Kestrel
Falco tinnunculus
Our Kestrel family is fast becoming our major bird success. We only have 10 acres, so getting a pair of kestrels and five young in our first summer was wonderful. The reason we got them was because we put up a box, but also because we had masses of voles in our soft rush-dominated back field. That’s all you need really – a nesting site and voles. Surprisingly, our kestrels also caught newts, rats, shrews and even the odd chick.
Click or hover over an image to view the field notes
Leaving grass to grow long, die back, and grow long again, has created a habitat that small rodents, like voles, love. The Kestrels certainly don't have to go far for a food source.
The Kestrels certainly don't have to go far for a food source.
Short-tailed Field Vole
To watch the whole sequence of videos we have of the Kestrels, click here
Trail camera footage from the fields
© Paul Hopkinson