If you’re not familiar with the Holcomb Farm Tree Trail located on the hill across from the entrance to the North Barn event facility, this would be a good time to check out its newest addition. It’s not a new tree—it’s a kestrel nest box placed 12 feet in the air, on the right a short way up the entrance trail.
With luck, you may see American kestrels flying about the box. Maybe one will be bringing nesting materials. Maybe one will be a male bringing a bit of food for the female who is inside, keeping her eggs warm. Maybe the male will be making trip after trip as he brings food for the chicks that have hatched!
For the best chance of seeing this miracle, make a trip to the location soon. Connecticut’s kestrels begin courtship from late March through early April and, if successful, by the end of April, four or five brown-spotted eggs will have appeared. It takes about a month for the eggs to hatch, and another month for the chicks to fledge (be able to fly.) Once they fledge, they tend to stay around their parents for several weeks, so hopefully you will be able to view some or all of this cycle.
A kestrel nest box is a special creation, and there is no one better to make and install such a box than Art Gingert, who has received awards for his Kestrel Nest Box Project that he started decades ago to help the declining population of kestrels in the northeast. In fact, he installed a box on one of Holcomb Farm’s barns in 2010 and held a banding workshop when the first group of chicks hatched.
Some time ago, Tree Trail member Peggy Lareau contacted Gingert to see if he would be interested in locating a good spot and installing a box on the Farm’s Tree Trail. He was, and he did. The most difficult part was digging the hole and cementing the 12-foot pole on which he would mount the nest box. On April 17, Gingert installed one of his boxes, crafted to specific dimensions with a precisely-shaped oval opening. He was assisted by Mike and Debbie Gantt, who he instructed in monitoring of the box.
