Chichester Peregrine Blog

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.

It’s that time when Mr Peregrine is called upon to stand guard over the nest, his missus and their eggs.  He really looks like he is taking it seriously at the moment.  Although he does his fair share of incubating, most of the time he spends watching over her and getting her meals (sometimes his famous ‘out-of-date’ ready meals) but most of time doing a thoroughly good job.

Have a look at the picture below?  I think he has a few feathers missing from the left breast.  Was this the result of a bit of a scrap with another bird?  Maybe you saw what happened.  If you have any info please write a comment. 

Monday saw the 4th egg in the nest so our family is now complete.

We expect the eggs to start hatching around 23rd April.  They will hatch over a period of a few days as they are laid on different days.

The day: Sunday 22nd

The time: 2.30 ish

Once again Dad is called upon to protect the family home.  This time it was a buzzard that was interested.  The ensuing onslaught of blows from Dad on the buzzard was a sight to behold.  He repeated struck the buzzard, a bird of twice his size, as he chased it away.  Needless to say the victor returned home  brimming over with pride about 20 minutes later and when we left all was quiet on the ‘south-eastern’ front.