Hunter-Clyde kestrels hatch on camera

The waiting is over for theHunter-ClydeWatershed Group after the kestrel eggs they've had their camera focused on hatched Monday night.

Hilary Shea, the watershed coordinator for the group, said last night a board member was watching the live stream of the camera when an egg began to hatch.

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"This morning when we woke up, all five chicks were hatched," she said.

The father was in the nest at the time, and Shea said that one parent will always be present to keep the babies warm which might block the chicks from view.

"They need to grow their feathers to keep warm, so they'll just be in there and switching out getting food for the chicks," she said."But you'll see more of the chicks as they grow and there's no room for the parents eventually."

'A critical point'

One of the parents will go out to get food, either insects or small rodents, while one of them stays behind.

"It is a critical point for the chicks. They need to be fed a lot. They need to be kept warm," Shea said.

"So as long as the parents are doing their job, they should be successful."

Shea said there has been interest from the P.E.I. birding community to attend a "banding session" in early July.

"We get people from Holland Collegeout to band them so we can track them if we ever catch them again," she said.

For now the group is going to sit back, relax and enjoy the show.

"We're just going to watch for the next week, cause last year we kind of missed that hatching point, so we're going to document what's happening in there this week."

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