Spring is fading into summer, and that means that nest cam season is in full swing. If you need a little more nature in your life, look no further than The Nature Conservancy’s kestrel cam.
The camera is mounted on a nest box at TNC’s Great Salt Lake Shorelands Preserve, which protects 4,400 acres of wetlands and uplands habitat along the eastern edge of the Great Salt Lake. The lake is crucial habitat for between 4 and 6 million shorebirds and waterfowl, which stop at the lake to rest and re-fuel during their migration.
Kestrels live at the preserve year-round, and the cam provides a birds-eye view (pun intended) into the birds’ lives as they raise their young each spring.
This year, the first chick hatched on Wednesday, May 17, 2023, and its four siblings followed soon after. You can catch all of the family antics until mid-June, when the chicks will fledge and leave the nest.
If you want to learn more about kestrels at the Great Salt Lake, check out our previous cam coverage on Cool Green Science. You can also learn more about the threats facing the Great Salt Lake ecosystem on nature.org.
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