Chichester Peregrine Blog

Today was the last day of the RSPB project in Chichester.  The peregrines will be around and roosting on the cathedral for several weeks yet though, while they learn to hunt.  We’ll still be there with our telescopes and cameras regularly to keep an eye on them and update the blog and gallery.

It was a super day to finish.  At lunchtime one of the adults suddenly swooped northwards, and was seen chasing away a red kite.  There was at least one juvenile on view from the marquee and telescopes all day, posing beautifully for us.

Later in the afternoon, after packing up, we had a bit of a party to celebrate the end of a successful project (and for my birthday – thanks all for coming!).  Early evening, we had a bit of fast action and a lot of noise while the juveniles chased the adults around, trying to get them to bring in food.  They’re not feeding them so frequently now, getting them hungry enough to work for their food so they learn how to hunt.  This will be happening more and more over the next few days and weeks.

Something we’ve been asked about a lot today was a pair of peregrines in Hove that were on the news.  No, for those of you who are wondering, they’re not from Chichester.  One of them has got a green ring with white writing, and has been identified as being from Brighton.  The other hasn’t been ringed.  Chichester juveniles have all got black rings with white writing.

I arrived after lunch to hear that one of our poor juveniles had been teased by a pigeon.  She’d been sitting on a narrow ledge below the level of the balcony when the pigeon came and stood next to her.  It walked along the ledge away from her, then back towards her, repeating that a few times.  She was utterly perplexed and didn’t know what to do!

During the day, we had plenty of flying action, at one point seeing all four juveniles flying around together, tumbling and catching at each other in the air.  Later, we had three doing the same, while both parents circled lazily high above them, keeping a close eye on the action.

Late afternoon, there was a robbery at a jewellers in Chichester, and a police helicopter was circling and hovering over the town for a long time.  We could see one of the juveniles sitting on a turret, but she didn’t look overly concerned by the loud noise (well, they are used to the cathedral bells every day, so I guess they’re not easily spooked by loud noises!).  After about 20 minutes, she took off with one of her siblings to show the chopper how it’s done – boy did they go fast, zooming off to the east!

Wow, our kids are getting very strong now.  They were flying around for long periods of time today, instead of just the short bursts of activity previously.  They kept chasing each other and grappling in mid-air, making a lot of noise!  A couple of times I saw two (our boy with one of his sisters, presumably his best friend, number 37) – they were flying very fast and heading out of sight, first eastwards over the town, then later southwards.  Soon after heading south, Dad left his perch and had to chase them to make sure they didn’t get into trouble.  He managed to bring them back and got caught up in their aerial antics before they all stopped for a rest.  Breathtaking action!

There are still long periods of quiet while the juveniles have a rest.  When they do get up and move around though, boy are they entertaining!

A couple of times today we saw them flying around, grappling with each other.  I saw dad zoom off southwards with two juveniles trying to catch him.  Their flying is getting much stronger and more confident – catching dad is perhaps a little ambitious though!  Landing is still proving a bit of a problem at times, taking a few attempts.  They’ll soon get the hang of it.  They’re tending to land in places that the adults never go, such as the top of the bell tower.  We saw a couple of them pottering about up there, picking around at whatever they could find, exploring their surroundings.  Every now and then we’d see a startled pigeon or a small flock rush off for shelter, having unexpectedly encountered a juvenile peregrine.

At this stage our youngsters seem to have a short attention span, having a brief fascination with whatever’s close by, then moving on to the next thing.  Rather like small children, figuring out how their world works.

Towards the end of a very quiet day, we finally had a bit of activity with the juveniles flying around with both adults.  There were two or three in the air at a time, while the others were resting.  Two of them were grappling in mid-air, trying to catch each other.  It’s hunting training getting underway.

It was a bit damp this afternoon.  Then there was torrential rain, turning the gutter pipe on the cathedral into a fountain.  Shortly afterwards, it turned into a sharp hail storm.  Now, we all sensibly sheltered in the marquee and cloisters.  You’d imagine that the peregrines would have all found shelter in the nest box or other locations in their home.  No.  Dad was sitting in the castellations on a turret so didn’t get the full brunt of the weather.  He did look rather cross though!  Meanwhile, one of the girls, number 36, sat on top of the turret closest to the wind and driving rain/hail, facing into it (well, at least she got that right, so it wasn’t blowing under her feathers!).  She looked a little worried, and tried holding her wings out and shaking them, as if trying to dry them.  Easier to do if it’s not actually raining!  Poor girl looked as though she’d been swimming by the end of it, and took a long time to dry off, preening in the intermittent sunshine.

At last, yesterday afternoon our last female juvenile fledged!  Now all four are flying around the cathedral, perching in obscure places, watching the pigeons intently (even occasionally flying after them, although they wouldn’t know what to do if they caught up with them at this stage!), and generally giving their parents a tough job trying to keep track of them all!

This evening we were standing in the cold drizzle, and for a good hour or so, we just saw two or three perched while the others were out of sight, inside turrets or the balcony.  We were rewarded for our patience by an amazing view of all six peregrines together.  Some were perched, and some flying, all visible at the same time.  It was extraordinary, and very special!

Dad flew west at one point, closely followed by the male juvenile.  When dad got about 20 yards beyond the cathedral, our boy obviously decided it was too scary and more of a challenge than he was ready for – he halted fairly abruptly and returned to the safety of his home.  Dad realised he’d lost his companion and returned too, keeping a close eye on his charge.

One of the females dislodged dad from his perch, presumably wanting him to get some dinner.  Shortly afterwards, mum did the same, knocking him off his new perch.  He didn’t take the hint, he just found a third place to sit, trying in vain to get some peace.  Mum gave up on him and went out hunting herself, returning after a few minutes with a pigeon, to the obvious vocal delight of the whole family.

Earlier today, three of the juveniles were out flying, two were chasing each other, and the parents.  It’s all part of their hunting training, being able to follow another bird in flight.

Our boy is showing great hunting instincts.  He was sitting on top of the green roof of the cathedral, watching a pigeon perched below him at the bottom of the roof.  He was looking at it quizzically, obviously aware that it was a good opportunity and he should do something, but not quite sure how to go about it.  Eventually he flew down towards it, but alas, the pigeon had enough sense to scarper.

As far as we’re aware, the third female, number 34, hasn’t yet flown.  Of course, we’re only there from 10.00-5.00 most days, so she may have emerged early morning or late afternoon while there was nobody about.  Perhaps she’s just shy…

Couldn’t resist this on such a special day!!!

Again today both 35 (the male) and his sister 37 were out.  They flew confidently and found unusual perches below the level of the balcony.  Our boy was sitting on his perch looking very confident.  He slept briefly sitting up, the way the adults do.  Then he sat with one eye open, then closed it and opened the other eye, basically being a bit comical.  His sister found another unusual perch sitting behind one of the lower turrets, and disappeared for a while into an alcove, hiding away from everyone.  Obviously she’d had enough of being in the limelight after having Springwatch filming yesterday!

Meanwhile, the other two girls still haven’t left the turret.  They were, however, both sitting on top of the box flapping their wings for a while.  That’s the first time we haven’t had a juvenile on the nest or turret floor.  They’re getting closer.  Both were looking slightly anxious, obviously still plucking up the courage to go.

Towards the end of the afternoon the male rejoined his other two sisters in the nest where they all cuddled up for a snooze.