Hill Road Kestrels — 2025

A pair of American Kestrels showed up in December 2024. To my complete suprise. Kestrels are around all year flying above the fields by our house,  but you don't see them — they're just out there somewhere, hunting quietly. These two started checking the box. Brief visits, a couple minutes, a couple times a day.

By mid-January the male was spending real time in there. Two hours one afternoon, then perched in the entrance just looking out at Hill Road. Something had shifted. January 21st they started mating in a couple times a day in the poplar.

The female started sleeping in the box late January. She'd arrive right at sunset — five minutes before, sometimes to the minute — tuck her head into her back and go to sleep. Up at sunrise, perched in the entrance for ten minutes surveying the road, then gone for the day. Kestrels are not crepuscular. That suprised me. I think of early mornings and late evenings as prime hunting times. She wasn't interested in the margins of the day, just the box as a safe place to sleep.