Well, short hops anyway. Again today our boy was sitting on top of the nest box and turret, with one of his sisters joining him. The other two have yet to take that leap. He’s getting more daring, hopping across the gaps on top of the turret from one stone to the next. He was gripping tightly and flapping his wings to build up strength. At one point we thought he was going to take a dive into the balcony below, but he managed to hang on. He’ll be flying soon!
Our boy was getting more daring today, sitting right up on top of the turret a couple of times. One of his sisters managed to join him on top of the nest box for a while, snuggling up with him to enjoy the view. The other two girls looked on with frustration, still unable to make the upward leap. None have yet flown properly, or left the turret to explore the rest of the cathedral roof. Won’t be long…
At approximately 5 1/2 weeks old, our chicks are now fully grown and lost just about all of their white fluff. They’ve spent the last few days frantically flapping their wings to build up their muscles. Today, the young male flew onto the roof of the nest box several times and enjoyed sitting up there, showing off to his sisters. They looked on quizzically, wondering how he’d managed to get up there. They tried, but they’re not yet able to join him. They’re bigger than him, so they take a little longer to grow, and their muscles need to be stronger to carry their heavier weight. Won’t be long. Within the next few days we’re expecting them all to be out, exploring the cathedral balcony and the other three turrets. We were able to see our boy from the ground a couple of times while he was sitting on the edge of the nest roof – how wonderful to see him out, instead of on a TV screen! They’re all looking so grown up now.
Today the youngsters had a good feed as soon as the rain stopped at lunchtime. A couple of small snacks followed during the afternoon – Dad bringing in prey that was much, much smaller than the chicks. At 5.00 he dropped into the turret with a small scrap, probably from the larder – it still had feathers on it. One of the chicks grabbed it from him and he left. That’s the first time this year we’ve seen them with the job of plucking, albeit a very small meal. Two of the siblings were busy sleeping, and the fourth was looking on, obviously unsure about how to deal with the situation. Normally a parent feeds them and makes sure they all get a fair share. What do you do when your sibling has got all the food? She gave up in the end and joined the others in their nap.
All four are looking very strong and healthy. Most of the fluffy white down has gone now, with just a few wispy bits left. They’re starting to look quite grown up! Only another week or so until they start to fledge…
We had a lot of people visiting today. It seemed that the peregrines knew and decided to cooperate. The last few days have been very quiet, with both adults spending a lot of time out flying, or sitting on the North side of the cathedral out of the sun. Today, they sat for most of the afternoon on top of the nest turret and pinnacles on the South where we could see them through telescopes. They fed the chicks at lunchtime, and again just as we were packing up late afternoon.
All four chicks are getting quite boisterous now, running around inside the turret and flapping their wings, building up strength. Dad fed them the lunch, and the three girls are now bigger than him! Their honey-brown juvenile feathers are very clearly visible now, through the wispy white downy feathers.
Mid-afternoon, both adults suddenly zoomed off in an easterly direction, so I thought “OK, either they’ve seen an irresistible flock of pigeons, or there’s another bird of prey…” Shortly afterwards, it was confirmed that they’d seen a buzzard and both flew to chase it away before it got too close to the nest. It soon left. Can’t say I blame it – I wouldn’t stick around for long if I had both adult peregrines attacking me!
This morning started with torrential rain, and remained grey and drizzly most of the day. The four siblings spent most of the day huddled up together to keep warm and dry, but did get up once in a while to stretch their wings, walk around, preen, and feed themselves on leftovers, before going back to sleep. When it started raining hard again in the afternoon, mum popped into the nest to check they were all OK and keeping dry, before finding somewhere sheltered elsewhere on the cathedral to sit herself.
The afternoon ended with mum bringing in food. She took it just below the camera to prepare it out of the nest, and immediately all four chicks hopped down off the box to get fed – she couldn’t tear it up quickly enough for them – one of the girls started helping herself!
Our chicks are changing noticeably day by day, getting big and strong. Their facial markings are now very prominent, as are their wing feathers. They’re busy plucking their fluffy white baby feathers out, exposing the new primaries growing underneath.
While the Cathedral bells tolled the 4 chicks of our peregrine family were ringed tonight. After a hearty meal they were in for a surprise, when Graham Roberts and Phil turned up to cause mayhem for the adults and ring the chicks. There was great excitment when we dicsovered there were 3 females and 1 male. All are healthy and had full crops from their meal and were successfully ringed and replaced in the nest. By the time we left around 9.30 all was quiet on the Cathedral spire. A very successful day. See picture below and in the May gallery and video on the link from the Home page.
We had a disappointing start today – the electricity was down in the Cathedral, so we couldn’t get live views of the nest until mid afternoon. When it came back on, the sun was out, and the chicks were all sitting in the shade, hard to see clearly. On top of that, the adults were both out of sight for most of the day, so all we had was video. It was very frustrating.
Around 4.00 we saw dad fly south and expected him to return with dinner. About 20 minutes later, we noticed mum was looking twitchy and somewhat irritated. She then headed out to find dad, returning after only a few minutes with him in tow. They gave a wonderful display for several minutes, flying leisurely together over the Cathedral and surrounding gardens.
Then, time for action – mum suddenly headed north-west and stooped in a fast dive, disappearing behind buildings. She returned to the nest a few moments later clutching a pigeon. She dropped into the turret and proceeded to pluck the pigeon as normal. The chicks were all hungry, and approached the front of the nest box, lining up for their share.
After a bit of feeding, mum returned to plucking the rest of the pigeon, with the hungry chicks watching intently. Then one of them decided he (or she) had had enough of waiting, and stepped off the edge of the box into the turret below! What an exciting moment for our young chick! Well, it was exciting for us watching it anyway, I think he was too focussed on reaching dinner to realise the big step he’d just taken! Two of the others followed when they saw he was being fed out of their reach. It wasn’t a very dignified drop, but they made it. One walked around exploring the turret a little before heading for food. We thought the fourth (who had been the first to be fed) was going to stay in the nest, but just before 5.00, he joined his siblings on the turret floor. Now the parents have got no chance of controlling them – they’re off!
If you saw mum catch the pigeon, please add a comment and let us know where it happened – thanks!
Pictures taken from RSPB video.
Our four little chicks aren’t even two weeks old, still fluffy, white and very wobbly, and yet they’re already showing signs of independence. They’ve approximately trebled in size since hatching, and are already moving around, flapping their wings, preening (each other as well as themselves!), and trying to feed themselves on leftovers from dinner. Mum and Dad are spending hours at a time out of the nest to encourage them. It’s working!
