26 Jun 2018
Kestrel chicks ready to fly
Images courtesy of Mark McCall Photography (www.markjsmccall.com).
The four kestrel chicks that have been living in a nest on campus are set to take to the sky this week.
The chicks have been spotted taking their first short flights and they’re expected to be ready to go out into the big wide world in a matter of days.
The University’s Senior Arborist Mark Hillman said: "Well there is a lot of excitement going on in the kestrel box; they are behaving like a bunch of kids in the departure lounge on the way to Disney land!
“They are now mostly feeding themselves; the parents just drop the food off and get right back on the hunt.
“I would say they will definitely be fledging at some point soon, maybe the middle of this week. It could be earlier as the extreme heat could make it very uncomfortable in the box.
“As long as their flight feathers have developed enough to keep them off the ground they should be fine.”