The 2013 American Kestrel season is just about finished.

The St. Lawrence River Valley kestrel population is doing well on my 286,000 acre study area since we started our nest box study. In 2002 there were 51 kestrels and the population hit a high of 304 during the 2010 season and for the past 3 years we have hovered between 280 (2011 and 2012) and 290 (2013). We banded 105 chicks and we still have 1 box with chicks and 4 boxes with eggs that need to be checked. Not bad when you think the first season we only banded 15 chicks and it took us 5 seasons to break 100 chicks banded for the year.