Peregrine on the Tower this afternoon @theul.bsky.social. @camperegrines.bsky.social

The city centre peregrines and some of the people who help monitor and take excellent photographs of them feature in this piece from Varsity. "A walk on the wild side with Cambridge’s hidden nature": www.varsity.co.uk/features/29703

Finishing the week with glorious sunshine, two @camperegrines.bsky.social on the tower @theul.bsky.social Geese, gosling and a heron on the Cam.

Members of the Cambridge Peregrine Group will be at this year's 106th Conversazione and Nat Hist Fest. We look forward to seeing you there. @cnhs1857.bsky.social

How nice, in the middle of Cambridge, to see a red kite drifting over Parker’s Piece, minding its own business. It was mobbed by a carrion crow and then a peregrine @camperegrines.bsky.social 🪶 came over to ensure the kite left its airspace!

In the last three weeks the same male has stayed in the area and spent a lot of time with the resident female on the UL. They both like perching on top of the statues ( known as the winds) on each corner of the tower. The male likes eating leftovers that the female stashes there. @theul.bsky.social

The week after the resident male disappeared was very unsettled with up to 4 peregrines seen around the UL and various sightings of birds in the area. Thankfully in the last 5 days one male has been seen regularly on King's & the UL although no mating behaviour has been seen.

The resident female and a male were seen on the UL this morning and on King's at 13:30. This male has also been seen near the nest site while the female was present in the nest. This is promising news after at least 3 or 4 birds have been seen in the area in the last few days.

The resident male still hasn't been seen so something has probably happened to him. However, a different male is still around and was spotted on St John's college chapel earlier. The female has been spending quite a lot of time on the old URC, eating prey there yesterday morning.

An intruding male was seen on King’s this morning (pictured) and unfortunately the resident male hasn’t been seen Friday. This combination of events may mean the resident male has been pushed out of the territory or potentially injured or killed.

With only a few weeks to go until potential egg laying the birds have increased their bonding and mating with regular visits to the nest site. They have also been feeding on Teal, Fieldfare, (pictured) and Goldfinch in recent months with respective feathers found below King's.

Peregrine keeping the statue of the South Wind company at @theul.bsky.social this afternoon.

Two peregrines @theul.bsky.social this morning. They took it in turns to circle the tower before alighting, all the while calling gently (for a peregrine) to one another. #CambridgeUniversityLibraries #WinterWatch #ULBiodiversity #ULbirdwatching @camperegrines.bsky.social

One last view of a breakfasting peregrine @theul.bsky.social in 2024. @camperegrines.bsky.social

On this day last year the now resident female arrived in Cambridge. After reading the red colour ring on her left leg which has the letters TVH on it we knew where she’d come from. Here's a summary of what we know of her life so far threadreaderapp.com/thread/18649...

This morning the nest was cleared out. Dirty gravel, feathers, vegetation, prey remains and pellets were removed and the nest was topped up with fresh gravel in anticipation of next year's breeding season. Thanks to all involved!

The pair have been spending quite a lot of time recently on King's college chapel, sometimes close together on the same spire. The female has also been seen roosting on the south side of the chapel. They have also been seen hunting together which hasn't been witnessed before.

The male has been seen in various locations in the city centre recently - the nest site ledge, on King's, the new museum site, he also visited the nest site plinth to react to an intruder. It looks like he also went looking to have a bath in a gutter, unfortunately it was empty.

Yesterday evening I spotted the male perched on Holy Trinity church in central Cambridge, a location where I've not seen adult peregrines perching before. He flew from there to King's where the female, who was already there, vocalised at him.

The juveniles haven't been seen since the end of July as they seem to have dispersed further afield and not returned since then. The adults have been on the UL, nest site building, King's and the new museum site chimney. They perch in the shade to escape the recent hot weather.

Some of the Cambridge peregrine group attended a meeting in Stamford yesterday to listen to talks from other areas of the UK and experts in the field. Thanks to @SaintsPeregrine for hosting it and to everyone that organised, spoke and contributed to a such an informative day.

Recently the juveniles have spent some time around the nest site area and the female even landed on the plinth above the nest. They have also been seen eating prey items on King's spires that were brought in by the adults. Thanks Paul for info and photos/videos!

The adult male was perched on the nest site ledge with a bulging crop and the female juvenile on a King's spire this lunchtime. In the last couple of weeks the adult female has spent considerable time on the UL and the male juvenile does his own thing and spends time on the wing.

The female juvenile found something to tear at and eat on the Gibbs Building in King's College today. The adult male was nearby on a spire of the chapel and the adult female was on the UL. @Kings_College

Both juveniles and an adult currently on south west spire of King’s.

Both juveniles on King's college this morning. One was perched on the porters lodge and the other on a spire of the chapel. After an eventful evening yesterday when one of the them was seen hitting the railings while chasing a pigeon it was good to see them both doing well.

