Fulham and Barnes Peregrines

Stretching

2011-07-30T20:40:00.001+01:00

A quick post to share a succession of photos I took this morning of #1.

Even at this age, they have perfected the Falcon Stare.

Nothing beats a good stretch...

Of the things that tell me it was #1 is the feather(s) at the centre of the tail, which look like a dark line when it flies, and also the lighter line above its eye.

On a sunny Sunday afternoon

2011-07-25T18:15:00.001+01:00

The weather lately had not been great and had prevented me from doing longish sessions watching the family, so I settled on Sunday afternoon in the hope of some action.
I initially only found juveniles #2 and #3 perched and not doing much apart from some preening. Then I noticed a peregrine coming round the building with prey in its talons and could see when I got my binoculars on it that it was one of the adults. It turned out to be the adult female, Charlie, with a Moorhen. Moorhens are not quite as much a favourite as the Parakeets are (apart from pigeons obviously) but do figure quite a bit on the menu of this pair.

Not really any doubt, is there?

I heard screaming and noticed #3 had left her perch:

and proceeded to steal Mum's prey from her:

(a poor attempt at digiscoping, but still, pretty clear as to the prey ID).

She then started to eat it:

but, after about 5 minutes, managed to drop it... She immediately dived after it, caught it around the 5th floor and took it to the roof of a smaller building nearby. Then the Crows and Magpies noticed her and started congregating in a tree which was just overlooking that building and for a few minutes I feared the worst. But, no, after a few minutes, the Crows and Magpies got bored and left one by one, preferring chasing each other instead. Phew... I couldn't see her eat the prey while on that roof, but from the plume of feathers and down coming over I have no doubt she was busy on it.
A little while later, #1 completed the trio, and started food-begging, relentlessly, totally ignored by Dad above.

Lastly, I have been meaning to mention this on the last few posts but realised every time afterwards that I had missed it. On the day after we had rescued the second juvenile, I was at the Wetland Centre to record their second podcast. As I had not expected fledging to happen until after the podcast, I had actually wondered if it was really worth it... More fool me! On the podcast, as well as the peregrines drama, you can also hear about the wildlife at the Centre, in particular the sand martins, as well as a nature film maker on how he started filming wildlife
You can listen to it on the Wetland Centre's website or iTunes. Enjoy!

Happy birthday!

2011-07-19T21:35:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post to say it was only 2 months ago today that 2 of the juveniles hatched and looked like this:

Now, at least one of them is as big as Mum: #3. I do see a lot of Charlie in her, it's a feeling quite difficult to explain, especially as juvenile plumage is quite different to the adult one, but I just do...

The juveniles have now been properly flying for about 2 weeks but there are still the occasional mishaps. For example this evening, #1 dived after a pigeon almost to the ground and found it really hard to gain height again, probably because there was little wind. She did 2 of the things I thought juveniles might do at this site in this situation and managed to get back up in 3 stages, first landing about a third of the way up, then having a breather two thirds up. The last third was made easier by Mum bringing some food ;) which her sister promptly appropriated for herself.

Once again, I didn't see #2 this evening. I am considering calling him Wally as I am playing this "where's Wally?" game a lot as far as he is concerned. I didn't find him for 2 days last week whereas his 2 sisters were not that hard to find most of the time.

Tomorrow evening will be the third one's birthday, hopefully I'll get to see the 3 of them at some point...

Fledge report

2011-07-10T18:45:00.000+01:00

My apologies for the lack of report here since 28th June as I was spending a great deal of my time out there monitoring the family. I was however doing regular updates on twitter and facebook.
I am very happy to report that we have had no more major drama, only one juvenile who ended up in a spot where it shouldn't have and had to be given a helping hand to get out of.
At the time of last posting, the 3rd juvenile had almost made it to the top and the other 2 were still on the level where they had been released. That evening, I found these 2 at a slightly lower level and the next morning, one of them, I think the young male, had joined it and they stayed there together for the next day or so while the other one was already seen flying and landing usually pretty well. Some of those landings were not perfect though, in particular all the attempts I saw when it was trying to join its siblings were unsuccessful.
At last, on 30th June, for the first time after 7 days, all 3 were reunited on the same level, the one where the first 2 had been released.

