[mou] interesting Science Museum kestrel event

[Adele Binning]

Just thought I'd relate this interesting event from a couple of years  
back.

At the Science Museum there is a large outdoor staircase that leads  
from the Kellogg Plaza down to the Shepard Road level.   At points  
along that suspended staircase, there are streetlights. At the base  
of each streetlight, there is a metal box with a round hole on one of  
the vertical faces (presumably where the electrical wires would enter  
if these streetlights were put in the ground). Since these  
streetlights were up in the air, mounted to the staircase, that left  
a sturdy box with a hole on the side suspended way above the ground.

ANYWAY...one spring about three years ago, someone noticed a couple  
of kestrels checking out the base of one of these  
streetlights...perhaps as a possible nest site. For several days we  
would see a kestrel enter the hole and then turn around with its head  
sticking out. We were really rooting for it to choose that site but  
after a few days they decided it wasn't suitable. In subsequent years  
I haven't seen any similar behavior but I think I'll look again since  
folks have been noticing kestrels hanging around the Museum over the  
past couple of days.

Adele Binning