JUNE 2023
1 Jun – the female goes to the ledge and looks out at 2:05 for ten minutes and again a few minutes later before returning to the chicks. The male replaces her at 4:20, but he flies off after ten minutes. The female is back at 5:05, checks the chicks, then sits on the ledge for five minutes. The chicks go walkabout at 5:40. The male arrives at 6:10 with fresh Feral Pigeon prey to feed the chicks but has to allow the female to take it from him; he flies out. She stashes what little is left 30 minutes later. The chicks then huddle together behind the centre columns as the female sits in the corner and falls asleep. She flies off at 8:15. The chicks keep huddled in the box with the occasional walkabout. At 14:10, they have a concerted effort to wing flap and run around the box for 15 minutes until the female returns with another Feral Pigeon meal. They have finished at 15:00 and huddle in the middle of the box with the female at the back. She flies out at 16:15, and the chicks go walkabout for 15 minutes then resume their huddle. The male flies in with fresh Feral Pigeon prey but it is quickly taken from him by the arriving female who feeds the chicks; he flies off. They have finished and huddle again 30 minutes later. The female leaves at 18:55 and returns at 20:10 with a small meal that she feeds to [TDC]. She them shelters the chicks in their huddle. They move into the corner of the box at 23:35.
4 Jun – the female shelters the chicks until 1:10 when she sits on the ledge for ten minutes. They waken at 1:30 but quickly huddle down again. She flies out at 3:50 and the male arrives at 4:20, checks the box, then leaves after a few minutes. The female is back at 4:55 and the chicks go walkabout until they huddle up at 5:50; the female leaves five minutes later. They wake and walk around the platform at 6:35. The female arrives with fresh Feral Pigeon at 7:10 and feeds them. They finish the meal then go into the box and are sheltered by the female at 7:50. She flies out at 8:15 and returns 15 minutes later with another pigeon meal. Already well fed, she flies out with the remains at 8:45. The chicks huddle in the box until 10:00 when they explore the box and platform briefly. They spend a lot of time sleeping and preening. The female lands on the ledge briefly at 14:15. The female is back at 16:10 with another meal for the chicks. There is nothing left 15 minutes later and she flies out. The chicks have a flapping frenzy for a few minutes, then [TCC] picks up an old scrap of wing from the platform and drags it into the box. There is no meat on the scraps, but it picks at it like proper feeding. [PBF] snatches it and also tries to feed, then [TDC] attempts. They eventually settle down in a huddle again at 17:10. They go on a walkabout at 18:35 with more wing flapping for 30 minutes. The female returns at 19:45 with a small meal that [TDC] tries to take from her. However, [PBF] manages to get it and will not let the female have it. The two siblings manage to get hold of what is left ten minutes later and feed. The female flies out and returns at 20:05 with another Feral Pigeon meal and feeds the young. They have had their fill by 20:25 and she flies out with the remains. They settle down and huddle together at 21:35 but the female does not return to shelter them before midnight.
6 Jun – the female shelters the chicks until 2:35 then moves to the ledge and flies off two hours later. At 5:20, the male arrives carrying fresh Feral Pigeon with the female in attendance. It is taken from him by [TCC] and he flies out. The female snatches it and feeds the chicks. [TCC] moves to the platform after feeding, followed by [TDC] with [PBF] the last to be fed. She has finished feeding by 5:50 and flies off with the scraps, so the chicks huddle in the corner. [TDC] walks to the platform at 6:00 but soon returns to the huddle. They start wing stretching at 8:20 and walking around the box. The female lands without food at 8:25, then quickly leaves. [TDC] stands on the wooden ledge for the first time at 8:30 for five minutes, then returns to the box. [TCC] moves to the platform and falls asleep. They are all huddling in the box at 9:25 until going walkabout looking for food at 10:50. The male lands briefly at 11:20. He is back with Starling prey at 12:40, followed by the female. [TCC] manages to snatch it but is relieved of it by the female who feeds all the chicks within ten minutes. They do some exercises until falling asleep in a heap by the centre column at 14:20. They are running around an hour later until 16:30 when they resume their position by the column. At 17:25, the female arrives with fresh Feral Pigeon and feeds the chicks in the box. There is nothing left at 18:05, and she leaves. After a brief period of exercise, the chicks resume their huddle. The male is back with another pigeon at 20:00. He starts to feed the chicks, but the female quickly arrives and takes the meal from him; he flies out. There is nothing left 40 minutes later, so she leaves, and the chicks go into the corner of the box where they remain until at least midnight.
