Thank you to everyone who has already already donated. It is very much appreciated. With your support it is hoped that we will be able to have sound on our middle camera later in the year.
There is currently no audio on the Middle camera but if you unmute either of the other two cameras you should get sound, albeit slightly out of sync.
The Next Leicester Peregrine Watch Day is: Tuesday 14th July at 09:30 – 13:30 – weather dependent.
7 June UPDATE: the last juvenile to leave was 4DB who flew out at 11:25 on the 6th. Not the strongest of flights and I expected a call to say that she had been grounded. XRF was seen in the box two hours later being submissive and trying to bond with the female. There may have been mixed messages as she fed him on scraps of a previous meal just as if he was a juvenile. It is usually the male that brings in food and feeds the female during bouts of bonding. He snatched the scraps and flew out. An unidentified juvenile was located on the roof of the ‘Flowerbox’ shop on Loseby Lane nearby at 15:20. This was most likely 4DB. There were no reports of grounding. At 7:00 on the 7th, a juvenile was seen on the edge of a parapet gargoyle near the Gadabout cocktail bar next to the Cathedral. This was most probably 4BB who we released on a nearby roof. Another juvenile could be heard food begging but could not be seen. The juvenile on the gargoyle had gone by 10:00. A phonecall at 11:55 indicated that a bird had gone to ground in front of the Cathedral having been dive-bombed by XRF. This turned out to be 4DB and as the nesting platform was now empty, was returned to the box after checking. Soon after the female arrived with fresh Feral Pigeon prey and fed the juvenile who remained on the platform ledge with a full crop until midnight. However, a call that another bird was grounded near Radio Leicester at 21:00 was not what I was hoping for. It was inevitable that this was 4BB and she was rescued for the 4th time but the decision was made that as it was late, and there was another juvenile in the box that could get spooked, we would take it to the Leicester Wildlife Hospital for assessment and care, before being returned asap for release. I would like to express my grateful thanks to all those special passersby who remained with 4BB whilst we travelled into the city centre. Your care and thoughtfulness knows no bounds.
5 June UPDATE: after looking to be ready to fledge for a few days, the male 4AB left the box by jumping on the head of 4DB and flying south then turning and heading north at 5:40. I had high hopes of him not getting grounded. However, an email later in the morning alerted to him being found on High Street, and another visit to the city was underway. When I got to the location, the observer who called in the grounding in said that the bird flew off not long after. It seems that he was being pursued by another bird. This confirmed my fear that XRF would not be happy with the juveniles in the area. We searched for 4AB but he could not be located – hopefully he’s safe somewhere. We remained in the city and located 4BB who was sitting on a roof of the Cathedral close to where she was relocated after her most recent grounding. We were watching the platform from Guildhall Lane in the afternoon and a small crowd had gathered around as 4CB and 4DB were looking restless and eager to fledge. After a few false starts, at 14:25 4CB flapped her wings got uplift from the breeze and flew north. She flew in a circle and tried to return to the platform but did not have enough height so landed on the roof of buildings on Guildhall Lane. Both the adult female and XRF were on the spire at the time. However, less than an hour later, at 15:15, XRF spotted the juvenile and dive-bombed her three times in quick succession. 4CB manages to shift position so that she was tight against the roof and XRF could not make contact. He returned to the spire. 4CB was then lost to sight.
4 June UPDATE: my sincere apologies for the lack of updates but we have been in Peregrine rescue mode over the last few days. At 15:15 on the 1 June, 4BB had a tumble from the ledge after trying to evade the wings of an exercising sibling. She was located in a nearby courtyard, and we were called by the residents – they had experience with X6F from 2025! After checking her for wing damage, she was put onto a roof of the Cathedral. There were no sights the following day but on 3 June at 10:10, she was spotted by a member of staff from the Cathedral sitting on a window ledge of premises on the opposite side of St Martins Square – so obviously flew there. Unfortunately, an hour later, she was found grounded in the car park of the Blood Donor Centre after crashing into a window. After another wing check, she was returned to the Cathedral roof but within ten minutes had flown and landed on the roof of the Guildhall. She hopped onto a tall chimney and spent some time preening. She then flew strongly towards the Cathedral and towards the nest box where she was met by the adult female. Unfortunately, an adult male (possibly XRF) dive-bombed her, but we lost her to view. We remained in the area for some time and heard her calling but could not locate her. At 13:25, she flew over our heads and landed in a tree close to the Richard III statue, where she remained until at least 20:00. Our sincere thanks to all the local residents, and the Blood Centre and Cathedral staff for ensuring the safety of 4BB.
1 June Update: the resident male has not been seen on camera since 23 May. However, XRF the long-staying youngster from the 2024 brood has been seen in the box on a couple of occasions on 28 May and also on 31 May.
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