Local birder and wildlife photographer Terry Weston
recently sent us this superb photograph of a male Kestrel that he took
near to the valley on an adjacent farm. As can be clearly seen in the photo,
this particular bird only has one eye – presumably having somehow damaged it
whilst fighting off a predator or perhaps a territorial male. This is the
second year that Terry has been watching this male, and despite his injury he
managed to pair up with an interested female and raised a brood last year. Much
to Terry’s delight he re-found the male again this year, and watched as he
successfully bred with another female, perhaps the same…and raised three chicks
to fledging. It’s fantastic to know that not only is the male managing to
survive and hunt, but also that he’s raised another brood successfully - albeit
with a helping hand from the kind landowner.
Pictured below is Terry's photograph of the brood of three chicks, which are one of many on the reserve this year. Several newly fledged
family parties have been seen lately – perhaps the broods that were ringed in
our boxes around the reserve in mid-June. Each year whilst the farmers
are hard at work in the meadows, we see an increase in Kestrels on the Ings as
they follow the cutting tractors, no doubt picking up a few voles, frogs and
toads and any other food items exposed as a result. Some of the youngsters have also been seen
sitting on the bales watching the adults teaching them to hunt, it’s certainly
nice to see these birds doing so well, and to see the next generation learning
the skills required to survive. Many thanks to Terry for
sharing his photographs with us.
No comments:
Post a Comment