Prey and nest boxes

One of the questions that I get asked quite a lot is what are they feeding on in London, the obvious one is feral pigeon, this forms around 90-95% of their diet, this is mainly down to the fact that there are so many of them. Additionally there flight patterns suit the Peregrines as they tend to move around a lot, particularly at dawn when they move to their feeding grounds which may be quite a distance away.
For a number of years I have been doing prey collections at individual sites in London and these have been sent off for analysis to Ed Drewitt in Bristol, he very kindly identifies one and all.
The top 3 in London in order taken seem to be – Feral Pigeon, Starling and Ring Necked Parakeet, it makes sense as all 3 are pretty abundant, however Black Headed Gull is as well but this is never taken as much as the others.Carrying size and possible flavour of meat may be an issue?

A selection of feathers taken last year from one site, some are from a peregrine moult, one in particular is astonishing, will reveal id at next posting, any idea's?

Over the years he has identified some unusual prey, Hen Pheasant tops the list at one site, feathers only, don’t ask me how as even a Falcon could surely not carry it. On this particular site, the nest area is 40 metres up, the only way would have been at night which is when the ‘weak’ flyers move round, she likely intercepted it above the nest area or close and then just glided in. Alternatively she/he again could have hit it at night, failed to hold or carry and feathers just drifted down onto the structure.

I checked a site over the weekend and collected up the prey, there were the obvious feral pigeons, at least 4 or 5 Starlings, perhaps 3 or 4 Ring Necked Parakeets, 2 Black Headed Gulls, a Black Tailed Godwit and a Moorhen. More will no doubt come to light when Ed checks the various feathers and bones.

One thing that Peregrines are not is house proud; on this particular site the nest box was scrubbed and cleaned for 2012 prior to breeding as I do with all the boxes. Looking at it and the surrounding area as usual resembled a bit of a pig sty after the season’s breeding, it is the same everywhere. I will know clean it out and scrub thoroughly to get rid of any parasites and then in Jan/Feb give it a final clean out prior to starting all over again.
I have recently nearly finished one which will be shortly off to pastures new, this is the walk in version that are more successful than the old Hawk and Owl design with a lip and a ledge. You may think they are big but when you have an adult Falcon or Tiercel and up to 4, sometimes 5 full grown juveniles it has to be big to allow them to exercise.

A box in the process of being built.....

Not far off being finished, this is hopefully how it will end up...below

Accepted!

This is all important on that maiden flight, if they have not the room to exercise and build wing strength and muscle it is sometimes inevitable that 1 or more will ground. Sometimes even with a good exercise area a combination of events can ground them, weather on the day(lack of wind) or even shocked into flight by an adult, such was the case with the pair that Nathalie monitors at Fulham in 2011.

Parliament

August 4th

So much for my last post when I said I will visit on the weekend of the 28th/29th, I couldn’t get anywhere near Parliament due to the Olympic Cycling but in the end I managed a visit on Saturday 4th.
Like everyone else I have been caught up with the Olympics, it has been a rollercoaster ride of patriotism and emotion; I thought the opening ceremony was quite incredible. As I am writing this I have just seen Jennifer Ellis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah all take gold this evening, this along with 2 rowing events and the girls pursuit cycling produced another 3 gold’s in the afternoon, great stuff. I was glued to the tele and cheering on with the best of them, 6 gold medals in a day and still we lost the penalty shootout in the football, something’s never change.
I arrived around 5.15am at Parliament, traffic as you would expect was light at this time but I had decided to limit the visit as the Triathlon was coming pretty close this morning. I could already see Stewards starting to appear even at that time, the Olympics were in town.
Checking Victoria Tower produced a juvenile male and the adult Falcon, the light was getting better and she went straight up to Big Ben and began to hunt. Big Bens ‘golden crown’ gives them a 360 degree all round view and also the height to gain speed to catch prey.

