Weekend July 23rd and 24th

Tied up on other sites over the weekend so did not have a chance to visit Parliament, yet another pair has come to light, when I wonder will they reach there capacity in London?

It has been a good year for them, of the 9 sites that I monitor, many have produced fledged juveniles, in addition to this, Nathalies pair at Fulham&Barnes Peregrines successfully bred for the first time and fledged 3 juveniles.

As expected in Inner London, over 90% of prey is made up of Feral Pigeon, as you get out towards East London, many of the sites that I cover, you do begin to notice the difference in there appetites. I am now recording Ring Necked Parakeet regularly when I get the chance to visit nest sites once licensing restrictions are relaxed, this was recently the case at one particular site.

Juvenile Peregrines, not from the site above, even as Juveniles they are stunning looking Falcons

Unusual sight of a juvenile sitting in a tree

This site fledged 3 juveniles and whilst visiting the site for urgent works, the juveniles are flying now very strongly, I counted the remains of at least 7 Ring Necked Parakeets, this is mostly due to local abundance. The Peregrines are not having to go ‘looking’ for them, hunting takes place from the nest site structure as the Parakeets flyby. This site more than any other has the potential to turn up more varied species due to its geographical location, I am eagerly looking forward to collecting the prey at the end of August.

From this to the adult below, it sometimes takes a few months before they take there own prey

Adult with prey

I was also sent a photo the other day from the same site, this had been windblown over the side and was obviously quite an old kill, on examination of the photo received, It looks good for a Red Legged Partridge. As there is little suitable habitat in this pairs territory for this species, they are hemmed in by other Peregrines on all sides, it raises the possibility that this could well be another pair hunting at night.

To see a Peregrine ' flat out ' at speed is a stunning sight,trying to keep the camera on it is another matter

I intend to visit Parliament this weekend in the hope that the whole family have now established themselves around the House of Commons.

We will see.