Category: Tenants and visitors

Swift seasons

  • 2015/05/05 – return of the swifts
  • 2016/08/?? – – installation of the nestoxes above the window next to the kestrel balcony
  • 2017/04/29 – return of the swifts
  • 2018/05/04 – return of the swifts
  • 2019/05/05 – return of the swifts
  • 2020/05/07 – return of the swifts
  • 2020/05/18 – Mr. Kestrel brings a swift to his chicks (first recorded case)
  • 2020/07/12 – rescue a swift that failed his first flight
  • 2021/05/09 – return of the swifts
  • 2022/05/11 – return of the swifts
  • 2023/05/07 – return of the swifts
  • 2024/04/15 – a group of starlings decided to nest in the swift nestboxes
  • 2024/05/29 – at least 2 pairs of swifts nesting next to starlings in the swift nestboxes

 

Mice

    1. Rolanda (2009/05/30—2011/05/31)
    2. Rolandek (2011/07/06—2012/10/02)
    3. Martinka (2012/11/11—2013/10/2?)
    4. Cecilka (2013/11/22—2016/04/10)
    5. Jůlinka (2016/04/12—2017/03/21)
    6. Leontýnka (2017/03/22—2017/10/02)
    7. Éliška (2017/10/05—2018/09/26)
    8. Ivuška (2018/10/01—2018/10/26-29)
    9. Waruška (2018/10/01—2020/01/14)
    10. Blaženka (2020/02/03—2021/05/14)
    11. Žofie (2021/05/15—2023/06/24)
    12. Amálka (2023/07/10—2024/12/31)
    13. Jakubka, Amálka’s daughter (2023/08/15—2023/10/28)
    14. Haninka, Amálka’s daughter (2023/08/15—2024/11/13)
    15. Vilma (2025/01/07—)

Vilma lives with us 87 days 8 hours .

“Our” kestrels online

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A virtual window into our balcony…
Click the camera number to open the  camera page; you can also select it from a list of our cameras.
We are also testing a live stream on our Falco tinnunculus brunensis  YouTube channel. See also YouTube live.

The story so far: Kestrels have been nesting on our balcony regularly since 2007. The male of the kestrel pair has been living with us since November 2019. With the previous female (she lived with us from July 2018 to January 2022), they brought out 6 young in 2020 and 4 young in 2021. With the current Mrs Kestrel, who  appeared here on February 12, 2022, then 4 young ones in 2022, 6 ones in 2023 and in 2024.

They both spent this winter 2024—25 with us. Courtship began at the end of February.  The female laid the first egg on April 3rd.

Currently, the kestrel couple comes to our balcony mainly for the night; they spend it on perches above the old and new nest. Since the beginning of the nesting season, you can also watch them during the day. The male brings the food to the female to prove he’s a great provider and that this territory is a suitable rodent-packed place to nest.

When the kestrels are not present, you can see also other birds: tits, nuthatches (regular winter visitors in small mixed troops), sparrows…  and also pigeons, whose presence is a permanent source of conflicts with kestrels.

The swift nestboxes next to the kestrel’s balcony had been empty since the end of July 2025. We expect their return in the first days of May.

 

Kestrel seasons
Season 2025 (in Czech only).

 

Updated 04/04/2025 09:05

Of Mice and Kestrels

Kestrels (common or european kestrels) stay with us in our flat in a housing estate in the suburb of Brno for a long time. Initially they used our balcony only as a shelter and dormitory, but since the fire in 2006, the situation changed. Starting with the 2007 season kestrels are nesting here. History of nesting can be found here. Photo and video archive here. Continue reading “Of Mice and Kestrels”