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Kestrels are having a tough time this year. There is good site occupancy this year, boosted by a good breeding year last year. This may mean that many birds nesting this year are inexperienced first-year birds, which may have a bearing on their success rate.
So far Bob Sheppard and I have found 105 pairs nesting in our boxes this year. These include 25 failures which is 3 times the 'normal' failure rate of 7-8%.
In addition those that have managed to get chicks to ringing age are averaging only 2.9 per brood compared with 4.3 per brood last year.
This is really bad news, as Kestrels unlike Barn Owls do do not generally relay once they have failed.
Alan Ball
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