Falcon can just about be seen sitting on the left of the 'crown'

Feral pigeon taken

I decided to watch from Westminster Bridge as the sun was partially behind me and I could possibly get some half decent shots.
At 5.50am she took a feral pigeon, I managed to get one shot of it but none too clever, the juvenile as expected intercepted her and took the prey from her and was last seen heading into Central London no doubt to get away from his siblings, especially the bigger female.
After this she continued hunting at it was not until 6.40am when she again took prey, again she was intercepted by another male juvenile, he took a small passerine from her and then as before with the 1st juvenile, disappeared. Where he came from I don’t know, I had already checked Victoria Palace, as normal with juveniles, as soon as there is food about they come out of the woodwork.

Falcon with juvenile male - size difference apparent

2nd juvenile just about to take prey from adult

Falcon passing the Eye

After this the adult female laid up and rested on Victoria Palace, she most likely had stashed prey somewhere but was probably waiting until the coast was clear before she fed.
Of the adult Tiercel and the remaining juvenile male and female there was no sign, I expect that all were together either on or near the nest site.

The Crown of Big Ben

Victoria Tower and Middle Tower

A good but brief visit with most of the time spent on Westminster Bridge, I did manage to get a few shots but I am now finding I need more range and light from my Lens, a new one is on the horizon hopefully.

Parakeets and the weekend

July 21st/22nd

With glorious sunshine I gave Parliament a miss and decided on 2 other sites to check on progress with half a mind on some photography given the weather.
Parliament is going to be awkward from now with the Olympics as I drive, its ok getting up there at dawn but getting home could prove a challenge to say the least, the tube will most likely be chock a block as well. I did manage to visit on Wednesday but alas the weather and the birds did not cooperate, so much for the last post – back at last, they are back but they keep going, it’s a big old playground out there.

The Olympics is in Town

On to Parakeets or given their full name, Rose Ringed or Ring Necked, Peregrines seem to love them, in London I would say they are only 3rd to the feral pigeon and Starling, ferals will always be no 1 due to their abundance.
Of the 2 sites I visited, both have dependant juveniles, 3 RNP were taken on the Saturday by the 1st pair and 2 were caught by the Sunday pair, a total of 5 for these 2 pairs for the 2 days, bearing in mind they will likely hunt again in the afternoon it is likely more.
The parakeets flying style seems to make them a target for Peregrines(they always seem to be going somewhere fast) either aloft or waiting for a flyby, all the Parakeets I usually see are either leaving a roost en masse or in large groups heading for distant favoured feeding areas. I suspect it is this movement that takes place at dawn which the Peregrines may well have learnt to exploit, I know of 2 pairs of peregrines that regularly fly to designated spots to wait for ferals leaving roosts, perhaps the same may apply for Parakeets. On the other hand it could be that there are now so many Ring Necked Parakeets in London that it is inevitable that they will fall as prey. I suspect that in the not too distant future they may well come under DEFRA’s radar as a non-native species similar to Ruddy Duck, I have to say that like many I never agreed with that cull.

Of the 2 pairs that I watched over the weekend, all of the juveniles have been ringed, but as well as this all have had a feather removed for DNA recording, with London’s population it is very welcome for the future, hopefully it will never be needed .

Juvenile Peregrine - a stunning looking bird

On another site in London a pair that fledged 2 juveniles in 2011 have failed this year due to the installation of a large pirate radio mast; this was installed directly above the nest ledge after gaining access illegally to the roof space. They must have been on the roof for hours keeping the pair from incubating and the peregrines unfortunately deserted, the matter is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police, OFCOM and the local Council. From what I gather they will be hard to trace.
With decent weather again forecast for this weekend I may well brave the Olympics on Sunday to try and get to Parliament, after all can’t let a little sports event get in the way of the peregrines can we.

