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.
More wonderful news :)
A few hours after my last post (June 10th) our third chick took a leap of faith and launched itself into the Aylesbury skies, with thx to Bev for the updates on the day.
On Friday morning I spent some time with the Peregrine family inside StadiumMK, all 3 chicks are doing well and the parents were attentive.
On Saturday morning I went to High Wycombe and saw at least three of the fledged chicks there, plus the adult male, all going well here too.
Then this morning I received an amazing screengrab of our Aylesbury birds, from our live feed, with thx to Ginny and Pete ! It was taken at about 1030, in it the whole family, 2 adults and 3 fledged young are on the platform eating Sunday brunch together - it made my weekend :)
So we have 7 successfully fledged out of 7, with only one rescue so far and that bird is now flying with it's siblings. If the 3 in the stadium can make it, we'll have 10 out of 10 :):)
Fabulous news !
Enjoy
Mike
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