And how about the Bristol Peregrines?

Bristol Peregrines mating. Photo: Sam Hobson (samhobson.co.uk)

Sam has been keeping a close eye on the Peregrines which nest in Bristol's City Centre. The pair have been seen mating a lot, and we hope to see eggs soon. They copulated twice within the space of nine minutes on the weekend! When they do begin laying, they won't start incubating immediately - eggs will be laid every two days. They will start to incubate once the penultimate or final egg is laid. Anywhere between one and five eggs (three or four most common) may be laid. 

At least three pairs of Peregrines nesting in London have already laid eggs. However, this is still relatively early for Peregrines. Most lay in the third and last week of March (and perhaps even into April), although laying dates do appear to be getting earlier. 

Female Peregrine in Bristol in flight. Photo: Sam Hobson (samhobson.co.uk)

The photo below by Sam shows one of the Bristol Peregrines on the weekend with a pigeon - this was being used in a food pass. A food pass involves the male catching prey, and handing it to the female in flight.  It is a way in which the male Peregrine shows his mate that he is a capable hunter, and can support her and the chicks over the coming months. 

Bristol Peregrine with a pigeon as part of a food pass on the weekend. Photo: Sam Hobson (samhobson.co.uk)

Sam also discovered Golden Plover feathers on the 14th March (see below). Golden Plovers have been wintering around the west, and many will be moving north to begin setting up territories on the moors in northern England, Scotland and Scandinavia. As they move overhead, they make for an easy target for the Peregrines. Sam also found the head of a Chaffinch on the weekend - a common prey item. 

Golden Plover feathers. Photo: Sam Hobson (samhobson.co.uk)

Chaffinch head. Photo: Sam Hobson (samhobson.co.uk)

Sex on the Peregrines' minds!

It is that time of the year again - Peregrines are thinking about sex.

Bristol Peregrines: Sam Hobson

Peregrines in urban areas have already been spotted mating, although eggs won't be laid until the middle or end of March. In Bristol, Sam has spotted the city centre pair mating over the past few weeks. It is a great way for the pair to strengthen their bond, and for the male to make sure that when the eggs are laid, he is the daddy! 

While Peregrines usually nest in pairs, they will sometimes nip off to mate with other Peregrines - this is known as extra pair copulations, and is common in the bird world from Great tits to Swallows. So, a female's clutch of eggs may not always be fathered by her mate.  For her, it is a great way of making sure her young have the best genes possible, while also having a devoted partner to help her rear them!

Bristol Peregrines in the act: Sam Hobson

On sunny days, Peregrines will also be displaying overhead - lots of soaring, circling, and spectacular dives may be in the offering. While at the nest, the female may be testing things out by shuffling around where the eggs will be laid. You may also hear the pair calling to each other - recently described as 'ee-chupping' by the Derby Peregrines Project, the pair may cheap away, giving the odd light grunt in between.

In terms of prey, the Bristol Peregrines have been feasting on Feral Pigeons, Woodpigeons, and the odd Teal throughout February. As we get into March, prey species migrating back to their breeding grounds, such as Redwings, Woodcock, and Water Rail, will begin to appear in the diet again. The male may even impress the female by bringing her some food, and transferring it to her in the air. It is his way of telling her that he is a good provider, and that he will make sure her and the chicks will be taken care of when they need to be fed. 

Fancy a Woodcock or two for tea?! Peregrines certainly do.

I have been excited by, and interested in Peregrines now for 14 years - and what sparked my interest was looking for what they had been eating. I loved finding various wings, heads and legs of birds below office blocks in the middle of Bristol, and often right outside Pizza Hut! It was an adventure, and I often had to think like a detective to work out what the prey items were from. 

Whilst I have less time to actually do the searching these days, Sam has been regularly visiting the Peregrines in Bristol's city centre, and as a result, he has been finding lots of prey (see previous blog). 

On Thursday evening, Sam was down near the Peregrines' roost site and discovered three Woodcocks on the ground - they had no doubt been blown down by the winds from a Peregrine cache. To ensure they have enough food during cold periods of weather, Peregrines store food. With the recent cold spell, it is likely there was a surge of Woodcocks in the region - escaping colder places further east. Many Woodcocks arrive from the Baltic states and parts of Russia. Sadly, modern buildings are not great for a cache - the dead birds just get blown down like these ones did! In more traditional haunts such as cliffs, they would be hidden in crevices and cracks in the rocks. Its' a remarkable find which not only tells us what the Peregrines are feeding on, but also that Woodcocks are in the area (even though we may never normally see them around). 