The next day, people were coming to see the family and at first the juveniles were pretty elusive. When they go into the 'pancake' position to sleep, they can be pretty hard to spot... But, finally, we managed to find all 3 together, and just as they were about to leave, 2 of them took to the air, immediately accompanied by the parents. Landings were still cautious, but good, it was very nice to see.

Over the following week, all 3 juveniles have been gaining in confidence, both in their flying ability and in their landings. I have seen them play tag with each other, then take food parcels from their parents. This morning I even witnessed 1 of them go and snatch part of a prey which the male had thought he could keep to himself by bringing it to his perch, which up to now had been pretty much out of reach for the youngsters. After all, it had worked the day before when he brought a starling. But not with this one, it was a bit of a fight but the youngster got it in the end and went to eat it on the nest ledge. The prey was another parakeet btw...

This was the same juvenile I saw a few days before dive bomb from the nest ledge to a fairly low level where I lost it behind roofs to find it behind me on a discovery tour of the neighbourhood. This one is fairly easy to recognise because the top of its head is much lighter than its siblings (one of the others' head is very dark in comparison) with lighter lines above the eyes and I do think it is the first one rescued, the feisty female. It certainly fits with the character it is exhibiting now.

The weather was pretty dry for a while and the puddle on the nest ledge had dried out. Almost immediately after we'd had some rain and the puddle had reformed, 2 of the juveniles took turn to go and have a bath :) Since them, I have seen at least one of them do the same every day, they pop back up on the side of the nest ledge with their feathers slightly wet and preen for a while. Luxury accommodation indeed, with private en suite bathroom ;)

Accidental fledge

2011-06-28T18:45:00.008+01:00

Yesterday, 9:25:13 the third juvenile was sitting and preening on the wall in front of the nestbox:

9:25:26 - Mum arrives with a pigeon:

9:25:27 - this spooks the juvenile who flies off:

9:25:28 - the juvenile has fledged, thanks Mum!

Mum then just looked on then dropped below with the pigeon before getting back on the wall and start eating. I unfortunately narrowly missed it live, it's only after not seeing the juvenile for a while that I checked the recording. Seeing how unconcerned Mum was gave me an indication that the juvenile was fine and I managed to find it pretty quickly and it looked indeed fine. It also was at a level not that much lower than the ledge, way higher than its brother, due to the fact that it was a lot more ready.

I saw it briefly today at 4:30 and then didn't locate it until just before the thunderstorm, almost all the way to the top, which was great to see. I wasn't sure though until after the thunderstorm when I managed to see the whole family at the same time.

the chicks and water

2011-06-28T16:54:00.001+01:00

This is the start of the post I was writing last week when the drama started, I thought I should at least publish that part, with a small addendum.

They've been growing so fast I have found it quite hard to follow on this blog, my apologies. I hope most of you kept up to date with the photos I posted daily to the flickr alhum and the twitter updates, and now with the facebook page. In retrospect, I probably should have started the facebook page from the word go... I can hardly believe that one or more might have taken its first flight in 7 days time...

My last proper blog post related to Day 23, we are now on Day 36. What I thought was exceptional then has been repeated time and time again by 2 of the chicks (though I can't be sure it is always the same 2, but there always seems to be one a bit more wary of the water). Prior to this, we had been talking of ways of preventing standing water on the nest ledge for future nesting seasons, but I am now not so sure that it is desirable to get rid of it totally...

On Day 29

On Day 31

On Day 32

On Day 35

You get the picture...

When it got so hot on Sunday, the remaining juvenile took to sit in the water for short periods, I presume to cool down:

Day 38, the second juvenile rescue

2011-06-27T21:50:00.001+01:00

The second juvenile has been found and brought up to the roof where it has joined its sibling.

First, I also took a few photos with Dave's camera of the first one which he has kindly sent over and I thought I should share them with you first:

The young female after Dave removed the box which had been put over her (to contain her but also to minimise stress) wasn't going to get caught without a fight, but Dave has the technique and he had her in hand in no time

Once on the roof and out of the box, she wasn't to wait for no camera, she was out of there like a Jack-in-the-box!

