Diario de ikovalev

Today, the kestrels continued their lives calmly - the male brings mice, the female sometimes flies off to hunt herself, sometimes she waits for mice from the future father. Jackdaws, apparently, near the kestrel's nest, are planning a nest. It will be interesting to observe such close proximity. Hopefully, these gray-black raiders do not create problems for the growing kestrels in the future.

The morning is frosty, with the temperature around zero degrees Celsius, but by evening it feels like spring, with temperatures up to +10 degrees Celsius, and a bright, warm sun.

Today it got warmer - in the morning +5°C, after sunrise the temperature quickly rose to +15°C. In the first half of the day the sun was shining brightly, after lunch clouds appeared and it became slightly cloudy.

The Kestrel mother is in her favorite ventilation duct, where the nest will be. The Kestrel father regularly brings her mice. Jackdaws now show little interest in Kestrels. Not like in early spring. Jackdaws are more busy chasing away Wood Pigeons from their ventilation ducts. It is possible that two Jackdaw nests will appear near the Kestrel nest. Last year the roof of the house and the ventilation ducts were completely in the possession of the Kestrel. Now the balance of power will change and the Jackdaws will share the territory with the Kestrels. Let's see what happens.

Today it was cloudy in the first half of the day, and it started to rain in the second half. During the rain, the kestrels sat each in their own "room" (= a ventilation hole). During the day, the future father brought mice to the future mother.

The pair has a constant behavioral pattern:

1. The female waits.
2. The male arrives with prey.
3. The male gives the prey to the female. The female flies to a separate "room" where she usually eats.
4. The female utters sounds of gratitude (for about 1 minute).
5. The female eats the prey. At this time, the male sits in the "room" and cleans his feathers.
6. After the prey is eaten, the male flies to the female. The act of love takes place, which lasts about 10 seconds. And he flies away.
7. The female, after sitting for about 10 minutes in the "feeding room", flies to the "nesting room".

While editing photos, I managed to find a great image of a pair of kestrels that I have been observing with my camera. It's easy to mistake this photo for a drawing - the angle of the shot is such. But, the main characters also know how to fly out of their "rooms" at completely unimaginable angles. The photo generated a lot of discussion on reddit.

The photo captures the moment when a male kestrel brings a mouse to the female. The female prepares to eat, while the male flies away. They use this ventilation hole as their dining table. The nest is located in another ventilation hole.

Sometimes the female kestrel goes deep into her "room". It's hard to see her without a camera. It feels like she's gone for a long time. In fact, she spends most of the time before incubation in the "nesting room". She sits, watches the world and waits for her male to bring food.
There are exceptions, like today's sunny day, when the future parents were actively flying around the area. But more often it is waiting and contemplation.

This story happened on March 27. A pair of jackdaws, sitting quietly near their future nest, proudly surveyed the surroundings. They decided to build their nest in the ventilation shaft of a 9-storey building.

The advantage of this place was a staircase that people have not used for many years. And this staircase conveniently covers the entrance to the future nest. It is also very convenient to sit on it. Well, yes, the disadvantage is that there is a kestrel's nest ten meters away. But here, it is not clear who will interfere with whom - we, the proud Jackdaw tribe, or they - just some Falcons.

And one more thing. Of course, there is a disadvantage that besides the two of us jackdaws, there are other jackdaws. Who for some reason need to sit on our, which has become so familiar, staircase. And we have to sort things out.

In this photo series, you, dear readers, can see an example of such a showdown.