31 July – Sitting own the ledge from the previous evening, the juvenile falls asleep at 00:25. He wakes at first light, 5:05, but remains on the ledge until 6:55 when he flies off. At 8:00, the adult male arrives with a live Feral Pigeon immediately followed by the juvenile calling loudly who tries to snatch it from the adult. The male starts to pluck the prey with the juvenile calling incessantly. He manages to snatch the headband takes that o the back of the box whilst the adult continues pluck the prey. At 8:10, the adult relents and allows the juvenile to take over the plucking. The adult flies off. The juvenile is putting much more pressure on his injured foot than previously – a good sign. At 8:55 he sits on the ledge – full. He remains until 14:20 when he flies returning after a few minutes. At 14:55, the adult male is back and finishes off the prey item from earlier. He finishes at 15:15 and flies off. The juvenile follows at 15:40. St 16:35, the female arrives on the ledge, feeds on a few bits of leftover prey then goes into the box and makes a scrape returning to the ledge at 16:45. She remains until 18:55 when she flies off. At 19:, she returns with prey already partially plucked which she stashes by the column and then sits on the ledge. The adult female remains on the ledge until midnight at least.
30 July – At 1:00, the juvenile walks around the box and has a preen before settling down again. At 2:55 he sits out on the ledge. where he remains unit; 5:45 when he flies off. There is no further activity until 19:10 when the juvenile returns. At 20:10 he picks up a few of the scraps left on the platform. He is using his injured foot and occasionally his right wing for balance. He sits on the ledge until midnight at least.
29 July – The female arrives on the ledge at 5:55 and finishes off what was left of yesterday’s meal. She flies off at 6:35. The injured juvenile arrives at 8:00. It looks too breezy sitting on the ledge and so he goes into the box for shelter. At 11:45, he takes a brief hop onto the ledge but returns to the box immediately. At 12:55, he tries again and sits on the ledge until 17:15 when he returns to the box. !0 minutes later he is on the platform, hunkered down from the wind. But it is still too breezy and he returns to the box. At 18:55 he has another try on the ledge but is soon back. He try again briefly at 19:10. At 19:40 he hops out of the box and flies off. The female arrives at 19:55 and is soon followed by the juvenile calling loudly, at which point, she leaves. He juvenile departs at 20:50 for a few moments returning to the box. At 22:50, in the dark, he walks out to the ledge, looks out over the city for a few minutes and then returns to the box. He remains in there until at least midnight.
28 July – The adult male arrives at 5:40 calls for a few minutes then sits on the ledge. At 7:20, he walks on to the platform and starts posturing and calling. He looks out over the city before flying off at 7:30. The injured juvenile arrives at 7:35 and sits on the ledge. At 9:35 he hops along the platform and picks up a scrap which he manages to hold in his injured foot – he seems to be improving and is not using his wings as stabiliser as much. After he has the small piece, at 10:00 he lies on the platform in the sun. The adult female startles him on her return at 12:10 and he calls out loudly – he was probably sleeping. The female leaves almost immediately. The juvenile finds another morsel and starts eating it using his injured foot as best possible. He then sits on the ledge, moving to the centre at 13:30 before returning at 13:50 and back again at 14:20. At 16:40 he goes to the back of the box out of the wind and out of sight! He returns to the ledge at 16:55 calling loudly. At 17:25, the male brought in live Feral Pigeon. The juvenile immediately tries to grab it from the male but he takes it into the box and the juvenile watches as the pigeon is plucked. The juvenile sits on the ledge calling as the male plucks the prey but before he has even managed to make inroads, the juvenile grabs the prey from the male and drags it into the back of the box using his injured leg. The adult eats the head of the pigeon before flying off. The female arrives at 17:30 and sees the juvenile plucking the prey and leaves immediately. With a full crop, he hops to the back of the box to rest. He returns to the ledge at 18:35. At 18:50, the female lands on the platform and drags the remains of the pigeon from the box. She feeds herself for 10 minutes then takes the remainder and feeds the juvenile. She leaves at 19:10 and the juvenile retreats to the back of the box after another 10 minutes but returns to the ledge at 19:40, flying off at 20:45. There is no more activity this evening.
Video 28 July – The juvenile takes control: After not feeding well for most of the day, the male brings in a Feral Pigeon. The juvenile gets impatient and grabs the prey from him and takes it to the back of the box to pluck and eat.
