Parliament - Viz Miging

October 20th


As I headed down the Embankment for Parliament to check on the peregrines at 6.30am, in slightly murky conditions it has to be said, it came over the radio, a TUC Rally taking in Parliament, all roads around Parliament closed by 7.00am.
First thoughts were I’ve made a cock up and my usual crap timing, never less I carried on regardless and parked up round a back street just before they closed the roads.

In the semi darkness I located the Tiercel at 6.50am at roost and at around 7.20am he flew west, no sign of the Falcon so I settled down to wait in Victoria Tower Gardens Park.
As it turned out I never saw either bird again but was very fortunate to observe a lot of visual migration throughout the rest of the morning up until 9.30am, the majority all going west.

Tiercel in the murk

The highlight was undoubtedly a Short Eared Owl high south west at 7.43am, see photos below, bad light and height just made for record shots.

Record shots of SEO

It was mostly small groups other than the Starlings with the main flow of birds and larger flocks coming through from 9.00am to 9.30am.I recorded birds that were relatively low and could id but there was quite a lot more very high that I could not id so it looked to be a massive movement.
Starlings came through in numbers, one flock at 8.35 going west probably totalled around 600 birds, the flock was endless and they just kept coming, in total 830 were recorded throughout the morning. From what I understand elsewhere, Saturday has seen a massive movement through London with large numbers of Redwing moving through.

Jackdaw - a bit of an Inner London rarity

My totals at Parliament are probably a bit modest compared to other areas in London but in the absence of both peregrines I can’t complain, who would have expected a Short Eared Owl over Victoria Tower.

My totals were

Starling – 830
Chaffinch – 71
Siskin – 12 a single flock
Redwing – 35
Meadow Pipit – 110
Jackdaw – 4
Grey Wagtail – 1
Ring Necked Parakeet – 4

Additionally I also had Chiffchaff, 2 Goldcrest and a Song Thrush in Victoria Tower Park.
I would have liked to have stayed longer but the crowds were building, the Police presence enormous and a McDonalds Hot Chocolate was calling me.

Casualty of the Chase - Confirmation

I have just received the results back from the Predatory Bird Monitoring Scheme, they do an absolutely marvellous job and many thanks go to them.
As suspected they confirmed that it was a Tiercel and had been in a collision, most certainly with the chain link fence it was found next to, sadly an unfortunate end.
The diagnosis was “Severe haemorrhage throughout body cavity and in skull, also broken bone in upper neck” thankfully the Tiercel would have died instantly.

It now remains as to how long the Falcon will be on her own, boosted by this year’s juveniles/immatures, I would say it would not be too long, perhaps even a migrant Tiercel.
Since the death of the Tiercel on September 7th I have been looking, as have others for the Falcon, in short she seemed to have disappeared and was not showing at her usual rest/lay up points.
On Sunday she reappeared I am glad to say, given her location I would expect her to become bonded with a Tiercel by Christmas, and hopefully well before the breeding season kicks in.
If she does bond I think it unlikely that they would be successful 1st time round, more likely in 2014/15 especially if it is an immature male.
Having said that, they never do anything straightforward and will most likely prove me wrong, hopefully so.

The Falcon on Sunday-hopefully it will not be too long before she attracts a new Tiercel

On a pretty recent post “Prey and Nest boxes” I blogged a selection of feathers taken from one particular site, I am only ever able to collect 50% of prey and feathers on this site as much of the structure is inaccessible and much disappears through the elements.
A photo of the feathers was sent off for analysis, I had a rough idea what most were, Peregrine Primary and Tail and Green Woodpecker feathers tend to stand out.

However one feather was identified as a Bittern, I am struggling to believe that a peregrine would willingly take on something of this size no doubt at night when they arrive as migrants to winter in local areas. The fact that I only came across one feather may point towards a possible territorial defence, they do this with Grey Herons but this would mean that it possibly happened in the winter. In this case they would not be so territorial so why risk going for/attacking something of this size which is also very dangerous?

The feather was found on the roof of the structure along with the others and has been in my garage since last winter in a batch I collected at the same time in January if I remember correctly.
A bit of a mystery but I just can’t see it happening, peregrines as we know are very aggressive, not as intelligent as Corvids but intelligent enough not to risk potential injury for no reason.
Another possibility is that it was flying over, possibly in moult and the feather came out naturally and drifted down to the roof.

Who knows, certainly a strange one.

The Weekend

Saturday September 29th

This morning I was heading down the M11 to the Cambridgeshire Bird Club Raptor Conference at Cottenham, being close to the heart I was eagerly looking forward to the speakers. I was able to attend the morning session up to 2.00pm but prior engagements meant that I had to leave and miss the afternoon session unfortunately.
Never the less I found the morning conference excellent, a number of speakers included Simon Gilling from the BTO giving a talk on a 40 year overview on raptors, Ed Drewitt whom I send my prey too was also giving a talk on Urban Peregrines.

