Parliament Latest

 

March 23rd




I popped into Parliament last Saturday, arriving at 5.20a.m just as the dawn was starting to show.
It turned into a bright but very cold morning; however, it was good to finally see some sunshine.

Lots going on with the Peregrines, good to confirm we have an egg or 2, she's not on full incubation yet, this usually begins at 3 eggs, indeed copulation is still continuing, so obviously one or more to come.

Unfortunately, the new Riverside Tower nest site has again been ignored, she is in the old faithful nest balcony on Victoria Tower. The tie to this core structure is incredibly strong and it will take a massive carrot to move her. The height of the Riverside Tower nest site could be an issue being lower, it’s a possibility that they may not even look at it, until they can no longer use Victoria Tower.

What is unusual, is that last year's juvenile, now an immature is still present and being tolerated, it could be that he will assist with breeding, hopefully if all goes well, he will be a help and not a hindrance.
Long staying juveniles can be a problem, in that they often steal prey meant for the Falcon from the adult male, or even the chicks, I have had it happen at other sites like Battersea Power Station.

We will see what transpires, shortly after dawn, the immature landed on the balcony wall and was staring down, screaming to be fed, she was obviously down there incubating but appeared as soon as he flew off.
The whole point of this was to try and get her to feed him, even at this stage, he will still try it on to nab/steal an easy meal.
During the next couple of hours, he intercepted another intruding female Peregrine high up and saw her off out of territory, so hopefully he will help and benefit them if he stays.

                                                                           Falcon

                                           Falcon - swollen vent shows another egg on the way

                                                       Falcon arriving - Tiercel in with prey

                                                                        Immature

                                                   Immature seeing off intruding Falcon

                                                                           Adults

                                                                         Tiercel

Eventually the adult Tiercel came in with prey, she was sitting nearby, he had obviously fed, what remained of the prey was definitely a Woodcock. A nocturnal migrant, especially on clear nights, unfortunately for it, Peregrines in Cities now hunt at night also.

The Falcon then fed while he dropped down to incubate, the juvenile was nowhere to be seen so she fed on the remains before flying to Central Spire.
The Tiercel appeared later, and they copulated on Central Spire, the Falcon then flew back and rested up near the balcony no doubt guarding it.

So, fingers crossed all will go well with breeding ,no reason why not, they are in a good position on the Balcony, they now have a good egg base/substrate and are safe from extreme weather.