27 July – The injured juvenile remained on the ledge overnight, hopping to the other side at 1:55. At 4:45, he hobbles back. At 5:05 he suddenly flies off returning after about 30 seconds hot on the tail of the adult female that brings in a Feral Pigeon. The female tears pieces off the prey and feeds them to the juvenile and accepts the meal readily, calling continuously. By 5:15, his crop is full and the female feeds herself. The juvenile sits on the ledge and despite being full, continues to call. The female is finished by 5:30, stashes what little is left of the pigeon and flies off. The juvenile sits quietly then hops to the other corner of the ledge. At 5:35, he hops to the back of the box returning to the ledge a few minutes later. At 5:50, the adult male arrives, picks up the stashed prey and feeds himself, flying off 5 minutes later. The juvenile calls loudly from the ledge. At 9:30, he hops to the right side. At 10:20 the juvenile starts calling loudly and hops to the centre of the ledge announcing the arrival of the adult male with what looks to be a Moorhen. The juvenile ‘runs’ at the male, grabs the prey off him and drags it into the box. The male makes a hasty retreat. The juvenile stands on the prey with his poorly leg and using his wings to keep balance, manages to pluck the prey and feed himself. It looks like he may have turned a corner as he is putting more weight on the damaged foot. He sits on the ledge at 10:35 until 11:35 when he flies off. The female arrives at 13:40 and picks up the remains of the Moorhen and eats it. After 20 minutes she sits on the ledge and flies off after another 20 minutes. The male arrives at 15:05 looks around the platform and finds a bit of leftovers to feed on. The male flies off at 16:15 as he see the juvenile approaching. The injured youngster sits on the ledge calling for a few minutes before settling down, finally leaving at 17:40.
Video 27 July: The injured juvenile feeds itself again.
26 July – The adult male arrives at 5:40 but leaves less than 5 minutes later. The injured juvenile PCF arrives on the platform at 8:30 and starts calling. He remains in the one position until 11:05 when he hops onto the opposite ledge where he stays until 13:35 the he flies off. The adult male arrives at 15:05 and sits on the ledge. He is displaced by the injured juvenile at 10 minutes later. He calls occasionally before flying off at 16:30. At 17:35, the female arrives and goes into the box and makes a few scrapes before sitting on the ledge. She leaves at 19:35 just as the juvenile arrives. He sits on the ledge for 20 minutes before flying off, returning at 20:30, where he remains for the rest of the evening.
25 July – The injured juvenile remains on the ledge overnight and at 5:20 hops across to the opposite corner. He eventually flies off at 6:20. At 14:10, a local Stock Dove sits on the ledge but thinks better of it. At 14:55 the male arrives quickly followed by the female. He goes into the box whilst she is on the ledge. They call to one another. He partially hides himself behind one of the columns and when the female starts calling again, he flies off a few minutes later. The female remains on the ledge preening. At 15:25, she flies off just as the injured juvenile flies in. He is still unable to put much weight on his right foot. He hops around the platform searching for a few scraps of food. Then sits on the ledge preening. At 19:45, he flies off. The male returns at 20:05. He sits on the ledge preening, finally leaving at 21:35. There is no further activity.
24 July – The male arrives at 9:10. At 9:20 he goes to the opposite ledge and then walks into the box. He follows the line of the shadow and at 10:10 stands in the shadow. As the shadow line moves forward, so does he. He remains on the platform until 12:25 when the arrival of the injured juvenile (PCF) calling forces him to fly off. The juvenile continues to call for a few minutes before settling on the ledge. The juvenile remains on the ledge until midnight at least. There are no visits from the adults.
23 July – The adult male arrives at 6:45 and finds a few scraps from the previous day’s prey but flies off 5 minutes later. The female arrives at 8:45 but leaves almost immediately but returns to the ledge at 13:10 remaining until 14:35. The male arrives on the ledge at 15:45 flying off 2 hours later. The male arrives in the dark at 22:25 and sits on the ledge until 23:30 when he flies off. There is no more activity.
