laurence
Veteran
- Location
- in the aeroplane over the sea
For the last two years i've helped out at "fledgewatch" for the Peregrine Falcons at Charing Cross Hospital. There has been a live webcam on the nest and ledge for this time as well and i've seen the female lay an egg and many have watched the young hatch and then grow.
the problem has been at fledge time. Three years ago the first successful brood had to be rescued after one, then the other 'fell off' ledges and were unable to get high enough for the adult birds to feed them. The nest site is fine, but if a youngster gets into trouble, the surrounding building make it very hard for them to gain height.
To help the young, a team was organised who would watch the nest ledge and make sure the youngsters were ok. if anything happened we would call the main watcher and, if needed, she would call the licensed handler. The security team at the hospital also had a box and blanket to place any stranded bird in. Last year they rescued a pet parakeet and reunited it with its owner (someone thought it was a Falcon!).
last year three chicks fledged and one was lost shortly afterwards - possibly a crash landing. This year it was the same. both years the birds have been ringed and this year they were also named by some schoolchildren who watched the webcam in their class. George and Amy have been a great hit.
It is always slightly sad and worrying when they grow as they fly off and you're not sure where to, or if they are ok. This year, George is still hanging around the hospital with the parents, but big sister Amy went missing a little while ago. she was, initially, reluctant to fly, possibly as she is HUGE. when she did take to the air she was strong and flew further than her brother and tended to stay away longer. we figured she had just left home and hoped that was the case.
Today i had an update from the monitor of the birds... a report on a bird forum was asking for ID of a bird of prey seen in Brighton. it was identified as a juvenile Peregrine, probably female as it was big. then someone thought to trace the leg ID ring.
Orange AZ is Amy 'our' bird.
This is the first year there has been a positive ID of the juveniles and it's also the furthest any of the London birds has been seen. Interestingly, Amy's mum came from the South Coast as a youngster.
there has been much rejoicing in the fledgewatch team... all those hours of watching and waiting have been worth it. athough we never had to rescue Amy, there were a few near misses - one where a food pass went badly and she dropped out of the sky.
sorry for the long post, but i wanted to share the good news (unless you're a pigeon it's good).
the problem has been at fledge time. Three years ago the first successful brood had to be rescued after one, then the other 'fell off' ledges and were unable to get high enough for the adult birds to feed them. The nest site is fine, but if a youngster gets into trouble, the surrounding building make it very hard for them to gain height.
To help the young, a team was organised who would watch the nest ledge and make sure the youngsters were ok. if anything happened we would call the main watcher and, if needed, she would call the licensed handler. The security team at the hospital also had a box and blanket to place any stranded bird in. Last year they rescued a pet parakeet and reunited it with its owner (someone thought it was a Falcon!).
last year three chicks fledged and one was lost shortly afterwards - possibly a crash landing. This year it was the same. both years the birds have been ringed and this year they were also named by some schoolchildren who watched the webcam in their class. George and Amy have been a great hit.
It is always slightly sad and worrying when they grow as they fly off and you're not sure where to, or if they are ok. This year, George is still hanging around the hospital with the parents, but big sister Amy went missing a little while ago. she was, initially, reluctant to fly, possibly as she is HUGE. when she did take to the air she was strong and flew further than her brother and tended to stay away longer. we figured she had just left home and hoped that was the case.
Today i had an update from the monitor of the birds... a report on a bird forum was asking for ID of a bird of prey seen in Brighton. it was identified as a juvenile Peregrine, probably female as it was big. then someone thought to trace the leg ID ring.
Orange AZ is Amy 'our' bird.
This is the first year there has been a positive ID of the juveniles and it's also the furthest any of the London birds has been seen. Interestingly, Amy's mum came from the South Coast as a youngster.
there has been much rejoicing in the fledgewatch team... all those hours of watching and waiting have been worth it. athough we never had to rescue Amy, there were a few near misses - one where a food pass went badly and she dropped out of the sky.
sorry for the long post, but i wanted to share the good news (unless you're a pigeon it's good).