Now, to the second one. The immediate ground area had been checked on Thursday evening and Security had promised they'd keep an eye on their rounds, so on Friday I went up and down the building looking for vantage points to check all nearby lower roofs, the only result being that we knew where it wasn't but still not more enlightened as to its whereabouts.

On Saturday morning, as previous one, I saw the parents feed the one on the roof, the one on the ledge, then have a rest, so they were not feeding the other one locally. However, one of them could be gone for long periods so it was still possible that they were feeding it some distance away. I had called the local vets and no bird of that description had been reported or brought in. There was hope.

I had enlisted the help of Louis and he was updating me on what he had seen when the female suddenly started flying in circles in front of the building, a fairly typical behaviour when trying to entice a youngster to fly away. Louis rushed on his bicycle to see if he could spot the juv but had no luck. I similarly had no luck for the following hours.

I was updating Dave when we received a call from Security, the juvenile had just been reported. I immediately went to check it. It unfortunately was under windows and by now more people were massing to have a look at it and it was getting stressed, trying to fly into the wall rather than the outside. I also enquired if anyone had seen him being fed and no one had done, which fitted with my observations. We then decided with Dave that the course of action was to catch him and release him in the same place as his sister.

While waiting for Dave to arrive, I kept an eye on the juvenile though it was really hard to see even knowing where it was. I also phoned TOH to let him know I wouldn't be home to cook dinner and to order a pizza. After Dave arrived, we were escorted where the bird was, Security had been efficient and had already brought the box. Dave caught the juv, confirmed it looked in good shape and we started the trek up to the roof again. As I passed the box up to Dave on the ladder, I could feel the juvenile 'fight' inside the box and was glad I had chosen a pretty solid box.

Once out of the box, the little one didn't want to let go of the glove.

Dave had to work his magic:

Unlike his sister, he didn't move once freed, just staring at us:

As it happens, his sister was in the far corner, looking at us:

By the time we were out of the building, said our goodbyes, he had joined his sister in the corner :) I watched them for a few minutes and went home to eat that pizza, it was most welcome :)

You can also read Dave's account of the rescues, as well as that of another one elsewhere on his blog or his Parliament Peregrines blog.

Day 36, juvenile rescue

2011-06-23T22:40:00.002+01:00

I was in the middle of writing a post about the chicks' development this afternoon when I received a phone call: "one of the chicks is in our courtyard". We were in the middle of preparing for fledging which I thought would not come until next week so this was taking us a little bit by surprise.

Reviewing the recording, at 14:09, the chick went to the right hand side of the ledge and leapt over the parapet. The courtyard where it was found was on the other side of the ledge so it must have managed some flying. The workers who found it managed to put a box over it and we waited for Dave to come over to check it and release it to the roof.

By the time Dave arrived, we had realised that a second chick had left, in exactly the same way, at 15:31. It has been looked for but not found yet.

Dave got the box off the chick and gave it a good inspection. Verdict: a female, in good condition, but looking like 2/3 days from fledging. Very feisty and very strong, she didn't want to let go of the gloves when Dave put her in the box...

As you can see, feathers fully developed, but still a bit of down at the base of the tail.
We brought her up all the way to the roof, above the nest ledge and quickly left.

She quickly jumped onto that wall on her left and must have followed it around the building as I found her (at least I think it's her) above her parents a while later.

As I am typing this, the third chick is asleep in the nestbox, it must be feeling lonely...

4 weeks old!