10 Jun – the three young remain huddled in the back of the box until 4:30 when they move around and start flapping their wings. At 4:55, [TCC] and [PBF] sit on the platform watching the sky. There is then more flapping and running around the box. At 6:00, they stand on the platform looking out, waiting breakfast. All three are starting to use the wooden ledge. There is a frenzy of activity as the male flies in with a Feral Pigeon at 6:30. He feeds the young, but the female is soon on the scene but she leaves him to it and flies off. After five minutes, they become impatient and feed themselves, so he flies out. The female is back briefly at 6:40 and they finish feeding a few minutes later, although there is plenty remaining. The female is back at 7:00 and resumes feeding. Unlike the male, she does not let them take control and ensures that all young are fed until there is nothing left. They then run around, flap and preen until huddling together at 8:40. They remain in the box until 10:35 when they go walkabout and settle on the platform. They lie down (pancake) in the heat until 11:40 when the female arrives with another pigeon meal. [TCC] is the first to finish followed by [TDC] and finally [PBF]. The female flies off at 12:15, and the young pancake on the platform. The female is back at 12:35 and finds some leftovers. The young are well fed so she feeds herself. She leaves at 12:55 and they find shelter from the heat and sun in the box. They become active again at 16:00, wing flapping and picking at scraps. They settle down again at 18:00 and are back in the box 45 minutes later. They resume exercises at 19:40 for half an hour. The female is back with another pigeon at 20:20 and feeds the young. There is nothing left at 21:05 and she flies off. They have 45 minutes of exercise then settle down for the evening at 21:50.
16 – June UPDATE: The first youngster to fledge was [TDC] at approx 6:30. Not the best of take offs and he was later found grounded in Cheapside, Leicester market around 9:30. Thank you to Mary and the Cathedral team for keeping him safe and informing me. He was collected and seemed OK, despite the grounding, and was returned to the box for a second chance. Hopefully a little more successful.
21 – June UPDATE: After being returned to the platform on Friday 16th, [TDC] was accidentally forced from the ledge by his sisters’ wing flapping at 4:00 on Sunday 18th. He has not been relocated since. At 8:10 on Monday 19th, [PBF] fledged naturally and was located on the roof of a nearby property. At 18:00, she was located on top of an air conditioning unit close by. The following morning she was seen sitting on a bin outside the Cathedral and then on a bench in Jubilee Square outside BB Radio Leicester. The decision was taken to return her to the ledge. See: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-65963537. It was noted that [TCC] was still on the ledge but had been doing extensive wing flaps for the last two day and was eager to leave. She fledged and was found on the ledge of a building in Gallowtree Gate. Meanwhile [PBF] was fed by the adult in the afternoon. She took to the air again, much stronger than previous, at 11:45 on Wednesday 21st.
21 Jun – [PBF] remained sleeping on the ledge from the previous evening until 3:45 when she walks around the platform and box. She starts wing flapping an hour later, then settles on the ledge again. At 5:20, the male brings in Feral Pigeon prey which is snatched from him. He leaves and [PBF] feeds in the box. The female arrives ten minutes later and checks on her offspring, then leaves. The juvenile has finished eating at 5:45 and returns to the ledge with a full crop and looks out over the city. At 6:05, the female flies in and picks up the discarded pigeon and feeds it to [PBF]. The juvenile has had enough 15 minutes later and goes into the box. The female feeds herself and then the juvenile again. There is nothing left at 6:35 and the female flies out. [PBF] sits on the ledge and has short bouts of running around, wing flapping and preening. At 11:45, she makes two jumps from one side of the ledge to the other, then opens her wings and flies out strongly. At 18:20, the female flies in to check the box, then leaves. The male arrives at 18:50 carrying Starling prey but quickly leaves. There is no more activity on the platform today.
