2013 No breeding attempt

The nest tray and camera was installed in February, and the birds were occasionally seen in the tray in March.  The female spent quite a lot of time in the nest tray scraping on 20th/21st March and it seemed egg-laying was imminent.  We then had some very unseasonal weather and the nest tray (and everything else) was covered in several inches of snow which took many days to clear due to very low temperatures.  We assumed that this pair would attempt to nest later but, alas, it proved not to be.  Bob and I took the nest tray and camera was taken down again earlier this week, to allow the architect and workmen access again to survey and inspect the spire, which will need the top 4 or 5 metres taking off and rebuilding next year.  We hope that the Peregrines will nest here again in 2015 onwards.

Another successful breeding season.

The Grantham peregrines have had another fantastic breeding season and three young have fledged.
The success of the website and the teamwork of the Church and Bird Club is in no small way due to the hard work of a dedicated team of helpers.
Many thanks to them all, especially Lynda, Elaine, Val and Derek at St Wulframs and Andrew and Alan from the Lincs Bird Club.
Here's to 2013.
Bob Sheppard.

19th June - Juv and Male on the Spire

One of the juv birds (one of the young females?)perched up above the nest tray.

And, the male bird keeping watch....

Both images sent in by Kevin Everton.

19th June - Female Peregrine

Kevin Everton's images of the female peregrine taken on 18th June 2012. Please send any images to the email address peregrines@lincsbirdclub.co.uk and we will upload them to the blog - Thanks!!

18th June - Still about!

The birds may not be spending much time in the nest tray, but they clearly still about! (The buff tips to the wing feathers indicate this is a young bird.)

Queen's Birthday Honours

The rescue of the male Peregrine chick by Bob demonstrates his total commitment to his work for conservation, and it is very fitting that Bob received recognition, being awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen's Birthday Honours.    Congratulations.

first flight failure !

An exciting day for our young male chick.
I received a call from Rev June at the church to say there was a chick on the ground.
A half hour drive through the Grantham Carnival traffic saw me gloved up and ready to grab!
After a brisk walk up the staircase I popped him back with his big sisters!
So all is well (until he does it again!)

Nearly a month old

The chicks will be four weeks old on Sunday and they look fantastic. As expected, they spend very little time in the tray, preferring instead to explore the walkway.
In two weeks time they will be taking their first short flights on the church roof!

Growing fast !

The oldest chick is three weeks old tomorrow.

They are hardly recognisable compared to those tiny balls of fluff in early May.

May 31st - Breakfast

28th May 2012

The chicks are now quite mobile and have been off exploring the walkway around the base of the spire.  They do not spend much time in the nest tray, perhaps because they go on to the north side of the tower where there is more shade.  They come back to the tray occasionally and the photograph below shows one being fed by dad early this morning.

May 25th - Early Evening Supper

The chick's having an early evening meal after a very hot day in Grantham, during which time the chick's spent most of the time sitting in the shade.

May 24th - Post ringing supper...

The chick's watching and trying to catch flies (all happens very quickly at about 12 seconds). Post ringing suppertime, for our recently ringed chick's.

24th May - Ringing visit

The chicks were ringed this morning, during which time the camera was turned off for 20 minutes.  This was just a precaution in case anyone phoned the authorities if witnessing the chicks being taken from the nest (the local police had already been informed by us).  Each chick was fitted with a standard BTO metal ring but also with a lightweight plastic colour-ring (orange with two letters) so that each bird can be individually identified in the field.   At the same time an extra 'L'-shaped piece of plywood was added to the far end of the nest tray to provide the chicks with some welcome shade..........and they made use of that shade later today - the hottest day of the year so far.

May 22nd - Summertime!

Adventurous chick!

The chicks soon start to explore their surroundings. Is this an errant male (on the naughty step) or a wandering female (which are quite a bit bigger even at this age?)

May 19th - Lunchtime....

Big feed in the sunshine !

This lunchtime the chicks had a good feed as the sun shone down on them (and the duff egg.)

 Here Mum is taking the leftovers away and leaving them to sunbathe.

Growing fast

We have been watching chicks at this nest for a few years now but we are always amazed how fast they grow!

May 17th - Early morning feeding time

Short video showing the growing chick's being fed on 17th May 2012.