After 3 long years of being away in Ontario I finally got to band young Kestrels again. I placed 30 Kestrel boxes up in my study site just west of Saskatoon and they have been used off and on every year. This year I would have guessed them to be empty with all of the rain. Most were full but were a couple weeks behind schedule, with adults still incubating eggs.
Michelle and I banded 2 adults and 18 young this first round. Next round there should be another 20-25 young to band if the weather coperates and there is enough food for the young. It was a half decent weekend being back in Saskatchewan. We ended up banding a few Kestrels, Merlins and a Crow. Swainson Hawks on the other don't seem to be doing that good, I was unable to locate any new nests and the 2 that I did find were both abandoned.
Merlin Nest
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