreme left is where the nest was.












The flat roof is the location where the first female and later a couple of the males landed and hopped around. Down and to the Right is another roof belonging to the Blair Cinema... long ago abandoned.








Now! I will tell you I have worked in this area for 9 years and have never seen cats. So when we discovered the babies had hopped over onto the Blair Cinema roof we weren't too concerned. We thought they would be safe there until they could learn to fly up up and away.











The next picture proves that I was WRONG about cats.. We were almost hysterical wondering where the Kestrels were, as we had seen more than one of them hop over onto this roof that evening. I know you can find the puddy tat but can you find the Kestrel?

Click and look in the B of the 'Blair Cinema' sign! We didn't know this until we came home and put the pictures on the computer. Barbie called me screaming 'it's in the B' and I'm thinking 'What?' By far an exciting evening on the Kestrel Watch.
(And no this was NOT photo-shopped)
All six babies were sighted since then so NO! none were eaten by the puddy tat.

To God be the Glory ~ Great Things He Hath Done

The Baby Album

If you don't calm down I am going to peck you! I don't
want to fall out of this nest yet.

Am I Gorgeous or what? I am the first
Kestrel to jump out of the nest and I am a ham!
These girls and their cameras don't scare me.

This is one of my brothers... He's just as handsome as
I am pretty.

I"ll pose pretty for you..

I have to clean up now ... but you can see me and my 5
brothers in the slide show right here on the top right of the
blog. I have pretty brown stripes on my breast
and brown rust and white feathers. My brothers
have black dots on their chests and a slate blue tint
to their wing feathers and tops of their heads.
We both share beautiful big eyes and dark stripes
on our faces. We are one of the most colorful
falcons in the world.

Once in a Lifetime....

For me this is a 'Once in a Lifetime' experience.
I feel so blessed to have witnessed it!

The Red arrow shows the nest sight and the square box
is the first Female Kestrel that came out of the nest.
Quite a little drop. She was seen on the ground in the parking
lot by barbie when she arrived last Friday.

Mom and Dad were watching and screaming...
I don't know if that was a cheering section or a
warning... Mom screams and dad does an alarm!

You ask "How did the little baby get back on the lower roof?"
Well like any smart gal would do ..she takes the steps!!

She hopped and flapped until she reached the top

Looking quite smug when she got there.

She is seen doing the Victory Dance across the roof.

Fluffing a few feathers... glad to be free

Yes, Mom I'm OK..

Or is she looking at her brother still up there and saying
'Come on Down!"

Are you still watching me dad?

Believe it or not .. This is the one and only picture I could get of the baby kestrel being fed. Dad is seen here bringing food and baby's mouth is wide open. They are so secretive about this duty that it is difficult to catch them in the act. I feel blessed to have had this opportunity to document, and share the nesting and fledging of these beautiful illusive falcons.





Stay tuned for the baby album to come and more Kestrel~antics.

To God be the Glory ~ Great Things He Hath done!

Coming Out Party!

Until we were completely sure the movement we were seeing
in the nest hole was indeed a 'baby' we didn't want to report it!
They look so much like the adults that it is hard to know.

Finally after two days of seeing with the eye, the camera was
able to capture the baby too.

I am so thankful that there are 2 of us, 2 cameras, and 2
schedules that allow someone 'on watch' through out the day.
And 2 babies too!

This all happened so fast we would have missed something.

Excitement was running high and cell phones were burning
hot between jane &barbie as we tried to capture every
movement of these babies.

It looked hard for this little 'Rascal' to climb up
to the mouth of the nest hole.

He was diligent though and kept at it.

Wow! That was hard!

Hey! It's a big world out here.

We have no idea what to expect as We have never watched a
Kestrel nest....so everything is new and amazing
and a learning experience for sure. We weren't even sure
the babies would appear. But we were ever so glad
the happy event finally came to pass.
When this little guy appeared on the ledge
my friend thought she was watching an adult for the
first few minutes, until she reviewed the pictures.

Watch the movie of the first baby making his debut and please
keep checking back..... One of the babies breaks loose and
falls!!
adventure to follow...stay tuned.

To God be the Glory ~ Great great great Things He hath Done!

STAR -ling WARS

This day started out pretty much the same as they all do at the 'Kestrel Watch'. I go to work and see Ethel in the tree hanging out. The leaves are blowing and she is swaying with the rhythm of the wind.










Meanwhile over at the nest site Fred is at the highest point he can get. He can see her from here and also see the nest. He is ever watching and protecting the precious cargo that is stashed away in the eaves of the 'nest' building.

He flits from one high point to another. This chimney is on
the roof of the building next to the nest site.

As he is preparing to fly so is the Starling on the roof next door.

She has a nest here too, as do many of her relatives. I see
Starlings going in and out of the eaves and into the
brick chimneys carrying food for their young.
There MUST be an agreement between Starling and Kestrel
for them to share the same nesting grounds, but on this day
their was a dispute brewing.

The Starling looks down....
Fred looks up....

Fred flies to a pole nearby to get a better look.

Up on the roof with the wind blowing up his chest feathers

these birds amaze me at how keen their eyes are
and how they watch every movement

The sun catches his shadow and throws it onto the
corbel of the roof

He's still looking for that Starling!

Thankfully my friend is here and pressing her shutter also. She
got some of the best action shots to follow. Thank you barbie
from jane & barbie adventures for your pictures I've used.

Aha!! There you are you pesky black bird!

Fred gives him the evil eye. It's probably the wind but
it looks like the feathers on the back of his neck are standing up!

The Starling takes flight

Fred calls for Ethel and she appears out of nowhere
at top speed... I'm coming honey!

The Starling tries to side step and dive but Ethel the 'mother
warrior' is right on it!

Uh Oh! A clash in midair.... Get outta here you pesky bird!

Normalcy returns and you can see Fred here if you look closely
feeding young.

Out again! making sure nothing showed up while he was feeding.

Ethel then comes in on the ledge and is preparing some food
for her little ones....seen with her mouth wide open.

Please stay tuned... the next post will be the 'coming out party'
You do not want to miss it!!
To God be the Glory ~ Great Things He Hath done!