Chichester Peregrine Blog

Yesterday afternoon as we arrived to watch in the cathedral grounds we heard the unmistakable sounds of a peregrine alarm call.  Mum had spotted an intruder from her vantage point on the nest turret.  Dad was up in an instant and there followed several close encounters with an intruder.  We suspect it was the female (it was bigger than Dad) from last year’s brood as it was very reluctant to go.  Dad finally chased her off to the south east and returned to the nest turret – obviously mum didn’t feel he had done a good enough job and took off also in a south easterly direction to make sure.  They were soon both back on the spire and Dad tried a bit of mating but she wasn’t interested and shooed him off.  He disappeared,  to return very quickly with what looked suspiciously like a woodcock.  Mum quickly took charge of this even though she still had a full crop leaving Dad looking hungry!!  Hopefully he got some dinner after we had left!

The first egg was laid sometime last night!  Looks like we will have a family this year after all the speculation. Thanks to Mel and John for the information.  We look forward to seeing everybody at the Cathedral when the RSPB set up shop around the 23 April.

In the last couple of weeks I’ve seen dad frequently sitting on the nest turret, often after a verbal prompt from mum.  He’s been particularly attentive, looking after her and the nest.  Today I watched her enjoying a meal he’d brought in.

I haven’t seen them mating myself, but I have heard from a few other locals who’ve seen them.  Watch this space…

Yesterday in freezing wind but beautiful sunshine both Mum and Dad were sitting on the Cathedral.  Dad was in his usual spot and Mum decided it was cold on the south side and moved to the west –  but you can see the wind was still ruffling her feathers.

Well, the last few weeks have been fairly uneventful – both peregrines sitting close together, either one above the other, or mirroring each other like bookends.  Nothing has really happened worth mentioning though.  There is some restoration work being done at the cathedral at the moment, and one of the builders yesterday told me that our pair were spotted mating earlier in the day.  Gosh, that is very early!  About 2-3 weeks earlier than we expect based on previous years.

Today, I saw them again doing their impression of a pair of bookends, then mum squawked, prompting dad to fly around and land on the nest turret.  He kept looking from the turret up to her and back again, presumably contemplating his duties for the months ahead.  He then hopped down inside for a few minutes before reappearing on top to watch the sunset.  No sign of mating today, but they’re obviously thinking about it!

I was in town around 7.30 this evening, and happened to pass the cathedral.  I glanced up and saw one of the adults flying around the spire, catching the light on its underparts.  It looked spectacular, very pale against the black night sky!  It wasn’t long before it landed on the west side.  Perhaps it had just moved around to check on its mate…

There are definite signs of courtship behaviour, and starting to prepare for another brood in the spring.On arriving at the cathedral today, there was nobody to be seen.  A while later, both birds flew in together, him landing on his high perch and her on a pinnacle below.  Mum looked a bit twitchy and aggravated when a sparrowhawk appeared flying over to the east, but didn’t move.  Not until dad flew off, at which point she followed, staying close to him.  They returned together again, him to sit on a pinnacle, while she sat on the nest turret looking in with interest.She moved to a pinnacle just above the turret to preen, then dad flew down to the nest turret, earning him some brownie points!  He’s obviously making an effort to impress her, and it didn’t go unnoticed – she was watching him very closely.We ended our afternoon with a superb view of him sitting directly above her to the east of the spire.

I’m relieved to say that both our birds survived the Big Freeze.  I popped around a couple of times during the snow, but last time only saw one of them which was a little worrying.  Today, I was in town enjoying the glorious sunshine and saw both of them, Mum was in Dad’s usual spot high on the spire, having booted him out to sit on a pinnacle below (perhaps she was hoping he’d go and get some dinner!).

A bright and sunny (if rather chilly) afternoon at Chichester Cathedral on New Year’s Day and both Mum and Dad are sitting close together on the south side of the spire.  After inspecting his ‘nails’ and a bit of a stretch, in which he showed off his tail feathers to perfection, Dad flew off leaving mum to watch us below.  Perhaps he was off to get the supper!!

A glorious afternoon to go out with the cameras and where else but Chichester to see our favourite peregrine couple.As we arrived she left the pinnacle on the SW where she was sunning herself to greet her mate as he arrived to join her.  She soon returned to the same spot as he took up his favourite place at the top of the spire this time on the south side in the sun.  Perhaps they were feeling the chill in the air!!