TropicBirdArt Blog from Holt: 20190206 Peregrine Falcon Cromer Church

20190421 Cromer Parish Church of St Peter & St Paul, Museum and North Norfolk's first Peregrine Falcon eyrie...? .

Shot from proposed site for the local bird clubs viewing and interpretation area.

Cafe in the church has live CCTV of the nest atop the tower, see below.

The grand recovery of the Peregrine Falcon in the British Isles over the last few decades is a conservation success story of resilience and adaptability. Its position as supreme apex predator and an 'ecological barometer ' is undisputed. Pairs now set up breeding sites within our major towns and cities on tall manmade structures.

A pair have finally taken to Cromer Church of St Peter and St Paul in the centre of town and three if not four eggs have now been laid. It is well worth a visit as the local bird club have provided the birds with an ideal eyrie scrape, also with cctv watching every event within the box. The monitor to view the live footage is in the church lounge and there is soon to be a WiFi feed for the video. Activity about the eyrie will reach fever pitch when the young hatch but at present the female is peacefully incubating the eggs. Peregrine Falcons frequenting this area of coast line and the Cley Reserve are in the main immature birds but adults are seen on occasions. A large immature bird, probably therefore a female, has overwintered and is still present on the Cley Reserve. The Cromer pair are not thought to hunt here as there is no need to fly the 17Kms as prey is plentiful in and around the Cromer territory.

On April 26th the tercel was observed repeatedly still-hunting from the tower, launching after prey over the sea and town. A supreme demonstration of avian hunting skills.

20190413 Peregrine & Feral Pigeon.

Atop Cromer Church Spires against early morning light.
The top of the eyrie box can be seen between the railings.

20190206 Peregrine

Tercel surveying Cromer for pray items.
About 30 Feral Pigeon still about the tower??

20190206 Peregrine
The pair have been reported on site 17th March after going missing for a couple of weeks.

20190323 Peregrine

Male atop church tower. Pair have returned hopefully to nest.

Olympus 75-300mm MKII from RAW, cf f4 prime above.

20190323 Peregrine

Female atop church tower spire.
Probable descendants of the Norwich Cathedral birds,
hence the choice of religious monument and fixation on Feral Pigeons as the main prey source.... hopefully.
As yet hunting has not been witnessed over the sea.

Noted only 4 Feral Pigeons on tower today....

Olympus 75-300mm MKII from RAW.

20190404 Peregrine

Tercel grooming on North side of tower. Hopefully the falcon is on the nest.

Only 5 Feral Pigeons sitting on East side of tower.

20181231 Peregrine Falcon

1st winter bird seen hunting about the Cley reserve this winter.

Adult birds not frequently seen in this area which is 16km from Cromer.

20190421 Tercel circling early morning from North Lodge Park.

Also seen plucking food cashed Feral Pigeon on SW spire.

2 eggs have now been laid.

20190421 Song Thrush Carcass.

During search for plucked feathers at the base of the tower I came across this Song Thrush eaten through from the back to its flight muscles.

This mornings plucked feathers were from a Feral Pigeon previously cashed.

20190421 Water Rail Carcass.

Further searching produced this Water Rails carcass behind a bench against the tower. Again the body muscles had been eaten away leaving head, legs and wings.

The local bird club had observed on CCTV that Woodcock and Water Rail were taken. This indicates the birds are hunting at night and probably over the sea as these species migrate.

Woodcock is a favoured prey species of the pair on Norwich Cathedral, a full moon and street lighting help no end in the hunt.

Noted the amount of humanoid rubbish around the church, see above. What chance cleaning up the sea and atmosphere if our towns and cities are strewn with garbage...??

20190426 Peregrine pair

Both birds hunting this morning, the male launching from the tower and once from a holding circuit over the pier.
The female hunted by soaring high to the west but was mobbed by 4 Herring Gull.

20190426 Peregrine in eyrie nest box.

A nest monitor is set up in the Church lounge courtesy of the local bird club.

20190426 Peregrine over sea.

0830hrs Tercel launched from the tower low out to sea way beyond end of pier to attack prey which had just hastily ditched into the water before this shot.
He circled over the area but the Dunlin sized prey was not seen again.

The prey was spotted from the tower at about 0.5Km range by the Tercel!

20190426 Peregrine Falcon

Tercel poised for the next prey target to enter his kill zone.

20130506 Peregrine Falcon

Using an old Ravens nest in a disused quarry, Plym Bridge, Devon.

20190414 Racing Pigeon

Lost on a salt marsh and very tame. Due to become a Feral Pigeon in one of our coastal towns...
Ideal prey but so far no colour rings found at Cromer eyrie....
By the 18th June a foot with a bright green colour ring was found in the eyrie. See below.

20190426 Fieldfare

Discarded carcass at base of tower with only tail and rump feathers removed....

20190603 Peregrine Falcon

Female with 3 downy young at a week old...!!
Shots from in Church monitor.

20190603 Peregrine Falcon

Success!

20190618 Peregrine Falcon

All three chicks doing really well by the 18th June.
Falcon with left wing of Jackdaw and about to leave the eyrie having fed the young.
The young have now been rung, BTO ring right leg and numbered orange ring left leg.
44: 531g probably male, 45: 851g female and much larger than other two, 46: 562g probably male.