22 Jun – the male flies in with Feral Pigeon prey at 6:05, quickly followed by the female who snatches it from him and he leaves; she flies out with the meal five minutes later. He is back with another pigeon at 7:00 and again at 13:25 when the female follows him; they both quickly leave. He returns with Starling prey at 20:30, checks the box and flies out.
23 Jun – the female lands briefly at 4:50. At 16:05, I was in the city centre and saw the adult pair fly towards the Cathedral followed by one of the juvenile females. The male landed on the uppermost cross of the spire whilst the female flew twice around the spire carrying prey. The juvenile was following calling loudly. Unfortunately, they headed south and out of sight. However, this sighting does confirm that at least one of the juveniles is active in the city. The female arrives on the ledge at 20:35 with scraps from a previous meal. She checks the box, then leaves.
24 Jun – the female lands briefly on the ledge at 5:05, checks the box and leaves ten minutes later. The male lands at 5:40 and is quickly followed by [TCC]. The male leaves after a few minutes and the juvenile picks at scraps before settling on the ledge, flying off at 6:10. The juvenile [TCC] lands on the ledge briefly at 6:45. The male makes a crash landing on the platform at 11:00, no doubt due to being pursued by a juvenile looking for food. He makes a few scrapes in the stones and flies out after 15 minutes. The female lands a few moments later and goes into the box, also making scrapes, leaving at 11:25. There is no further activity on camera.
25 Jun – whilst doing my regular walk at Cropston Reservoir this morning, I noticed a bird on the edge of the water. On closer inspection it was clearly a juvenile Peregrine with an orange ring on it. I couldn’t believe my eyes when it became clear that this was [TDC] the juvenile that we rescued from Cheapside, Leicester on the 16th. He was chased off by a couple of Crows and flew over my head. This is almost five miles from the Cathedral. Subsequently, at 14:50, both adults fly into the box. There is a lot of calling between the pair and both birds made separate scrapes in the stones. The male leaves after five minutes but the female remains until 15:10. The male lands on the ledge at 23:55 until at least midnight. There was an unidentified juvenile seen on the roof of St Martins House today.
26 Jun – the male remained on the ledge until 2:30 when he flew off. He returns at 3:30 and goes into the box and makes a scrape in the stones then moves to the ledge and falls asleep until flying off at 4:25. He is back at 4:40 and is quickly followed by the female and the pair go into the box for a few minutes bonding. He flies off after five minutes and she makes scrapes in the stones before leaving at 5:05. The male is back at 9:50, leaving five minutes later. There is no more activity until 20:45 when the female visits the box and stands in the scrape for a few minutes before moving to the ledge then flying out at 20:55.
27 Jun – the male flies in at 4:45 and goes into the box, then sits on the ledge preening. He leaves five minutes later. The female arrives at 13:35 and goes into the box for 30 minutes, then flies out and the male lands briefly a few minutes later. At 20:50, the female lands, pursued closely by [PBF]. They go into the box and the adult quickly leaves. [PBF] moves to the ledge and is joined by [TCC] at 21:00. They both go into the box, then move to the ledge. [TCC] flies out at 21:10 followed by [PBF]. With the sighting of [TDC] at Cropston Reservoir on Sunday, this confirms that all three juveniles have fledged successfully.
28 Jun – there was no activity until 15:05 when the male brings in fresh Feral Pigeon prey. He leaves a few minutes later when one of the juveniles lands, snatches the meal then flies out. The female lands briefly at 21:35 and is forced off by [TCC]. Another bird flies past the platform at speed as [TCC] settles on the ledge. The juvenile falls asleep at 21:55 and remains until midnight at least.
29 Jun – [TCC] remains sleeping on the ledge until 4:25 when she flies off. There is no more activity until 14:10 when [TCC] returns to the ledge. After 15 minutes, she lies flat on the platform and falls asleep. At 15:20, she sits on the ledge and preens until 15:40 when she flies out. There is no further activity on camera today.
30 Jun – the male lands at 5:20 and goes into the box, then moves to the ledge. He is chased of by the arrival of both juveniles [PBF] and [TCC]. [TCC] leaves quickly and [PBF] five minutes later. The female arrives at 11:20 and goes into the box where she remains until 12:25. There is no further activity on camera today.