London Peregrine Partnership news

What’s on the menu?

admin — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 19:17:44 +0000

Last week three of our members visited Sutton to remove prey remains from a building used by the resident Peregrine Falcons. As anticipated the results were very interesting. The LPP’s Tony Duckett has posted photos of the more notable species on his blog.

Update: Below is a full list of what we were able to collect. Some remains proved a challenge to identify, although some of the waders were more obvious. Sutton is not far (as a Peregrine flies) from Beddington Farmlands, an area of mixed habitats on the outskirts of London which attracts a variety bird species.

~~Shelduck~~
Teal
Little Grebe
Moorhen (several legs)
Oystercatcher
Golden Plover (2)
Common Snipe
Woodcock (4)
Whimbrel
Common Sandpiper
Sandwich Tern
Common Tern
Arctic Tern
Tern sp or Little Gull
Stock Dove
Collared Dove (3)
Ring-necked Parakeet
Green Woodpecker (3)
Great Spotted Woodpecker (2)
Blackbird
Fieldfare
Jay
Jackdaw (4)
Starling (10+)
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Cockatiel
Feral Pigeon (65+)

Correction: Upon closer inspection of the photographic evidence we’ve determined that what looked like Shelduck remains are in fact those of an Oystercatcher.

Peregrine viewing point at the Tate Modern

admin — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 13:08:09 +0000

For the past few years the RSPB have organized a viewing point outside the Tate Modern. Volunteers will be on hand to point out the resident Peregrine Falcons which like to perch on the former power station’s chimney. This is good opportunity to have a look at the birds through a telescope. If you’re lucky you may also spot one of the pair’s two offspring from this year. The viewing point will run daily from 12 noon to 7pm until 12 September.

Photographing London’s Peregrine Falcons

admin — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:16:15 +0000

Regent’s Park wildlife officer and LPP member Tony Duckett has generously provided many of the photographs featured on this site. Tony is a dab hand at digiscoping, which he uses to illustrate his own website Regent’s Park Birds and its accompanying blog. This month Tony has updated the latter with pictures and video clips of Peregrine Falcons at various sites in and around London. Check out the posts from the 16th and 18th of July for some great images of our urban Peregrines.

Webcam chicks: where are they now?

admin — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:51:12 +0000

If you live in Vauxhall or you followed the Peregrine Falcon chicks on the RSPB/BT webcam this year, you may be wondering where the family has gone since the youngsters fledged. The birds have now moved to a more famous building just down the river – the Houses of Parliament. All four juvenile birds have been seen developing their flying skills above Westminster. The adult birds have spent the winter at this site for the last couple of years, so it’s worth keeping an eye to the skies if you’re passing.

On the wing

admin — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 12:48:02 +0000

Many of you will be wondering what’s going on with our local Peregrines. June was a busy month, with pairs fledging at a number of sites in the London area. While we can’t disclose information about all of these sites, we’re pleased to be able to report on three sites where pairs successfully fledged young.

The Tate Modern pair produced two young, their twentieth and twenty-first fledglings in seven years. The pair on the BT/RSPB webcam in Vauxhall produced four young, as did a pair in Sutton. This could not have been achieved without the generous assistance of the Metropolitan Police Wildlife Crime Unit and building managers at each site. We’re grateful to everyone who did their bit to ensure the birds had a chance at success.

This year’s ‘juvs’ will be dependent on their parents until they learn the skills they need to hunt for themselves. During this time they will begin to wander further from the nest site to explore their surroundings. Tall structures such as the Tate Modern, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, BT Tower, etc, will make excellent perches for these young falcons. If you’re lucky you just might spot one.