Description

Yorkshire Coast Peregrines

Yorkshire Coast Peregrines

It was late winter when the Peregrine Falcons paired up on our coastline. In an area of almost 70 Mile we were lucky to observe Peregrine Falcons in 10 Individual places. Some were just single birds, and in other places they were pairs.

This blog post is about one of those pairs who first paired up back in February. The pair laid eggs in March and incubated through April with 4 tiny white chicks being born in Early May.

As well as the weather and numerous natural threats to the Peregrines we are also very much aware of threats from humans, Egg Collecting apparently still takes place, Eggs or young Peregrines are also known to be stolen and sold for profit.

Its also reported that over the years, Pigeon Fanciers have also been known to harm Peregrine Falcons as its claimed the Peregrine kills their racing birds. Im not to sure if this really is the case as the Peregrines we have watched for the past couple of years seem to feed on nothing but shore wading birds and young Kittiwakes.

With the many known threats to Peregrines myself and a close friend decided to keep as close a watch as possible on the birds whilst not disturbing them at the nest site. For weeks on end we visit the cliffs and watched through binoculars or our tele focal camera Lenses. We made a vow that anyone seen to be recklessly disturbing the birds, stealing or damaging their eggs and young would be photographed and reported to the authorities.

Through May and June we watched the 4 young peregrines grow from white balls of fluff to birds of almost adult size that were ready to fledge the nest. On hot days they would all sit in the back of the nest and on cooler days they would often sit towards the front. Over that time period the male bird brought food to the nest in the early days, then both parents took turns as the young grew larger.

When the chicks were first born, the parents would tare up small pieces of meat for them to eat. By the middle of June the parent Peregrines were bringing whole kittiwake chicks back to the nest and leaving them in the nest for their young to tare up themselves.

One day I watched the male bird bring 2 kittiwakes chicks to the nest in quick succession, then he came around the corner again with a third kittiwake chick, this one being swapped in mid air with his partner. It really was a privilege to sit and watch mother nature at work like this.

Adult Peregrine Falcon Arrives Back At The Nest With A Kittiwake Chick For The Young. One of the 4 Peregrine Chick has fledged by this point and is being fed separately away from the nest.

Adult Peregrine Falcon Arrives Back At The Nest With A Kittiwake Chick For The Young. One of the 4 Peregrine Chick has fledged by this point and is being fed separately away from the nest.

What amazed us most was that all for of the eggs had hatched and all four of the young were maturing well. From what we have been told, its quite rare for all the eggs to hatch and for the young to all still be alive and well.

In mid June we noted one of the young was often laid down