Totally agree @Michael… @ThorNogson’s photos make it totally clear. Wonderful to have all this in SE23!
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By all accounts, yes.
There are peregrines on the spire of the old church opposite The Grove too.
If you’re luck enough to see them dive, their speed is amazing.
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Hi Philip
Yes it is, other people have been much luckier with their photos than me.
Thanks, will try when return from my holiday
From the wingshape (seen this morning!) and the call, seems like a peregrine falcon- unless there are peregrines and sparrowhawks on the prowl?
Would somebody like to arrange a bird spotting tour of SE23 focused on some of our more unusual bird - peregrines, sparrow harks, owls, swifts, parakeets, woodpeckers, etc
I’ve no idea if it would even be possible to arrange something like that, but I think it could be good fun. We could arrange for a few dead starlings or a murder of crows to attract some of the birds of prey to the roof of a local church.
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Very funny!
I don’t think parakeets count as unusual anymore though.
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I don’t wish to belabour the Jurassic Park references but I am reminded of this scene.
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now you’ve made me think of Q The Winged Serpent, a horror classic where the bird in question nested in the tower of the Chrysler building in NYC. Caused a stir by dining on people rather than pigeons and parakeets though.
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Back to peregrine falcons though, for those who want to know more there is a tv programme about them tonight, 8pm on BBC2.
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Well, I hope they are not nesting ( they were mating last week…) because flyimg a drone close to their nesting site does not strike as a very sensible thing to do.
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I was quietly hoping to see one of the Peregrines take out the drone like one of those viral Eagle videos but alas they didn’t seem to be around at the time.
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Indeed there has been a drone buzzing around locally recently, somewhat annoyingly.
Even if the owner is blissfully unaware of the birds being there, surely there is a serious privacy issue too with that tower being someone’s house and all.
And of course as Chris says, they are not allowed without jumping through hoops anyway.
Reported the drone issue to London Peregrine partnership, may be the can help.
I saw one of them catch a pigeon on Wednesday night, an amazing site. I wish the people flying the drone would just leave these birds alone.
Perhaps if anyone does see the drone, it could be reported on here, then maybe we could name & shame or get the thing grounded.
Tony
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Hi There Reply below London Peregrine
Hi Tony,
Thanks for getting in touch.
I’m aware of this pair. That’s bad news about the drone. It’s quite possible whoever it is operating it is trying to film the birds. You could report it to the police however the best course of action might be to approach whoever’s doing it and video them in the process. Unfortunately if it’s a local resident and not a commercial operator then it will be difficult to do anything without identifying them.
I don’t think there’s anywhere on the church for them to nest, but they may attempt it nearby in future.
Kind regards,
Stuart Harrington
London Peregrine Partnership
www.london-peregrine-partnership.org.uk
@LdnPeregrines
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the guy I met who lives in the tower told me they do not nest in the tower, but take their prey there to eat it. This was on the basis of a couple of seasons of observing the behaviour. He said he often finds bones and things on his windowsill. If this is correct I suppose the question is where exactly do/will they nest?
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If anybody has the answer it is probably best to keep it to yourself to prevent anybody disturbing the nest.
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