A Predator is Born_ The Full Story of Lyra _ Rowan Raising Five Kestrel Chicks _ Nest Box Live

Witness the birth of a predator. A kestrel chick is emerging from its egg. A chick destined to become one of nature's most efficient hunters. Last spring we filmed the astonishing story of a kestrel family. A family who made their home in our artificial nest box. A nest box placed on the side of a farmhouse somewhere in the north of England. Meet Lyra. You can tell she's a female by the beautiful speckled brown feathers across her head. And this is Rowan. You can tell he's a male by his distinctive slate grey head. Our story starts at the end of March with spring just around the corner. For most of the year kestrel females hunt for their own food but during the spring only the male brings food to the female. It's to show her how good a hunter he is. The handover happens so fast. So let's see it again in slow motion. Once the gift is handed over Lyra usually leaves the nest to eat it outside and that helps to keep the nest clean and tidy. As the days progress the feedings happen more and more often. Usually it's a vole or perhaps a field true or woodmouse. In between feeds they prepare the nest box including making a comfortable brooding hollow in the wood chips called a scrape. Sometimes lunch is a small bird such as this meadow pipit. She calls out and spreads her wings over the prey. It's called mantling and it's to show her gratitude. By bringing so much food he's impressed her. He's clearly a suitable mate. By dipping her head it's a signal to him that she's willing to mate with him. It's now the middle of April and Lyra is close to laying. Rowan brings another bird for lunch. The pair call to each other fast and loud. Lyra looks as if she's going to leave the nest as usual. Then she decides against. Instead she tucks in at home and makes a right mess. Once she's demolished her meal and sent the feathers flying she sits down and starts huffing and puffing. Ten minutes later her first egg still covered in glistening mucus. Rowan comes for a look. Over the next few days she lays more eggs each a couple of days apart. Then sets about incubating them, sitting on them to keep them warm. By the end of April we have five eggs. Sometimes when Lyra takes a short break Rowan takes over the incubation duties. It's May 20th. A month has passed. Mum has spent the whole time incubating her eggs, regularly moving them around to make sure the warmth of her body is distributed equally. Today is going to be a big day. An egg is starting to crack. The chick is using a lump on its beak to break out. Lyra helps out too. In the next few minutes the egg hatches beneath her. And we get our first glimpse of new life. Rowan comes along for his first look. Mum starts to bond with her chicks. That upturned little beak means it's ready to feed. When Lyra pops out for a while our nest box cameras give us a privileged view of an everyday miracle. Look at the egg in the middle. It's cracking open. We are about to witness a birth. They can lift their heads, they can jostle for position and they're even learning to stand up. No wonder they're doing so well with both parents feeding them very frequently. Just three days later and they're becoming a bit of a handful. It's time for mum to let them feed themselves. These chicks are relatively peaceful. They share out the food between them with not much argument. At three weeks old the chicks are beginning to show their juvenile plumage. And this chick is now big and strong enough to swallow a vole whole. After quite an effort. It's the beginning of June. The early mornings are still chilly and the chicks huddle together for warmth. It's a strange and dangerous world out there so the chicks will use their time in the nest box wisely. They'll go into training. Stretching those muscles they'll need to fly and hunt their own food. This chick seems to be practicing gripping food and bringing it to its beak. While its sibling practices a classic kestrel maneuver. Grabbing hold of prey which is scuttling along the ground. Above all they have to strengthen their wings. And that can get quite inconvenient when you live in a box with four siblings. It's the middle of June. The chicks are nearly a month old and are getting ready to fledge. Our cameras don't operate for a few hours during the night and unfortunately we miss the first chick fledge. The strongest, most developed chick has left the nest leaving more room for the other four. Strange sound this morning. Turns out to be a human being with a strimmer. Two days later one of the chicks makes a big move. This will be the biggest leap of its young life and it's still really not sure. It takes a full hour to pluck up the courage but eventually it fledges. A third chick fledges the next day. So now we're down to two. Correction we're down to one. The most timid of all the chicks is now the only one left. Those calls you can hear they're from the whole family all around the nest box. As the noise builds dad pops in and you can see the tail feathers of another chick on top of the nest box. If you look carefully you can see some of the chicks on the ground. On in the water's lovely they seem to be calling out. Finally after three months of our remarkable kestrel journey the last one takes flight into the world. If you want to start your own wildlife journey and capture the incredible life cycles of nature's most extraordinary birds in your own backyard why not check out our smart birdhouse camera. The link is in the bio. And finally if you've enjoyed watching and want to keep following our kestrel journey please like and subscribe to receive update.