Kestrel Camera
Saturday April 4, 2026
THE THIRD TIME’S THE CHARM, at least when it comes to our long-awaited kestrel pair choosing our nest box. The first year, a pair of Northern Flickers settled in and raised a boisterous, healthy family. The second year, the kestrels were in the vicinity, but chose a different location to raise a family.
The nest box is located on a rural piece of property in the Redmond, OR area owned by Ilene and Dean Smith, who, together with Jim Hammond, made the nest box (built by ECBA member, Dick Tipton) ready, with the camera, filled the floor of the box with wood chips, and this year, a kestrel pair has chosen our box with the all important camera so that we can all watch the drama.







5 eggs now!
I haven’t figured out when #5 was laid.
4th egg laid overnight!
Crikey!!!
We have 4 eggs! Yay!
3rd egg laid about 5pm 19 April.
I just now found that this commenting feature has been added to the webpage. Thanks, Shannon. There are other relevant comments on the golden eagle camera page.
Thanks to everyone who created this experience for us! I am new to Kestrels. At 5:50am mom was partially covering one egg but the other egg was off to one side a bit. Does anyone know if this usual?
Answered my own question. Just read that “incubation usually starts after the third egg is laid.” Fascinating!
Did not know this, thank you for the info!
Not only does the little kestrel have a very cozy box, but she gets to sleep to the sounds of frogs, too. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Thank you, all, for making this available to us. I’ve never seen a kestrel from the top before. Beautiful coloring on the head.
Does anyone know if it is normal that they leave the egg for so long between periods of incubating? Is it warmer inside the nest box?