Berkshire Peregrines

[The Black Rabbit]

Thought I'd compose a short thread on the Peregrines of Berkshire.
Some of you might know I report occasionally on the Peregrine(s) that visit Reading town centre every so often, and I'm constantly on the lookout for these fantastic birds.
We've only been living in Berks for 18 months or so now, and I've seen Peregrine(s) many times in the county, including scaring the bejasus out of the pigeons in the small recreation ground behind our house!

I think we have a pretty resident population of five individuals (possibly), including one escaped falconers bird, complete with jesses.

I also think I can mention these birds on WAB (at the moment, anyway) without the fear of a stampede of well-meaning "birders" or "twitchers" disturbing them, as opposed to the Short-Eared Owls I mentioned t'other day.

These birds are normally VERY HIGH UP, sitting and watching the events below, from a vantage point such as the very top of an electricity pylon (see photo 2), or 46m up (pretty well exactly) at the top of a favoured tower block (see photo 1) - in that case with many thousands of people walking by underneath, oblivious to the fastest bird in the world sitting high above them..... watching.

Peregrines have been a bit of a success story recently. There are well documented and indeed filmed pairs, in many cities all over the UK. I remember when I first saw a Peregrine flying like a missile down Oxford street in the west end of London, and couldn't believe it!
Keep your eyes (and ears) open (so to speak), even in city centres, and you may WELL see and hear these wonderful birds... You certainly don't need to be by a quarry or cliff in the middle of nowhere anymore to see 'em!

Our Peregrines have had a wee bit of trouble nesting and breeding in the past year or so, so I'm reliably told - though that had nothing to do with birdwachers etc...
(I won't go into the reasons on a public forum).

I apologise for the poor quality photographs - I'm not into digiscoping I'm afraid, and like I say, these birds are very high up sometimes!

The first photo I took yesterday afternoon in Reading - you can see the bird 46m up,sitting on a kill, and the second (of a tiercel) about a month ago.







Doug

[demicav]

They're fantastic birds and you are so lucky. I've yet to see one. I've heard they are populating even city centres now like you say. I don't really venture into the city much, nearest to me being Manchester, pretty sure they had a breeding pair there last year though. Maybe one day I'll get lucky.

[JeffH]

Nice report Doug - thanks for sharing it with us and I look forward to hearing and seeing more about your local Peregrine population.

My fondest memory of watching Peregrines goes back some 30 years when I took my young nephew to see them in the Kentmere valley in the Lake District. We watched a nesting pair from the valley bottom and witnessed a kill as one of the birds dived from the tops and struck a Pigeon mid-air with such force that feathers flew everywhere - spectacular

Jeff

[aeshna5]

You may be interested that the current (Feb) issue of British Birds has a paper on the diet of urban Peregrines based on some cities in the south-west (Bristol, Bath + Exeter).

One of the interesting findings is that they go in for nocturnal hunting taking many birds that migrate at night + a couple of records of them taking Noctules. Surprisingly (to me at least!) Swifts are an important part of the diet in the breeding season in southern England, comprising nearly 10% of diet.

Not surprising was that Feral Pigeons were the most important prey, but other species taken varied from Goldcrest to Mallard.

[agrumpycow]

Originally Posted by demicav

They're fantastic birds and you are so lucky. I've yet to see one. I've heard they are populating even city centres now like you say. I don't really venture into the city much, nearest to me being Manchester, pretty sure they had a breeding pair there last year though. Maybe one day I'll get lucky.

I've yet to see one also, despite going into town (Reading) regularly and standing there craning my neck staring up at the buildings - I must look a bit odd and I'm surprised no-one's asked me what I'm doing!

[The Black Rabbit]

Originally Posted by agrumpycow

I've yet to see one also, despite going into town (Reading) regularly and standing there craning my neck staring up at the buildings - I must look a bit odd and I'm surprised no-one's asked me what I'm doing!

Wouldn't let that bother you Claire. A drunk staggered over to me yesterday whilst I was taking the photo, and asked me what I was taking a photo of.

It was still there today.
but getting a bit twitchy, what with all the fluorescent-jacketed police, and crowds below, because of the Reading game...

Thanks for that info Aeshna.
Our birds in Reading seem to hunt in town occasionally, (like yesterday) but mainly over and around the veritable plethora of gravel pits in the county.

Thanks Demicav and Jeff H for your comments.


Doug

[Hobjob]

I had lovely 50m views of peregrine last week at Pulborough Brooks

[rlchew]

When I first started birdwatching and until relatively recently Peregrines were elusive birds of very wild areas.

Now it appears that they are readily adapting to the man-made cliffs and crags of urban areas.

I was at University in Reading in the late 1970s and having local Peregrines then would have been a major event.

Good for you Doug having them so close to home now.

Richard

[John]

We have a pair that roost on St Mary's Church tower in the centre of Warwick on a daily basis. Sometimes they are there early in the day (memo to myself, must take my camera to work ).

So far the remains of a Woodcock and a Green Woodpecker have been found at the bottom of the tower amongst an assortment of remains.

The beauty of these pair is that the tower isn't a particularly tall one and they usually roost about half way down (roughly about 50+ feet from the ground, so can be seen with the naked eye if you look hard enough, although they do blend in well with the background.

John

[Jolanta Zofia Nowak]

High places?

I'd point out that this is not necessarily the case. Of preference, yes, but the terrain is all important.

I've seen Peregrines each and every time I've visited the WWT at Slimbridge and those of you who've been there will know how flat the area there is.

Astonishingly, I've seen the birds on the ground (faute de mieux?) there in the middle of acres of featureless riverside field and surrounded by plenty of tempting targets.

They can sit there for hours, apparently surveying the landscape!