2011-06-16T17:28:00.000+01:00

I can't believe the chicks are 4 weeks old and they have grown up so much since the 3rd week!
I couldn't find a shot with a chick in quite the right place, but I think the shot I chose in the end illustrate how much the wing feathers have come in just 7 days:

Day 23: aquatic adventures

2011-06-11T20:50:00.000+01:00

Towards the end of the morning, Dad came to feed the chicks, though he looks a bit daunted by the prospect in this shot:

Then, one chick started wandering:

Then another:

What they didn't realise was that it was going to rain, and quite hard, and they took refuge in a corner to shelter from the rain:

Photo by Dave Morrison

One of the chicks braved the rain and came back to the nestbox about half an hour later, looking a bit bedraggled:

2pm, and the second chick was still in the corner, but enjoying a spell of sunshine:

It took food to finally drag it back to the box:

However, as soon as this one was back, another one decided to go and have fun in the puddle:

After 10 minutes, it decided to come and join Mum and the others back in the box, and made a rather undignified re-entry:

Anyone else seen this kind of behaviour before?

Day 22: 3 weeks old

2011-06-09T18:00:00.001+01:00

Hot on the heels of the 2 weeks comparison montage, I give you the 3 weeks one:

The increase in size since the previous week is not that obvious in this shot, but the change in posture is, and there is some feathering around the face.

The trio, when not asleep, are a lot more mobile and adventurous. For the first time, at the beginning of this afternoon, they all went out exploring outside the nest box. Only one had done it sofar, for about 2 minutes yesterday evening.

2 weeks old

2011-06-08T21:19:00.001+01:00

Apologies for the silence, we had developed a fault and couldn't connect to the cctv cameras for a while. The system was still recording images and I have spent some time looking at past footage once we were back and running, so I could update the weekly comparison montage.
I found a chick in almost the same spot as where they hatched. The light was unfortunately not at its best, but the growth is obvious.

What is also obvious is how messy the nest has become...

Day 13, chicks are growing

2011-05-31T21:00:00.001+01:00

A selection of shots from the past few days.

On Friday morning, the chicks were fed a Parakeet. Parakeets are quite abundant around here (it being West London) and quite a favourite with Peregrines and in particular this pair.

On Saturday, I saw the male feed the chicks for the first time:

By the evening, the first projectile poop had hit the camera, thankfully not impinging on the view of the chicks, which is still only partial for the moment.

On Sunday, the chicks were fed yet another pigeon...

... leaving them to sleep in a bed of pigeon feathers:

For more shots, visit the flickr album

one week old

2011-05-26T20:45:00.002+01:00

The 2 oldest chicks are now one week old and have grown quite a bit as you can see from this comparison montage:

Today's shot was taken at the end of the morning when the chicks were fed another pigeon:

This was before we had some rain. In the gap between 2 showers, the female looked like having a sip from the puddle in front the nestbox:

We had some thunder and Dad popped on the ledge to check on the rest of the family:

Then we had a lot more rain:

Day 5, 3 little heads

2011-05-23T20:55:00.000+01:00

Pretty good view of 3 little heads at an early feed time:

The falcon has been doing most of the brooding and feeding as far as I have seen.Unfortunately, the chicks are still out of view for most of the time.

Day 4

2011-05-22T21:00:00.001+01:00

There was rain overnight and the chicks were moved towards the back of the nestbox.

Last night:

This morning:

Various prey items have been brought in and out:

And then there were three!

2011-05-20T21:25:00.001+01:00

The 2 chicks hatched yesterday were fed quite regularly today:

At around 5pm, there was clear view of the chicks and the remaining egg. I thought I could see a crack, but with the resolution could not be too sure. Then at 7:15pm, the falcon was discarding a piece of eggshell and eating it.

It wasn't until 8:45pm that she finally got up and revealed that, indeed, the 3rd chick had hatched. I think it's the one on the left on the shot below, it looks a little bit less fluffy and fat...

First chicks!

2011-05-19T16:20:00.000+01:00

Last night, the pair switched positions around 8pm, revealing 3 eggs neatly positioned by the male:

When I checked the cctv stream this morning I thought I caught a glimpse of something white and fluffy, but it's only when the falcon moved a piece of eggshell that I knew: at least one chick had hatched:

I had to wait for another 40 minutes before seeing the first chick properly:

Then, towards the end of the morning, surprise, surprise: 2 chicks!

Notice that a piece of eggshell has fallen out of the nestbox. It was subsequently picked up by the female and brought back in the box

Unfortunately the recording equipment broke down so we do not have video clips to show you and can't pinpoint hatching times more accurately. Hopefully, this should be fixed tomorrow.

