Dorset Hobby Falcons: Season opens with 3-egg clutch for new female & returning male 🥚🥚🥚 2024 Jun 28

From WildlifeWindows:
This is the 3rd year we have been fortunate to set up this camera and the 4th year that we know hobbies have used this location to nest. The adult male is the same male (he is ringed) but we think the female is a new bird as she doesn’t have the aberrant white feather on her head which has been present in previous years. We still don’t have a full ring number for the male but are fairly certain he was ringed as a chick by us in 2019 approx. 10km away.
The camera system was set up well before the breeding season and involves a complex set of cabling, solar panels and wireless bridges across 5km of farmland to send the video to a location with good enough broadband to enable live streaming. While we aim to keep this stream going 24/7 due to its complexity it is possible the stream might get interrupted....bear with us we will get it back running as soon as we can.
Hobbies (Falco subbuteo) are a long-winged migratory falcon which breed relatively late in the UK in order to take advantage of prey items such as juvenile swallows, house martins and dragonflies. Eurasian hobbies mostly over-winter in the southern half of Africa arriving back in mid-April to mid-May to begin the breeding process. It’s amazing to know these birds have flown so far and returned to lay their eggs in the same 6 square inches at least 4 years in a row.
3 eggs have been laid which is a normal clutch size for hobbies.
Egg 1, 2nd June 6:47 pm
Egg 2, 5th June 6:46 am (60 hours)
Egg 3, 7th June 8:04 pm (61.25 hours)
Hatching should start approx. end of the first week in July
Notes: This is a wild nest showing wild birds doing wild things. The main prey items will be birds and dragonflies and some bats.
TH-cam chat will be active this year. As moderators of the channel, we will try to answer questions but are busy working and doing raptor study field work so won’t be able to answer everything. Please be considerate of others on the chat and be neighbourly. We reserve the right to disable the chat and/or stop the stream.
Courtesy Wildlife Windows and Dorset Raptor Study Group
Nest cam: • Dorset Hobby Camera Li...

[@6falconsue]

Congrats to Dorset Dad and his new mate--3 eggies! Can't wait to see the little ones!

[@Dee-108]

Very lovely to watch! Thank you!

[@diane9501]

I was so happy to see this nest cam go live earlier this week as i had been waiting and wondering how long it would be until we see the hobbies again.
3 eggs, let's hope they all hatch.
New female and new nest i think
Thank you SK from my own country UK, nice to see you pop by 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@brucemarshall3446]

Thank you! Year round cams🎉

[@mjoao4635]

I m still missing this😅..
But you are here to brings to us the highlits of the best nest👍👍
Thanks SK

[@prb9934]

Thank you very much for your awesome work!

[@kitkat5765]

Such a great little nest!!

[@jada2675]

These are beautiful birds!

[@rookbirdblues]

So happy to see a raptor cam from my home country!!! You can hear common buzzards (close relatives of your red tailed hawks) calling in the background at the end. Hobbies are so beautiful, we only get to see them in the summertime and its such a joy to watch them catching dragonflies and birds on the wing! So excited to see the chicks.

[@skhideaways]

Oh, there are dozens of raptor cams in England (as well as in Wales). The peregrines have all fledged now, but many of those nests that livestream. Some are active only while there are chicks around, others, I believe, run year-round, such as Ealing. The ospreys are in full swing now. If you search on TH-cam, you'll find them!

[@rookbirdblues]

​@@skhideaways Hehe, I keep up to date on as many as I can. I meant more that it's exciting to see one on your channel specifically! Thank you for your hard work

[@skhideaways]

Ah, I see. This will be my third year capturing the Dorset Hobbies. I must force myself not to do more lest I truly render myself needing to get a life. Thanks for watching!

[@pumpupjam9648]

Congratulations to both Raptors, 3 eggs! Wow! Love the strength in this nest. Looks very sturdy.

[@skhideaways]

Hobbies traditionally use vacant corvid nests. In this case, the nest is man made.

[@debs987]

Thanks! ❤

[@ishmyl99]

I can't take it! All these beautiful raptors are sending me over the edge. My saturation limit was reached way back w/Lou Boo at the Campanile, 2023. You're killing me, SKH! 😜

[@skhideaways]

Imagine being in my head. 🤯

[@ishmyl99]

@@skhideaways You've got to be kidding. My head would explode. You're up to the beaks in there! 😝

[@6falconsue]

@@ishmyl99 Don't worry, Ish--we'll do it together. SKH had done a magnificent job of spreading the wealth across seasons and hemispheres.

[@ishmyl99]

@@6falconsue ❤😊

[@edwardizhonig204]

@skhideaways- I don’t know how you do it but I am so grateful and thankful that you do! You’re helping to save these guys by spreading awareness and creating joy! Thank you from my heart! Liz ❤️❤️😊