Amongst other speakers there was a chap from the RSPB called Staffan Roos giving a talk on why our Kestrels are declining; this was very interesting and an eye opener.
It appears that our Kestrel decline is not just nationally, between 1976 and 2008 there was a 40% decline in the UK and Europe, reasons range from a number of issues, the obvious ones and others are listed below.


Habitat loss – loss of set aside and Barley Yield is down – less mice and voles(Voles form 70% of their diet), also principal bird prey is declining – Meadow Pipit and Skylark.

Climate change – wet springs and summers – less productivity

Intraguild Predation – Predators identified which have a direct link to Kestrels numbers are Goshawk, Raven and Common Buzzard.

Nest site competition – Barn Owls in some areas are direct competitors.

Ed’s talk was great on Urban Peregrines, mostly prey related but also the highs and lows of the West Country Peregrines.
Something that I occasionally touch on is Raptor Persecution, listening and looking at the literature and slides paints a grim picture in some areas, mostly Wales, Midlands, North and Scotland. Some of the Shooting Estates are literally getting away with murder, the law such as it is, is totally inadequate.
The latest move by the organizations is Vicarious Liability but even this means nothing if the Courts do not give out sentences to match the Crime.
We are now down to 1 pair of Hen Harriers in England, basically speaking the Government has let it happen.


Sunday September 30th


A dawn visit to a London site, of late this pairing has been giving me the run around over the last month or so, the usual practice is for the Tiercel to hunt and return with the prey for the female.
Unfortunately both have been disappearing but pleased to say on Sunday, both stayed with the Tiercel hunting from the core structure.
Although not great weather I did get brief bursts of hazy sunshine as I watched the Tiercel hunt on a number of occasions, in total 9 hunts with 2 confirmed takes, a Feral Pigeon and a Redwing.
2 methods of hunting were seen, the usual sit on the structure and target a flyby and additionally spot something way up, climb up rapidly in circles closing the gap and when the prey loses its nerve and dives, go for it.

Stunning to watch, above is a couple of photos of the resident Falcon, as you can see, well fed with a large crop.




















































































































































































                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Parliament

22nd September


It’s not very often that I go to Parliament and don’t see a peregrine even at this time of year when breeding is now over and Falcons do seem to wander or explore their territory more?
This morning looked to be going that way after failing to find a peregrine from dawn for a good couple of hours, the weather was great for photography with bright blue skies but the birds had become camera shy unfortunately.

Of the juvenile seen in August there was no sign, if he was still around I would have expected an adult nearby.
In the end the day was saved by the Tiercel arriving from the west, he came into Victoria Tower, perched up, crop was fullish and that was it, siesta time.

Saving the day

With the Tiercel now in a state of sleepy contentment bought on by a near full stomach that was it, hopefully they will not be so hard to see next time.

I visited another well-known site last week and had the fortune to watch and photograph a female Sparrowhawk, she was seemingly’ playing’ and interacting with some mobbing Crows and Magpies for over 25 minutes.

The usual Crow and Magpie mobbing

I should explain that it is a peregrine site and the resident Tiercel had left and was not in the area otherwise the light hearted mobbing by 6 Carrion Crows, 2 Magpies and the Sparrowhawk would not have taken place.

Turning the tables on the Magpie

Magpie grabbed by the tail

Fiesty female, good for her

Needless to say he returned after a while and cleared all, the resident Falcon, having fed early a.m. just sat and watched the proceedings. She took no part in the interaction (about 50 metres away) and made no effort to ‘clear’ her territory, perhaps as she had not successfully bred this year and the territorial bond was not as strong. On the other hand she very likely sees it as part of a Tiercel’s workload being the dominant partner.

A casualty of the chase?

I recently got a call from Nicole and Howard at Rainham RSPB regarding a dead Peregrine found on the Tip, hoping that it was a case of mistaken identity I headed down there. On arrival, Dominic had been on the Tip checking Gulls, he confirmed that it was a Peregrine unfortunately, a sad sight as it was an adult and no doubt one of an established pairing.
Looking at the bird, it was quite large which was throwing me a bit as size suggested Falcon, but otherwise head shape and the pale area above the upper mandible pointed towards Tiercel. There is a lot of variation in size with Peregrines; it is not always the clear cut ‘females are a 1/3 again bigger than the males’.

I recently had 2 full grown juveniles which I knew were male and female, the difference in size was marginal, in flight you could just about tell them apart.
Examining the bird showed some upper bill damage and the neck was most certainly broken, it was found below a chain link fence showed that it had likely been in collision with some part of the fence. Thankfully death would have been instantaneous and the bird would not have suffered. The likely scenario is that it was chasing another bird at speed and failed to see the chain link fence in the heat of the pursuit.

An unfortunate end

I was surprised given the location that Foxes had not got to it overnight but at least this way it could be autopsied and DNA recorded for future reference.

