In the city centre, amidst all the hustle and bustle, there’s a nest box attached to the side of a church. Not the normal kind of nest box you’d attach to a fence or tree in the garden, and hope some Wrens might make themselves at home – this one is considerably larger!
The nest box was installed by the Hawk and Owl Trust in 2005, to assist the Peregrines who had been living in the city since 2000. The Trust also installed a webcam (that’s attached to the black pole on the left of the photos) in 2014. The Peregrines who call this nest box home, have three chicks this year, and they’re already looking like the adults!
It’s just about possible to spot the Peregrines with the naked eye, but it’s a lot easier with a camera or binoculars. These two chicks had decided that the roof of the nest box was obviously preferable to sitting in the box itself.
It’s surprising that the local pigeons seem pretty fearless around the Peregrines; we spotted a few pigeons perching on the church, just below the nest box. Maybe they feel safe, and think of Peregrines won’t want to catch a meal so close to home, or maybe they just don’t fear the youngsters.