22 July – One of the juveniles (most probably PCF) arrives on the ledge at 5:50. It is obvious that he has a bit of a limp but otherwise looks healthy. At 8:10 he hops to the opposite ledge. The adult male arrives at 8:15 and goes into the box. The juvenile calls to him, runs/hops towards him and the adult flies off. At 8:20, the juvenile flies off returning an hour later and sits on the ledge. He goes into the box at 9:45 looking for food. There in none and he flies off at 9:50. The adult female arrives at 13:35. She sits on the ledge preening and sleeping. At 16:35, she looks skywards and something grabs her attention. She flies off, returning 90 seconds later with a pigeon as prey. She starts to pluck it and at 16:45 is joined by the juvenile (PCF) who calls incessantly. The female pulls pieces from the prey and feeds then to her offspring. The adult flies off at 17|:00. The juvenile does not feed himself and sits on the ledge. At 18:20, the adult male arrives and picks up the prey item and feeds himself. The juvenile is calling constantly. After 10 minutes the juvenile hops towards the adult who drags the prey into the box, gives the youngster a few morsels then leaves it with the prey and sits on the ledge then flies off. The juvenile has trouble holding down the prey with his damaged foot so cannot feed easily. He hops to the ledge and looks out. He cannot put any weight on his right foot. The adult female arrives at 19:50 and picks up the prey, takes it to the juvenile and after feeding herself starts feeding the juvenile. The female flies off at 20:05 and the juvenile hops to the opposite side of the ledge and lies down on the platform for a few moments before sitting on the ledge. He flies off at 20:25. There is no further activity this evening.
21 July – The male arrives at 5:05 and calls occasionally until 5:25 when he flies off. At 5:40, he is back with a live pigeon and is quickly followed by one of the juveniles (looks like PCF) who calls incessantly. The takes the pigeon into the box and despatches it and starts to pluck it. The male feeds on the head of the pigeon whilst the juvenile sits on the ledge calling. At 5:50, the pigeon is stripped and taken to the juvenile who is still calling. The male consumes the prey in front of the juvenile and gives it a few morsels before flying off letting the juvenile fend for itself. It drags the pigeon into the box and makes short work of it. At 6:15, the juvenile has had it’s fill and sits on the ledge before flying off at 9:20. The juvenile is back at 10:05 and eventually lies down on the platform in the sun at 10:25. It returns to the ledge at 10:50, flying off 5 minutes later. The female arrives at 13:40, drags what remains of the pigeon to the platform and eats it. There is a little left after 10 minutes and she stashes it by the right hand column before flying off. She is back at 14:20 and spends a few minutes staring at the stashed pigeon before removing it and resuming her meal. By 14:40 there is nothing left and she sits on the ledge. The male arrives at 16:10 and goes to the back of the box. He does a few scrapes and is soon joined in the box by the female where they go through their posturing and calling. After a few moments he goes on to the platform and finds a few scraps of the female’s meal that he picks at. The female stares intently at him from the box. He sits on the ledge and the female then goes into the corner of the box facing into the box, a position I have not seen her take before. After a few minutes she resumes her gaze on the male and then goes and sits on the opposite ledge. The male flies off at 16:35. At 17:35, the female flies off and immediately a juvenile (PCF) lands on the ledge that goes and hides behind the central column! He eventually moves to the corner until 20:50 when he goes into the box looking for food. Finding none he returns to the platform flying off after 5 minutes. There is no further activity today.
Photo: 21 July: Juvenile PCF looking for food.
20 July – The male arrives on the platform at 13:45 remaining until 15:20 when he flies off. He was noted on the spire at 15:45 plucking a juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker. At 16:25, the female arrives on the ledge and when the male returns at 16:55, she goes into the box. The male flies off after just a few moments and the female goes back to the ledge. She departs at 20:00. There was no further activity noted at the platform today. One of the juveniles was seen on the top of the BT Cardinal building in the late afternoon.
19 July – The female was already on the platform at midnight from the previous evening. She is joined by the male at 5:05. She goes to the back of the box whilst he sits on the platform for a few minutes before joining her in the box. they posture and call for 10 minutes until he returns to the platform. At 5:20, the female suddenly takes off an flies out of the box landing on the ledge a few moments later. The male goes into the box. They call to one another and he makes a few half-hearted attempts at a scrape. At 5:40, after checking an old stash area, he flies off, the female remaining on the ledge. He returns at 7:20 and goes into the box. They call to each other. Again he does a little scraping under the watchful eye of the female. After 5 minutes, she walks into the box and they posture for a few seconds before he flies off. She does some scraping and stone moving before returning to the ledge. At 9:50, she is again at the back of the box and spends the next 20 minutes scraping and stone moving returning to the ledge at 10:10. However, at 10:35 she walks to the back of the box scraping en route.
Video 19 July: Female making a few scrapes
The male is back at 10:40 and sits on the ledge. The female flies off at 11:10 returning at 12:00 when the male goes into the box. He makes a few small scrape attempts then makes a hasty retreat, flying off at 12:05. At 19:00 she flies off but is back within a few minutes. At 20:25, she leaves for the evening.