Aylesbury Peregrines
You are looking at the nest site of a pair of Peregrine Falcons, situated on the 12th floor of the Buckinghamshire Council building in Aylesbury town centre.
Peregrines are the fastest animal on the planet and can reach speeds in excess of 200mph.
They are an apex predator who catch and kill live birds on the wing - as such the footage here may contain gory images.
Peregrines first appeared on County Hall in 2007 and the nest platform was erected in 2010. They first attempted to breed in 2011 and birds have been present ever since.
The female is larger and greyer than the male. Our current male has a metal ring on his leg but we don't know where he is from.
Peregrines are awesome and exhilarating birds! We are very lucky to be able to watch these wonderful birds up close and personal.
Wonderful News
Brief update -
Great news, I've just been to County Hall, the two that have fledged, including the one that flew this morning at about 5.14 ! are both right on the top of the building. The third is clearly younger, and still with some white down is still on the platform. So I could see the whole family this morning with both adults present near the youngsters.
Many Thanks to Bev and Pete for contacting me with updates and video.
Happy Times :)
Mike
We are down to two !
The third bird apparently flew off the platform just before 5 this morning. I think this is too early for the stage of development they are at, so whether it exercised too hard and 'fell off' I don't know.
Staff and Security at County Hall are aware and it's not been found in a search this afternoon.
Hopefully it's fine and sitting on a roof in the town somewhere.
I'll have a physical look early morning tomorrow and will post any updates.
Fledging is a really dangerous time, whatever species of bird you are !
Fingers crossed.
Mike
Mike
Just look at our stunning 3 chicks now ! :)
Don't they look amazing, and so different from the white bundles of fluff of only a couple of weeks ago.
Our other broods in the County are going well, with the 3 chicks inside StadiumMK growing fast and 2 of the 4 in High Wycombe have fledged, taking their maiden flights yesterday.
Our Aylesbury 3 are vigorously exercising their wings now, preparing for their first flights which are now days away. I'd expect them to take those first flights before next weekend.
Rescue plans are in place at all three locations, so if (or should I say when) one becomes grounded hopefully we can rescue it before any harm comes to it.
One of our previous Aylesbury chicks ended up in the bus station !!
Fingers crossed for our trio.
Enjoy these last few days of full on action :)
Mike
Things are moving on quickly now.
If you've been watching today you might have seen that the larger/ older 2 chicks (more brown feathers) made the jump up onto the ledge today, the third one wasn't quite strong enough but he tried !
From now on they'll use the ledge a lot, more room there and can exercise those wing muscles.
Please be aware that there is about 2 metres of ledge underneath the camera which you just can't see, so please don't worry if you can't see one or more chicks for extended periods.
The male adult just delivered a Starling to the chicks which they were fighting over.
Enjoy the spectacle
Mike