City Living - Out for lunch

Avid readers who read the previous blog about "City Living" will know that one of the advantages for the Peregrines living in the city is that they can "lunch" locally.

So when feeling peckish it is off to the local park.

Up and off



The birds head off to the west with very determined wing beats - each foray means a pigeon or similar has met it's end - this pair of Peregrines appear to have a 100% success rate in hunting.



Starlings, wood pigeons, various waders all feature on the menu.



Both birds are using the ledges to cache food and at change over time, the out going bird will sit up on the chimney, preen and then come down to one of the ledges to feed on prey caught by the other bird.



The chimney is away from the nest site and the birds also use this high vantage point to attack other birds who unwittingly fly between the building and chimney stack.



At one point a pair of Magpies were attacked no more than 50 foot from us - the female Peregrine stooping from her vantage point and binding to one of the unfortunate Magpies - definitely a camera moment had we not been watching the "action" almost spellbound.



Quite how the Magpie disentangled itself from the Peregrine's talons - but it did and was sent chattering into the wooded area around the mill.



Similarly a distant Buzzard was flown at and given a hard time.



One other event occurred which provided some spectacular flying and also something I have not seen before.



The male bird was on the top rings of the chimney when another peregrine flew in and sat on the very top of the chimney - "calling" away.

The resident male flew up and above the intruder and proceeded to dive bomb the interloper with both birds at times locked together on the edge of the chimney.

All of a sudden a third bird appeared and began to conduct aerial tussles with the resident bird.

Then the resident female came flying out of the nest site and flew to assist her mate - the result was four peregrines high in the sky - the resident birds doing everything they could to drive off the new arrivals.

The intruders were eventually driven off and normal business resumed.

It was a rather spectacular display of flying and a fair amount of noise being made by all four birds.



A Kestrel glides in the Peregrine territory - the Peregrine putting real effort into getting higher than the Kestrel.

This encounter ended up with the Kestrel clearing off as the Peregrine gained height

All in all another quiet Sunday morning !!