Adult Tiercel - just as stunning

Parliament pair- back at last

 July 14th

In fact they came back on the 4th and were seen and heard by many people at Parliament, I had planned to visit on the 7th but the monthly birders drink the night before put paid to that, a sore head no less.
Despite the constant rain I decided to visit, firstly to check and see if they were present and then also clean out the nest box balcony with Tom on Victoria Tower, whilst up there we observed some great action which I will relate later.
I am not going to talk about the weather despite being sick to death of it, much the same as everyone else; we it appears in and around London are getting off pretty lightly. In many other areas around the country people have had their homes flooded and lost much of their belongings. You can only sympathise with them, it seems the climate is changing; it is easily the wettest June/July that I can remember.

I was lucky this morning when I arrived, it was not raining and Big Ben was showing 4.35a.m, in fact the rain held off to around 10.00a.m.Hoping that they were present I waited in the semi darkness, at 4.40a.m no less than 3 juveniles came out from Victoria Tower, one with a pigeon wing, they were present!
They all eventually flew to Westminster Abbey and this was where the 3 stayed for a good hour, during that time I also located the Tiercel on prey feeding whilst one of the juv’s called his hunger to the world, the Tiercel ignored him.

Victoria Palace - 4.43am

Juveniles at play

Despite a good search I could not locate the adult Falcon or the remaining juvenile, Big Ben, Middle and Victoria Tower were all quiet, I suspect that both were at the nest site together.
Presently the Tiercel relinquished the remains of the pigeon, he must have gone out in the dark to get past me unless he was already on the Abbey roosting and the pigeon may well have been stashed prey. The leftovers were taken by one of the male juveniles and he high tailed it towards the river with the other 2 juveniles right on his tail, the time was 6.45am, that was to be the last I saw of them until later around 9.30am.
I searched Victoria Tower but it was quite obvious that they had gone, it was eerily quiet for one thing, anyone who is involved with juvenile peregrines will know that they make a racket.
I watched the Tiercel for a while, he again took another feral pigeon, on landing looking around rather bemused as no juveniles were present, he then decided to stash the pigeon.

Female Juvenile on the Abbey

Male Juvenile

Westminster Abbeys wide ledges - a favourite, Victoria Palace in background

Tiercel stashing another pigeon

I left him there and headed into Parliament and up Victoria Tower.
It was while me and Tom were cleaning up the balcony that we heard a juvenile calling, it came into view below us, a male labouring under the weight of a feral pigeon, it was obviously looking for somewhere to land and feed.
Unfortunately it made the mistake of heading out over the river towards the London Eye, this section is Lesser Black Backed Gull territory as they have young on the adjacent Portcullis House.3 dived at him and he went even lower but turned back for Parliament to my relief. I recalled an incident a few years back when a Falconer lost a Harris Hawk somewhere along the Thames when it was forced into the river by large Gulls. As the juvenile made for Parliament 2 of the Gulls carried on giving him a hard time, this was when the cavalry arrived in the shape of the Tiercel, he came from above and set about and then drove off the 2 Gulls off before escorting the juvenile back to the Tower.
As we both watched, the juvenile followed by the Tiercel flew underneath us pretty close, it was a stunning sight and my only regret was that I could not capture it on the camera, how often do you get to see one underneath you this close.
A good end to the morning, all we need now is sunshine.

The balcony,nestbox can just be seen

Parliament Pair

 Sunday July 1st

So much for predictions, I had high hopes they would defect from the nest site and come back to Parliament early but it looks as if my prediction was a little premature. I visited again at dawn on Sunday morning in the hope that the adults may well have encouraged them over; they are certainly trying too on the Tiercels part.
I arrived at 4.40am hoping that I would initially hear them, and then hopefully come out from roost. Unfortunately it was not to be although the Tiercel did emerge from his roost on Victoria Tower around 4.50am.
I expected him to go over to the nest site building straight away but instead he started to hunt, by now I had decided he was on his own. At just after 5.00a.m he pursued and caught a feral pigeon, I thought that's it, he’s off to feed one of the 4 juveniles, I was a little surprised as he partially plucked it and then stashed it on Victoria Tower. Further to this he then went up to Middle Tower and began to hunt again, unusual behaviour for a father with 4 hungry kids to feed, normal behaviour would be to take it straight back to the Falcon or one of the juveniles if he is not going to feed himself.

