Chichester Peregrine Blog

The day started wonderfully, things were very amicable between mum and dad.  Mum started feeding the four youngsters, then allowed dad to feed them for a minute or two, before taking over to finish dishing out the meal.

In  the afternoon, dad was out hunting for the next meal, when a pair of peregrines was seen circling with intent over the cathedral.  One of them flew very close above the nest, mum panicked, realised dad wasn’t on guard duty, then flew out to chase them away.  Battle ensued, with mum and the interlopers almost catching hold of each other.  She managed to force them to leave, but was gone for a couple of minutes.  Dad returned from hunting to find the chicks vulnerable, and mum nowhere in sight.  He sat in the nest and waited for her return.  Thankfully, the intruders weren’t seen again and life returned to normal for the rest of the afternoon.

We suspect that, as they seemed familiar with the location of the nest, one of the pair of interlopers may have been a juvenile from a previous year come to take over the territory, but we weren’t able to see a ring to identify them in all the frantic activity.

The third and fourth eggs both hatched on Saturday morning, and had their first meal at 11.00, just an hour after the RSPB opened their public viewing area in the Cloisters Café at the Cathedral.  All chicks are doing well.

Thanks to everyone who came to see our famous family on the opening day.  The sun was shining, and there was a wonderful turnout – lots of people we’d met in previous years, as well as newcomers.  All very welcome – it made for an exciting first day!

It only takes about 6 weeks for them to grow to full size, and start taking their first tentative flights, so if you want to see them while they’re still small and fluffy, come and visit us soon!  Video footage of highlights will be available to view at the Cathedral throughout the season (finishing on Sunday 21st June).

Today saw the second fluffy bundle make its appearance.  So we are now the proud parents of 2 chicks.  3 and 4 on the way? Dad will now have his work cut out.  Today he was looking very alert and was being very attentive.

I was watching dad from around 4.45-6.15 this evening and, after preening for a while, saw him land on the nest turrett offering to do a stint of incubation.  He was immediately sent away again.  Undeterred, he returned a few minutes later with prey.  After plucking it, sending a blizzard of white feathers down, he took it to the nest turrett to try again to entice mum out for a break.  They chatted for a while, then he left, still carrying her dinner.  He flew around a bit before giving up and leaving it in the larder for later, then perched on his favourite spot high on the spire.

I’ve never seen him so quick at catching and plucking prey, and it seemed surprising that mum was so determined to stay in the nest with a fresh meal on offer, so I suspected that hatching may be underway.  This was confirmed later when I spoke to my colleague who was checking on the nest via the nestcam.  While he was watching, mum moved, exposing three eggs and one fluffy white chick!  Hatched on St Georges day, around the time of the Evensong service in the Cathedral.  Happy Birthday to our 27th chick!

Yesterday afternoon I was watching the goings-on in the nest (via the camera, available to public from Saturday) and it was very apparent why mum is better at incubating the eggs than dad.  She left to have a break, and dad took her place.  Or at least, he tried to.  Being a third smaller than her, he isn’t quite big enough to cover all four eggs, so he’d sit on three and have a wing covering the other.  He changed position about every 30 seconds, obviously very uncomforbably and looking somewhat perplexed, not quite sure how to do it.  He should’ve found himself a girl who only lays 3 eggs – life would’ve been so much simpler for him!  He’s doing his best, bless him.  No wonder he was tired and having a nap later in the evening!

Caught on camera last night – Dad having forty winks!!  Well I guess a man needs to conserve his strength when he is about to become a father. 

The eggs are due to hatch at the end of this week, which will coincide nicely with the RSPB arriving at the Cathedral and (hopefully) the camera link being switched on so that we can observe the daily life of Mum and chicks in the comfort of the Cathedral Cloisters.

A falcon was found trapped in the pigeon prevention wire on top of a wine bar in Chichester earlier this week.  It was released, but suspected to be injured.

Both our peregrines have since been seen in their usual positions, mum on the nest, dad on sentry duty, so we suspect that the bird with poor landing skills may have been either a sparrowhawk or a kestrel, both of which are seen regularly over the city and the surrounding area.  If you have any further information about this incident, please add a comment – we’d love to know more.

Our pair are doing a marvellous job of looking after the eggs, keeping them protected in all weather (a thunder storm last night!), and feeding themselves.

They’ve got unlikely housemates – a pair of woodpigeons have built a nest on the base of the SW pinnacle, one of the peregrines favourite perches and only a short distance from the nest!  We spotted them there last year and, despite the obvious danger, they’re back.  We only saw them there for a few days last year before they disappeared – we’ll keep an eye on them and see if they fare any better this year…

This afternoon I saw mum sitting on the west side of the cathedral eating a small meal.  As soon as she finished it she returned to the east side, and within five minutes went back into the nest, turfing out poor dad.  She doesn’t like to leave her eggs for long!

Poor old Dad, he obviously wants to help – he occasionally pops into the nest turrett, offering to sit on the eggs, but gets sent away again immediately.  Mum is being very protective over her eggs, and not letting him sit on them.  When she changes position, she spreads her wings to hide them from any observers, although we have managed to get an occasional glimpse of the terracotta coloured shells (via the nestcam).  They’re not due to hatch for almost two weeks yet, so our Dad has got a frustrating wait ahead of him!

The RSPB/A date with nature website has been updated to show dates and times for this years viewings at the cathedral.  It all starts on the 25th April when the chicks are due to hatch.  In the meantime, you can see Dad around the spire most of each day and evening.