Factory Peregrines 2

 

Back in September 2020 I did a post called as above, Factory Peregrines, quite remarkably a pair of Peregrines had not only hunted inside a Factory, they then bred inside it. You can understand Kestrels possibly inside being more agile and definitely more suited to life inside, but open sky chase them down peregrines; you could not connect to limited airspace inside a large factory, let along breeding inside it.

Since then I have watched them regularly, completely at home and at times, spending more time inside than they do out, in 2021 they again bred inside fledging 3 juveniles.

The owners of the Factory have been incredible in working around the birds, it’s an active working factory and not always easy due to Schedule 1, but they have pulled out all the stops in accommodating the birds.

For the 2021 breeding season I made them a nest box, for 2020 when they were found, they had nested on a ledge in debris/pigeon guano, it was in a bit of a precarious position it has to be said. Fortunately for the peregrines, the owners gave them space and worked further away so not to disturb them, it worked and they fledged 2 juveniles.

Having placed the nest box for 2021 and placed in a higher position out of any work conflict with more of a distance buffer, I was hopeful of acceptance, sods law peregrines being the unpredictable beasts what they are bloody ignored it.

Instead they again bred on a ledge, a different location however, it was better positioned and there were no issues thankfully.

They fledged 3 juveniles in 2021, 2 males and a female, as you would expect all the juveniles were completely at home inside and like the adults, spent a lot of time inside the Factory right up to going there own way. To walk inside, look up and see 5 peregrines staring down at you from the rafters is surreal I can tell you, it always put a smile on my face, such an incredible adaptive species.

9 times out of 10 they will accept a nest box immediately, but occasionally it’s ignored in that 1st year when placed, especially if there are alternative positions available.

                                                                     She's a big un

                                                               Falcon near nest box

                                                                           Falcon

                                                                         Juveniles

                                                                           Tiercel

For 2022 it is looking promising, to date I have seen the Falcon in it or close to it 3 times with the Tiercel in it and also near it on another 2 occasions.

Of course it’s all about the Falcon who will decide, so I am still keeping an open mind on it, they don’t always do the straightforward thing, however that is nature.

As females go she is a lump, I would go as far as saying she is the biggest Falcon I have seen, she is right leg metal ringed so can only presume that the colour ring snapped off. Looked into this in the past, it appears they do have a shelf life and will become brittle and snap after time.

I will find out this month whether she likes the box or not.

Beckton February

 

It’s looking good again for the Kestrels for 2022,in and out of the nest box and copulation noted a number of times, the tie to the nest box is as strong as ever, now in its 4th year since its installation.

After nearly 2 months I have recorded 66 species so far, not too bad a start for this little urban site, areas like this are becoming very important for wildlife as East London habitat gets swallowed up by concrete and housing.

For the last 2 years Mistle Thrush, now a Red List species, has disappeared as a breeding species on the Sewage Works, one of many species now in decline.

The Sewage Works being what it is, has always attracted large numbers of Wagtails, both Pied and Grey and also good numbers of Chiffchaff, I have been catching up with good numbers of these lately.

Lots of variation in the Chiffies as you can see, also good to see Redshank again coming in from the Thames to roost on the Tanks.

Boxes

 

After Storm Eunice on Friday, I spent much of the weekend checking the various peregrine boxes in London and the other Barn/Little Owl/Kestrel boxes placed elsewhere.

In particular the Tower nest box I made 9 years ago at Battersea Power Station for the peregrines, was very exposed to the exceptionally strong winds 50 metres up, however good to see that it rode out the storms, particularly Eunice.

The Battersea Falcon, now at least 11 years old spent at least 5 hours in the box on Friday sheltering, the box faces northerly, at times even out of the wind in there, she was getting buffeted with her tail especially taking on a life of its own.

Checking other peregrine boxes from distance showed them to be sound which was obviously good news, thereafter I checked all the other boxes, one a Barn Owl pole box was in a very exposed position and if any would have succumbed, this would be the one. It was facing east and the back face of the box would have taken the full force of those winds, however as with the others it was sound. I always overdue the bolts on them, in this case it was probably a good thing.

I also made and placed another Kestrel pole box with the help of my good friends Jake and Ben, they did most of the work which made life a lot easier.

Hopefully the Grey Squirrels will not adopt it, being on a pole and not in a tree, I hope it will deter them from stuffing it full of bloody leaves and grass. I have seen a Kestrel in the area often so fingers crossed.

Peregrine breeding season is nearly on us, the earliest egg laying I have had has been March 6th, I suspect with global warming and our barmy seasons, it won’t be to long before they start laying in February.

Battersea Latest

 

With the entire scaffold now de rigged on all faces of the Power Station, the pair have immediately renewed their familiarity with all the brickwork ledges and niches. They are already caching prey on it, in particular on the northern face; a recent visit also showed copulation so breeding looks promising.

The scaffold has been in situ for 3+ years with the normal monoflex covering, to retain their bond at all times, exterior scaffold boards were sporadically placed, these worked well and the pair used them frequently. The exterior boards have benefited also on other peregrine construction sites; they have used them to roost, rest, cache and feed on, they also help retain the connection to the ‘core’ site.

                                                     Exterior boards have worked well

On a recent visit, arriving in darkness I could see them roosting on the brickwork, no doubt the northern face gives a lot of shelter from our predominately southerly, south westerly and westerly winds. I would also suspect the brickwork throws out heat, on cold winter nights out of the cutting winds, this very likely gives them a degree of comfort. None of us like sitting in a cold wind, they are much the same.

                                         Just about viewable in early Feb - bigger Falcon right

More recently however, I noticed something else on another date, some of the faces of the Power Station are illuminated with lights, it makes the grand old building look even more fantastic of a night.

On February 9th when I arrived early a.m found them both roosting right next to the lights, on the north west wash tower, in particular the Falcon was relatively close. There is no doubt that the strip of lights will throw out a level of heat, had both consciously roosted in this position to gain the benefits on cold winter nights?

Only seen it once but having said that, the scaffold hasn’t been down long, it will be interesting to see if it happens again and is not just a one off. They are an incredible resilient species and it could possibly be the latest line in adaptive behaviour.

                                                                            Falcon

                                                                              Pair

                                                                             Tiercel

In regards to the juvenile last seen on December 30th, there is no sign; it looks like he finally got the message. If you recall the levels of aggression from his Dad had gone through the roof with full on attacks, hopefully he decided that leaving was the best choice.