Back in early May I got a call from Mid-American Energy telling me that the electric pole at the far end of my property was scheduled to be replaced soon. The kestrel box was fastened to that pole, so I decided to move it. When I climbed the ladder to take it down, I found several eggs inside. I carefully moved it to a nearby tree and thankfully the birds didn’t seem too disturbed by this sudden relocation of their nest.

There were 5 or 6 eggs in the nest, and I saw as many as 3 of the babies at the same time.

The new location enabled me to approach the box without being seen by the birds – something I was never able to do when it was fastened to the pole.