Kestrel Attacked by Cunning Jackdaws | Apollo & Athena | Robert E Fuller

Kestrel pair Apollo and Athena have nested here for the last four years but a pair of jackdaws want to take over their nest. A jackdaw grabs Apollo's leg through a small gap and as he falls forward the other one grabs his wing. The jackdaws pull viciously and wincing just watching it. And Athena doesn't know how to help and in the confusion she stands on his back. Apollo desperately tries to get free. Eventually he manages to release his leg but his wing is still caught and it's twisted right round. Apollo drops to the floor unable to fly and the jackdaws look on almost celebrating. Athena calls for Apollo before escaping herself. This looks really serious so I head to Ashwood to try and locate Apollo. I'm here at Ash Hollow where the fight happened and I can still hear the jackdaws calling. So this is where Apollo would have hit the ground and there's no immediate sign of him so it's just a case of searching this area now. I've been searching in the wood for almost two days now but still no sign of Apollo. I'm really worried. I just had a message come through from Mercedes, one of the moderators on the channel and she thinks she's seen Apollo on the live stream so I'm going to head back to base now and check out the cameras. It is Apollo but he doesn't look great. He's struggling to hold his wing in place but at least he's alive and can still fly although not perfectly. The next morning I see him at Ash Hollow as the jackdaws are back bothering Athena. He looks back to normal and flies into the nest. This kestrel pair really are hardy birds. They've been in some very tough fights with jackdaws over the years and face competition from barn owls tawny owls and squirrels but hopefully they're here to stay and they'll have another brood here this year.