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Kestrels!



Dear Carolinabirders:

I discovered yesterday that the kestrels nesting in one of the boxes on 
the farm had just fledged three young. They were just out, learning to 
fly, and chasing the adults and begging while staying in the area of a 
few acres around the box.

This afternoon, while mowing for hay that pasture, I found that the 
kestrel family was still in the area.  Then after several passes with the 
tractor and mower had cut a fair amount of hay, the young kestrels began 
pouncing on injured and dazed grasshoppers and other insects in the mowed 
swath. This continued for several hours, with the birds coming as close 
as 10 feet to the running tractor. This is unique in my experience. I 
always have a cloud of assorted swallows circling the tractor and mower 
as I cut hay, and if trees are close, flycatchers, mockers, etc., but 
never have kestrels followed the mower like these three. The two adults 
kept more distance, but were also taking insects off the new-mown hay. 
Has anyone else noticed this?

Also, two weeks ago, screech owls fledged two young, a gray and a red, in 
a wood-duck box at the small pond.

James Coman
Alleghany County, NC
hillshepherd@skybest.com