Parliament

August 23rd


As I have mentioned before I am not getting to Parliament as much as I would like to, other commitments and especially the weather have marked the number of visits this year.
With all the gear needed, Bin’s, Camera and Telescope it has to be by car which means weekends visits otherwise it’s a case of a weekday congestion charge visit.
On top of that during the week , outside of Parliament it is very busy as you can imagine, also having to pay to park around Westminster can be an expensive exercise, in short it would cost a few bob for a weekday visit.

Last Saturday I at last got a chance to catch up on the pair and hopefully the 2 juveniles, arriving at my usual time around 5.30am.

Located both adults at roost on Victoria Tower, they soon emerged and took up station to hunt, the Falcon went to Big Ben and the Tiercel disappeared, possibly to a favoured hunting area.

I positioned myself on Westminster Bridge and waited for the Falcon to begin hunting, light at that time was not great but was getting better all the time.
There is one shot that I have been trying to get for a good few years, that is of one of the peregrines speeding past the London Eye after prey. All depends on the direction of the hunt and location of the prey, also my lens – F4 300mm is not really man enough for the job. The reach is better with a 1.4x convertor on but trying to keep a lock on a speeding peregrine, in not so good light can be very frustrating, it just won’t lock.
I have got one of the Falcon going past the Eye but it was far too distant and taken from a lot further away.

Falcon just about viewable,she's the dot on the right of the 'crown'

The shot I am after.

Just about to go

After prey

Anyway it didn’t matter as all of her hunts went north or west, the bridge is east of Big Ben so the hoped for shot never materialised, also no prey was taken.

Of the Tiercel there was no sign during this time, possibly having taken prey for himself and feeding on some distant building rather than carry it back.

As for the juveniles not a sign either so they could possibly have gone, it looks that way, with earlier breeding in London it seems earlier dispersal as well.

I also met a very nice couple taking their wedding photos in the morning, prior to their wedding, on Westminster Bridge against the backdrop of Big Ben and Parliament.

If you read this, all the best, congratulations and the very best of luck for the future.