The cold weather movements by wading birds are common at this time of the year. As wet, muddy woodlands and meadows become frozen across Europe, birds such as Woodcocks head west, where they can find moist and, in relative terms, milder conditions, to feed on worms and other invertebrates. Cornwall, Devon, and even the Western Isles of Scotland are hotspots for Woodcocks in the winter because they are relatively ice free, meaning plenty of worms to feed on!

Here you can also see three Peregrines together taken by Sam over Bristol, near where the Woodcocks were found - we reckon this is the city centre breeding pair and their youngster (left), haggling over a half eaten pigeon! 

Images by Sam Hobson. 

Waders on the menu for Bristol peregrines

Since the temperature has dropped in the last week or so, the Peregrines that are often seen around Bristol city centre appear to have become increasingly active. They must have been hunting and caching around the clock, as recently I have found the remains of a much wider variety of prey species under their perches than I have for months - many of which, would have only been flying over the city under the cover of darkness.

Last Sunday, it was a bumper haul, with Dunlin, Snipe, Little Grebe, Teal, and plenty of more common urban birds like Starling, Redwing, Goldfinch, and Feral Pigeon. Mid-week, I found some Lapwing tail feathers, and this weekend, a male Teal, alongside some nice Golden Plover and Woodcock feathers.

It might be that the cold snap has prompted the increased hunting frequency, and they are busy caching extra food, or it could be that the drop in temperature has caused some movement of waders and ducks.

The only other explanation could be that there is a new bird in town, who is more expert at hunting nocturnally. As Ed mentioned in the previous post, it is important to keep an eye on who’s who at this time of year. 

Just recently, I have noticed that a juvenile Peregrine that has been hanging around with the two adults in the centre of Bristol has no colour ring on its left leg. If this was the city centre pair's offspring from this year, we would expect it to be sporting a colour ring on its left leg with the letters FP, clearly visible here. Therefore, this young bird is either FP, and has lost his ring, perhaps after a high-speed strike, or it is a roaming juvenile that has temporarily taken up residence in Bristol. It’s hard to be sure without getting a look at the BTO metal ring on its right leg, but watching its behaviour - particularly its choice of perches that I’ve never seen FP use before - I’m inclined to agree with Ed that it is not a local bird. Frustrating situations like this illustrate why colour-ringing is so important to urban Peregrine studies

Peregrines are on the move - watch out for who's who

At this time of the year, Peregrines are on the move. Young birds hatched earlier in the year will be travelling around the UK, sometimes short distances, perhaps only a radius of 50 miles; others will be moving much further, up to 120 miles or more. 

Urban sites with wintering Peregrines may consist of not just local birds, but falcons from further afield. Of course, they look the same, but with some careful observations of age, sex, and other plumage markings, you may be able to tell the individuals apart. A city centre roost may have four or five individual Peregrines using the site, even though only one or two are seen at any one time. 

Many urban Peregrines are now marked with colour rings on their legs under a Schedule 1 Licence - these allow the birds to be identified from a distance. Others, particularly those ringed in quarries, may only sport a unique, BTO metal ring (which the colour-ringed birds will also have). 

Either way, the rings can tell us a lot about individual Peregrines, from where they have travelled from, to how old they are.  When spotting Peregrines, keep an eye or for their legs and any rings. With a good scope or camera, the colour rings can be read. The metal rings require powerful lenses, but if a bird is close enough, they can sometimes be read too. 

Report any rings and their codes to ring.ac and myself! The colour rings I use in the Bristol and Bath region are light blue with black letters. 

Peregrines wintering in Bristol and Bath

These days you are more likely to see a Peregrine in an English city thank you are a Kestrel or Sparrowhawk. 

As we are head in to winter, urban-dwelling Peregrines are spending plenty of time hunting and roosting over towns and cities. Here in Bristol, various Peregrines are using different buildings as their base throughout the city. One pair which raised one chick in the centre of Bristol this year are still around - just the other day they were spotted by Peregrine watcher Sam Hobson.

During the winter, Peregrines will stay close to their breeding territories, but many younger birds (known as satellite birds) will be roam around the UK, and may turn up in areas where during the summer they would normally get chased off very quickly by territorial birds. 

Over the next few months we will be reflecting on the 2012 breeding season and some of the interesting results we have received from some of the young birds we have colour-ringed over the past few years. I have been studying Peregrines in the Bristol and Bath region since 1998, and with the help of others who watch, study and photograph Peregrines, we are developing a bigger and more detailed picture of how these birds live in our towns and cities. 

I am linking to our previous blog below which followed some of the comings and goings of the Peregrines in recent years throughout the west region in England. We will now put postings on this current blog but didn't want to lose the stories and information shared on the blog below. 

http://swperegrinestudygroup.blogspot.co.uk/

Ed Drewitt November 2012
eddrewitt.com