The boys (48 and 46) were have a look around and getting a bit of exercise yesterday afternoon in the drizzle. I wonder what they thought of that! There is a movie of them on the videos page. If you have difficulty seeing the movies, you may find it useful to download Quicktime – its free!
On a very dull and damp Sunday afternoon the boys (46 & 48) have been up on the turret exercising their wings and demanding food from Mum and Dad who are sitting close by. Little do they know that soon they will be trying to get their own food.It must be quite an experience to find that there is something wet coming down from the sky, this is something they are not used to!
The 4 chicks are now grown, and got their juvenile plumage. They will be starting to fly any moment now. They’ve been taking mini-flights onto the top of the nest box, and into the castellations of their turret, but haven’t yet gone outside. Parents are both keeping a very close eye on them. This afternoon a gull flew close to the nest – not normally a problem, but this time Mum didn’t hesitate – she flew down and chased it off. She’s being very protective of her fledglings at this critical time…
People often ask what the peregrines get up to at night, if they sleep through or not. Well, I just had a look at the webcam (you can too – it’s available 24 hours via our home-page). It’s very windy up there, feathers from plucked meals blowing around. Mum was having a bit of a scratch and looking around, very alert, then one of the chicks changed position, bumping her in the process. She’s now trying to sleep with her head buried in her feathers. Like many other mums, she doesn’t seem to be having a very restful night.
Here are pictures of the chicks as they are ringed. They are one of the girls 45 and both boys 46 and 48. The flying shot is mum making one of many noisy passes. More pictures to follow in gallery.
Tonight the chicks were ringed. We have 2 girls 47 & 45 and 2 boys 46 & 48. Pictures to follow and more pictures and video in the galleries
Last Thursday the peregrines had a visit from the Countryfile film crew and we are pleased to announce that we have had confirmation that a piece about our birds will be screened on Sunday 22nd May on BBC1 at 7.00 pm. Needless to say they performed to perfection with Dad posing for shots on the south side of the cathedral and then Mum fed the chicks on cue.Latest picture of our chicks – growing fast and now quite happily left alone in the nest
The four chicks are being fed by both Mum and Dad and are growing fast. You can see a difference every day. Today Lunch was a nice fat pigeon!!Here is a picture taken on May 2nd.
So now there is four being fed even as we speak, well done to mum and dad a truly remarkable couple.
