Battersea Power Station

 

July



Unfortunate news on the Peregrines, sad to say that the male Peregrine has gone I'm afraid, after not seeing him in May, June and now July, I thought I could just be missing him. However, having now checked all the footage thoroughly, over the last few months, the last time he showed on camera was April 30th at 19.15p.m.

He is regular at entering the nestbox and displaying to the female, this is normal behaviour for him, even late in breeding, for him not to do this as per normal and deter from normal regular behaviour, means that he is simply not present.

The Falcon is taking her own prey on all my visits over the last couple of months, if the Tiercel was around, he would be there in a flash putting her under pressure for the scraps.

What could have happened?

The City can be a dangerous place for Peregrines, even experienced adults, so many pitfalls are present. Taken out/injured by another Peregrine after encroaching on another territory, entrapment, glass balconies for one, window strike on sunny days, nocturnal collision, netting - the list goes on.

It's also entirely possible that it could be 'natural,' although they pair for life, change will obviously happen at some time.

In terms of age, the male arrived as an adult in September 2019, unringed, this meant that he was a minimum of 7 years old.

Ironically, I always thought that the ringed female at 14/15 years of age, would have been long replaced by now over the last couple of years.

On my visit, she took prey early a.m, a Feral Pigeon from the Refuse Centre, after feeding she then rested up with a bulging crop on the exterior ledge.

                                                       Always watching - feeding ledge

                                                              Goldfinch on the feeders

                                                         September 2019 - new Tiercel

                                                                       Stuffed

Having checked the camera thoroughly for the Tiercel, it also came to light just how much she rests up in the nest box, afternoon naps are regular as is overnight roosting. No doubt the nap is possibly age related, being an older bird, I know how she feels now being in my senior years!

Elsewhere, the usual species were recorded, not so many as usual, 5 Swifts overhead, already heading for Africa it seems.



No song or any sign of any of the Black Redstarts.