If, ignoring the fence, the only other cause of death could possibly have been another Peregrine, they are very territorial and aggressive; it may have been hit from a dive by another and sustained bill damage when it hit the ground.
Whatever happened I will find out soon from the autopsy and hopefully, as they pair for life, its mate will soon find another to bond with.

Unfortunately despite warnings to the contrary regarding photos on the blog, apparently some peregrine photos have been copied, it looks as if I will have to start copywriting from now on.

Out on their own

Over the weekend of the 25th/26th I visited 2 sites that had both been ringed and DNA sampled in May. One site produced 4 juveniles and the other 2 juveniles; of the larger clutch one juvenile was unfortunately lost but the remaining juveniles all were on their respective sites in mid-August.
After visiting both sites last weekend, all have gone there merry way and set out in the world, the first year will be the hardest and some may well not make it but some definitely will.

Seen at one of the Peregrine sites - Sparrowhawk

Both its English name and scientific name Falco peregrinus means ‘wandering Falcon’ and the juveniles most certainly will wander trying to avoid other Peregrine pairs in and around London. Hopefully they will get through the winter and possibly pair the following year, it’s a rare event that they will pair and breed the following year, but if paired it’s more likely to be the 2nd or 3rd breeding season. It is likely that as all were reared in the City as there natal site, they will likely try and find an urban area to ‘hold’ to.
This year 13 juveniles are carrying the standard BTO silver ring along with an orange ring signifying London, if you see them, if possible read the ring and contact either myself at www.londonperegrines.com or my colleagues at www.london-peregrine-partnership.org.uk If not readable just take a note of the birds location and time, hopefully we can then trace it back to its nest site and a ringing return from the BTO can then be forwarded to you.

Juvenile showing the orange leg ring

As yet I have not been able to get back to Parliament but did visit a site at dawn this morning (Sunday) to check on a pair who went AWOL earlier in the breeding season. Glad to say they are now back on station, there is a big possibility that they bred elsewhere as their timing is perfect as most juveniles have now gone their own way.

Parliament - left to right, Victoria Tower, Middle Tower and Big Ben..Battersea Power Station in background

I recently had a chance to visit the London Eye for the first time, it was quite an experience and below are some photos from the Eye looking towards Parliament, it shows Big Ben, then Middle Tower and finally Victoria Tower.

Parliament

August 18th


The usual early start saw me heading into the City at 4.45am, with the games lanes now open it was back too normality in London, I for one, and like a lot of others was very impressed with the overall Olympic package, I think we did ourselves proud.

As dawn came it promised to be a good morning and so it proved, the only bird I could find as the light became clearer was the Tiercel roosting on Middle Tower, of the Falcon and juvenile(s) there was no sign. At 6.25a.m the Tiercel started to e-chup, as he did so 2 juveniles came into view, the female and one of the males. As they appeared so did the Falcon calling rather stressfully and then began climbing up to the juvenile female, who rather strangely made a very hurried retreat back along the river. I know that they have likely all dispersed and probably come back now and then but it was a very agitated reaction to the juvenile female, especially as she ignored the juvenile male who landed next to the Tiercel who was still very agaitated.Shortly after this, after seeing off the female juvenile the adult Falcon again appeared and took up position on Big Ben.

Falcon showing the 'vertical' landing technique on Big Ben

I strongly suspect that this was juvenile female was not hers and was from another fledged site in London going by the pairs reaction, presently all settled down. Another scenario could be that it was there juvenile and they were ‘weaning’ her out, possibly the juvenile male had just not got the message yet, like last year they may well stop feeding him.
For the next 10 minutes the juvenile repeatedly called for food and presently it got through to the Tiercel who flew north, I then settled down to watch the juvenile as the Falcon was set in stone and looked like doing nothing.

The usual position on Big Ben

During the remainder of the morning the juv made 3 rather clumsy attempts to catch prey, 2 attempts were made on Ring Necked Parakeets, 2 passing groups, they just split, went low and then out turned him before he gave up. The final attempt started with a passing Kestrel making a stoop at the perched juvenile, who then in true peregrine fashion, went after the little mouse hawk probably half in play and half in catch prey ‘mode’. At one point I did see him make a proper grab for the Kestrel but as with the Parakeets the Kestrel easily evaded him, in truth I would I was glad that he didn’t get the Kestrel being a long term favourite.

Juvenile after Kestrel, possibly starts off as ' play' but then may become more deadly

So it now remains how long he will stay, in 2011 a juvenile male stayed well into October coming and going, the adults were not allowing him any prey, it may well be that this male is not so confident as yet either. It’s like school, there are fast and slow learners, it might just take him a little longer judging by earlier hunting activities.

Juvenile

In the end both adult Falcon and the juvenile went simultaneously north around 9.00am flying strongly, no doubt the Tiercel had very likely taken prey further afield, first come first serve so to speak, time for me to go.