18 May 2018
Kestrel eggs expected to hatch next week!
According to the University's Senior Arborist Mark Hillman, next week may be the week we get to meet a kestrel chick or two!
It has been more than three weeks since the female kestrel returned to campus and settled in the camera-rigged nesting box, located near the University’s Science and Enterprise Park.
If Mark's observations are correct, next week the eggs - there are estimated to be between three and six - may begin to hatch.
Mark said: "We now need to start watching out for the hen behaving slightly differently from how she has been over the last few weeks. She will start to lift herself above the eggs and appear to be looking and listening intently at them.
"When she does lift up, we could get lucky and see a little fluffy head pop-up! This could carry on for up to three days until all the eggs that are going to hatch have done so.
"It’s quite common for one or two eggs to fail to hatch but so fingers-crossed for the week ahead. Her long rest is nearly over and time for the hard work to begin!"
For more information on the kestrels at Loughborough, click here. The live stream of the nest can be found on the Sustainability Team’s YouTube channel.