Both juveniles were seen around the nest site building and King’s chapel early this evening. One of the juveniles was on the roof of the chapel where it had been fed and both adults were seen in the area - the female on the side of the chapel. They both seem to be doing well.

The juvenile that was rescued from Pembroke flew from the top of the building to the nest area. At 10:25 this morning she flew off confidently towards the guildhall. The juvenile male has been seen flying extremely well and was perched above the juvenile female when she left.

The second chick fledged this morning and luckily the ever present @j_a_clarkson was there to witness where it landed. Thankfully it flew to the new Pembroke college development where it was rescued, checked over and released from the top of the nest site building. Well done all!

1 of the 2 chicks fledged successfully early this morning and flew to Pembroke chapel. However, since 10am he flew off and hasn't been seen. Please look out for him on rooftops, ledges and on the ground in the area around Pembroke and Peterhouse, if seen contact me asap.

The two chicks are now five weeks old and doing well. They are becoming ever more curious about what they can see from the nest. The adults have been bringing in a mix of pigeons and starlings recently with the male catching the majority of prey items.

The female brought in a pigeon just now. I may have seen her stoop to catch it before seeing her fly past King's carrying it. Interestingly she feed the chicks briefly from the ledge before dropping down out of sight.

The two chicks are now four weeks old and their juvenile feathers are really starting to show. They spend a lot of time preening their pin feathers and can also be seen flapping their wings. The female brought in a pigeon for them after she managed to dry out yesterday.

We managed to see two chicks being fed yesterday evening by the female. She had been spent most of the afternoon on the chimney on new museum site before collecting some cached prey to feed the chicks.

The female came off the nest a couple of times to try and dry out after this morning's deluge. There was a only a brief spell of sunshine to help her. The male was perched above her on the old URC and looked relatively dry after sheltering lower down on the building earlier.

Stunning views of the female perched on the ledge yesterday afternoon captured by Paul. Earlier she went hunting and returned with what looked like a Starling, the heat and maybe intensity of the hunt was noticeable as she was panting heavily. I managed a brief view of a chick.

First views of one of the chick(s) being fed by the female in the nest today. Female was also on the old URC with pigeons in close proximity. Thanks again Paul for capturing and documenting this! @WfldPeregrines

The chick(s) are roughly two weeks old and the male has brought in the majority of prey items during this time. Today Paul saw the female hunting pigeons around one of King’s spires and also further afield. She will hopefully continue to do this more as the young get bigger.

A late morning feed - the male collected the remains of a prey item from the far end of the nest site. He flew off and the female left the nest to get the prey off him. He landed near the nest scrape and she returned to collect the prey from him. She could be heard while feeding.

Paul documented some of the interactions around the nest site today - female taking prey from male on plinth, male on nearby college chimney and female with prey on the nest ledge before feeding young. Thanks Paul!

Lots of prey items were seen being brought in to the nest site today, even during the heavy rain showers. This evening the male brought a Starling to a chimney on Corpus. The female came off the nest to collect it and returned to feed chick(s).

Behaviour by the birds around the nest site in the last couple of days may indicate eggs may have hatched. This morning the male landed on the nest site and shortly after flew off with what looked like a Blackbird. He has also spent time on the new museum site and Corpus chimney.

A quick change over at the weekend with their distinctive calls audible. The male was perched on St Botolph's church this morning, preening and probably drying out after the heavy rain showers. Another intruding peregrine has also been seen around the nest site this morning.

Witnessed an incubation duties change over this morning, male flew from King's spire to relieve the female. She left the nest and landed briefly on the nest site building before flying off in direction of the UL where she still likes to spend time away from the nest site.

A food exchange on the plinth above the nest today, the male brought in a pigeon which the female left the nest to collect. An intruding female with a noticeable notch in its left primaries was also seen in the area, it was seen off by the resident male.

This is how the female greeted the male when changing over incubation duties this evening. We think the male had spent just over three hours in the nest while the female had been on the UL eating and tidying herself up. Sound on for quintessential peregrine noises. 🔊🔊

The pair occasionally spend a little time on the nest ledge when changing over incubation duties. The male has been on 74 Trumpington St, we're not exactly sure why he visits there tbh. All eggs have probably been laid by now so 🤞 for signs of chicks in the last week of April.

The male cleaning his talons on the nest ledge before mating with the female on King's, which can even be heard from quite a distance away. Then the female returning to incubate eggs.

Some video from events yesterday evening when the pair mated on the old URC, the male perched on St Botolph's church and the female went in to the nest. Thanks Paul for providing most of the footage.

8:30am - The male brought in a semi-eaten pigeon and the female left the nest to collect it from the plinth. She took it to the UL and after cleaning his beak he flew to the top of the old URC.