Stashing feral pigeon at 5.04a.m



Hunting again from Middle Tower

Middle Tower

During the course of the morning, I stayed for about 3 hours he took another pigeon, had 6 more failed hunts and narrowly missed taking a Mistle Thrush, the Thrush was very lucky as it went for the ground and just about made it I am glad to say. The other pigeon was again stashed and he then repeated the earlier action of going up, this time to Big Ben to hunt again.
It could be that the hunting is better from Parliament and he is making the most of it by building up a ‘larder’ for the juveniles as dawn is always the best time to hunt.
His behaviour was a little odd with no prey taken over to the nest site juveniles while I was there, one reason could be that he is doing it to get the 4 juveniles over to Parliament, it is basically ' if you want to feed, you have to come over '

Big Ben - Tiercel just about viewable

High Flyers

I dare say that the juveniles with their incredible eyesight may well be able to see him; the Falcon will be on 'guard duty ' watching over them, it will only take one to fly to Parliament and the rest will likely follow. The Falcon will also be hungry so it is odds on that she will go as well, again they may well follow her, hunger is a great motivator.
I will stick my neck out and say they will be over by the 8th; as usual they will likely prove me wrong again.

Searching for Gold!

Parliament Pair

Saturday June 23rd


From others, namely Rose, Morg and Stuart from the LPP who had monitored them over the last week or so doing a great job, I knew before I arrived at 4.45am that they had fledged and were on the wing. Even better all 4 were safe and sound and were flying strongly.

The adults getting in on the frivolities

If you watch peregrines, dawn is always the best time to watch them, as I am getting older, just turned 55 no less, getting up at silly o’clock is getting harder. It is the best time to watch them, all that is on the adults and juveniles mind is FOOD! This makes them very very active and such was the case when I arrived, I could hear them a 100 metres away from the nest site, the noise was unbelievable, the sight even better.
Briefly all 6 were in the air interacting, a staggering sight in anyone’s book, even for me who has watched them for over 12 years, seeing this in the heart of London make all those early mornings worthwhile.
As expected as soon as I disembarked from the car, all had dispersed around the structure. The weather was not too bad, not great, a little overcast but possibly good enough to get some half decent photos. I decided to have a look round to see if I could find myself a spot out of the way so not to draw attention to the birds, mind you the racket they were making they were impossible to ignore.

I found myself a spot on a little private factory estate, not viewable from the road so I tucked myself away around a corner and waited. At this stage in there development the juveniles are still flying low, they are not street wise like the adults who will only come down so far, with the juv’s there are no boundaries as yet.
Staying in one position is limited but I did get to record some excellent behaviour, I was facing the light/dark stretch of sky for most shots but not too bad otherwise.
Watching the juveniles, as usual it is a first come first serve basis when it comes to food; basically this means that if the Tiercel is spotted far out bringing in prey, it is who can get to him first. He bought in prey on 3 occasions, he was intercepted on all, sometimes by up to 3 juveniles, airborne food passes took place. After this the trick was to get back to the structure without your brother or sister nailing you from underneath and then losing your meal. On one such time a feral pigeon was dropped, all the Tiercels hard work undone by two scrapping juveniles.

Juv on Juv

While I was watching it looks as if the juveniles are already following the adults and travelling further afield, on one such foray, the direction they were taking would have took them straight to Parliament. If they have not already been there, it is only a matter of time, possibly this week hopefully. Watching these juveniles compared to last year’s juv’s seems to show that these are more active and adventurous. Much of this is very likely down to the weather, at the moment we have good winds, sometimes too strong, it makes flying effortless for them and they can roam more, all the time building up wing strength.
I decided after to go to Parliament to check to see if any peregrines were present, lo and behold the Tiercel was there, very likely having a breather from the kids.
I will check again next weekend, I have a feeling that they may be at Parliament.

Tiercel back at Parliament

Art at Parliament, very nice too.