Talking of recordings, nearly 2 weeks ago, a podcast was recorded at the London Wetland Centre, which will be hopefully the first of many. On the menu, latest sightings from around the reserve, photography tips and a short summary about the Peregrine pair.
You can listen/download it here on iTunes.

Incubation

2011-05-09T17:15:00.001+01:00

We are in the doldrums of incubation and, thankfully, there isn't much to report. Both birds have taken their turn at incubating the eggs and below are a few screenshots of both of them on the eggs and some nest reliefs.

The male pops in on the ledge but the falcon didn't want to be relieved, he left 15 minutes later.

Having a snooze

The male arrives for an early evening shift, he was to leave at 9:53pm that day.

Check the difference in size between the female (above) and the male (below).

No, they don't spend their time looking at the camera, very little time in fact, but it makes for nicer shots.

The female has arrived to relieve the male who seemed reluctant to leave, often he's out like a shot before she's even landed...

Day 24, not too long to go now, the first chick should start to hatch within the week now.

No 4th egg

2011-04-25T20:30:00.000+01:00

The estimated time for the 4th egg, Wednesday afternoon, came and went...

At 6pm on Wednesday.

A nest relief Friday lunchtime, still 3 eggs

Couldn't resist this 'looking at camera' shot...

It's a bit difficult to pinpoint the exact time incubation started as they sat on the eggs pretty much constantly almost as soon as the first one was laid but if we take the usual time of when the penultimate egg is laid, that would be Friday 15th. 29 to 32 days from then is Saturday 14th May to Thursday 17th for hatching.

Day 10, so far so good. Most of the boredom relief was provided by some rain and thunder on Saturday as the falcon looked quite puzzled by the noise on the roof of the nestbox.

The rest of the time, she reorganises the pebbles in that semi-circle you can see on her left.

Third egg

2011-04-18T20:30:00.002+01:00

Charlie laid her third egg last night. She entered the nestbox after a mating session with MrC at 19:40.

She was pretty quiet until 4:38 when she turned round. Not 100% sure but it looked like she still had 2 eggs under her then. She then had a snooze until 5:10. Does it look like she is laying the egg during the following clip? One thing for sure, there are 3 eggs when she gets up :)

Seond egg

2011-04-17T19:57:00.001+01:00

On Friday morning, Charlie was in the scrape for most of the morning, the last view I found of a single egg being at 8:33. At 11:11, her mate brought her some prey (not sure there was much left on it to be fair) which she accepted. When she finally got off the scrape, she revealed the second egg:

Earlier, at 9am, he had brought her I assume the same prey, slightly less consumed. The reaction was entirely different then...:

the male sees the egg for the first time

2011-04-16T17:30:00.001+01:00

I watched hours of recording for Wednesday to Thursday night, and it appears I was really lucky to see the first egg at 6:11. She left the nest ledge at 12:39 and waited 18 minutes outside the nestbox before going in. From then on, until 6:08, she was pretty tight on that scrape, only allowing a very short glimpse of the egg at 5:43. The tiercel made brief visits at 5:25 and 5:38, which didn't stir her up.

The video below shows the moment she gets up at 6:08 revealing the egg and shortly after the tiercel coming round the corner to have a look:

First egg

2011-04-13T21:26:00.002+01:00

The view I had been waiting for for weeks, at last, over night, Charlie laid her first egg this year. Last night, she arrived in the box at 7:30pm and for once did stay for more than a few minutes (I even had the aptop on the kitchen table while preparing my dinner...), around 25 minutes. But then she hopped back on the ledge. And returned to the box for around 15 minutes. Then from 8:30 until 11pm, she just stood on the nest ledge. I barely dared hope when I checked the CCTV when I got up, but there it was at last: an EGG!!!
She was soon back on it and has been for most of the day (though she won't be properly incubating it quite yet). She had a long break at the end of the afternoon to eat some prey MrC had caught and then digest it, while he kept vigil on the ledge.
Here's to the second one!