Winter Thrushes are not only for Winter sometimes

What I had been hoping for back in February has happened :

Mistle Thrush are breeding in Margravine Cemetery!

I barely saw them in between, which is amazing considering how noisy and bold they can be, so I was thinking that they might have tried outside of the cemetery as I would see them quite often fly North, towards the Tube line.
Then about a week ago I heard their distinctive rattle a few times while walking through. Unfortunately I was so incapacitated at the time that walking on the rough ground looking for them was out of the question but I promised myself that as soon as I could I'd go looking for them. So Saturday morning Operation Mistle Thrush was put into gear and within 5 minutes, with a bit of luck, I located the nest with one of the birds on it. Happy time! Then yesterday I saw one of the birds bring food to 2 chicks.

Other birds not quite so far advanced in the breeding process are our local Peregrines, they started incubating 3 eggs about a week ago. I have started another blog to follow their progress: FaBPeregrines.

bits and pieces

Wednesday means it's supermarket day, and means checking on the House Sparrows out there. I was getting increasingly worried as I couldn't see/hear the nice little flock that was in the bushes by the car park. I couldn't either find them by their nesting site, yet the catkins they loved last year are almost ready. Today, I finally saw a male peer through those bushes and call. It then flew off and initially looked like it was flying to the houses on the other side of the roundabout when he suddenly made a sharp angle and descended in the 'wasteland' that's between the car park and the derelict warehouses. When I got closer I could indeed hear sparrows in there, but the vegetation was just too dense. However, looking for them, I found a pair of Foxes having a nap in the sunshine.



Its left eye appears to be crying, but it looked otherwise in good health. I miss the time when we used to see them in the back gardens (2004 & 2005 (when we had a litter of 4 cubs)).

The past few weeks, I have noted aMoorhen which must have been from a very late brood last year as the red mask is barely developed, though I admit it's not that obvious on the photos at this size. I would have thought that last year's birds would have fully developed to adulthood by now.





Lastly, I have plugged them before, but it is now even more important than before: if during the months of February to July you see Peregrine activity around tall buildings in your area, please contact the London Peregrine Partnership.

contrasts

I spotted another one of these by Wandsworth Bridge about 10 days ago. I don't know how long it's been there, as I do scan those buildings from time to time but had not noticed it previously. That makes it my fourth for London. I wonder how effective they are, but, more importantly, how effective they are at keeping real flesh and blood peregrines away. If so, it could explain the lack of sightings in that area, especially as it is certainly not lacking in pigeons...


In contrast, this photo taken a few days later of a proper killing machine. I wouldn't want to be a pigeon under that gaze...

The Love Birds

It is not often that I get to take photos of the Peregrines at that angle, but with this morning's strong North Easterlies they had elected to perch on the South facing face. I had actually been rather surprised to see the female plucking a prey around 8 this morning as I don't often get to see them in these conditions, but pleasantly so. After a while, the male also came to eat and then joined her on the next perch.



I took this photo on my way to the shop as they were gazing at each other, the male on the left, the female on the right. He then did a bit of preening. I find it amazing how far back he sits and how much of a finely tuned equilibrium exercise it looks like.



And to finish, a fine example of what I call her double-D breast, makes me think of a Victorian matron, especially with that peregrine haughty air ;)


Breakfast was good!

Charlie, part 2

The following photos I took on Sunday morning show better what I mean about her colouring.
All neat and majestic, before she started preening:



and after, getting all fluffed up:





I just love these headless shots, but, also, look at those claws...



For more photos, click on any of the above photos (which will also give you a slightly bigger version) or here to go my photo album.

Watching her yesterday, I was thinking that honey would be a good way to describe her chest and throat colouring. Maybe because I had just used honey for cooking, who knows...

Note also, how she sits sort of sideways on her perch, the male prefers to sit right back with its back to the wall. Talking of the male, I haven't yet figured out a name for him. I call him Mr Charlie or Charlie's mate, but he surely deserves a name of his own (I know my other half has taken my surname, but that is not for everybody). I have been thinking lately of William or Morris because of the local William Morris connection, but it somehow doesn't fit. If you have any suggestion, please feel free...

Finally, while I am here talking about peregrines, let me plug the London Peregrine Partnership' website. Their objective is to ensure the protection and breeding success of Peregrine Falcons nesting within the London area. Well worth a visit if you want to learn more about peregrines.

Charlie

With the gale force winds and torrential rain predicted for this morning, I wasn't actually really expecting to see the peregrines on the hospital this morning. But at 8:30 there they were. I knew that someone who moved a few months ago to the area was very keen to see them, but so far it had been like a curse: if they were around, he wasn't... Finally though there were chances he'd be around this morning so I texted him and we arranged to meet in the cemetery. As I was getting there the male flew off... Then, as I was waiting, the female had a stretch, had a poo, and I thought the curse would still be as this is often the precursor to her leaving, but she repositioned herself, did some preening, and was still there when he arrived. Just as I was taking this photo:



She's gorgeous, isn't she?...

The curse had been lifted :) We had wonderful views of her perched, then she left for about 10 minutes and we had good views of her flying. The cherry on the cake: just as we were leaving, I turned round one last time and the male had just arrived.

Charlie is the name I have given her, it's a lot shorter in every day life to say than the peregrine on the hospital. Why Charlie? Well, at first I wasn't entirely sure she was a female, though that was my first impression, so I needed a name that could be used for both sexes. Then I tried to find a name that reflected the building she was on, Charing Cross Hospital, and based her name on the first 4 letters. As it happens, I am not the only one, if I remember correctly the rescued injured youngster from Derby was named Cathy after Cathedral this summer. As it also happens, Charlie appears to be a popular name for peregrines, I know of another 2, a male in France and a female in Worcester. Lastly, another reason why I like that name is Charlie Brown, since she was a youngster at the time and looked very brown, and still does in a way. Brown is not quite the right word anymore, but someone described her as tawny last week which I find very fitting. It is not that obvious on the photo but her chest is very rosy whereas the male's is almost pure white. This makes them easy to identify at a distance.

peregrines are back (briefly)

As soon as I stepped outside at 7:20 yesterday morning to do a patch walk I glimpse what looked like a peregrine flying along the north side of the hospital. It was rather unexpected as I had not seen the pair on their usual perches over the past 2 weeks. Not that I really expected them to while we had the easterly winds (which are a blessing as they bring a temporary stop to the planes flying above us on their way to Heathrow, but they also mean no peregrines at the spots I can easily see from home). As soon as I reached Fulham Palace Road, they were unmissable on the parapet of the top floor balcony, above the main entrance.


The male is on the left, and the female on the right tucking in what looked like a pigeon.
I kept on checking on them while on the Thames Path whenever I could get a line of sight, and one hour later the female appeared to have finished her meal and was sitting slightly below the parapet.



On my way back at 10, I noticed the male was eating on the parapet:



and the female looked utterly stuffed:



Last Saturday, I had gone to Westminster in the hope to see the pair there and thought initially that I was going to come back empty handed. After an initial fruitless check, I went to the middle of Westminster Bridge and had a look around. Just gulls, and a kestrel mobbed by magpies and crows by a building near Charing Cross Station, until I picked up a peregrine crossing the river, only to fly into the sun on the other side where I lost it. Didn't see it cross back, but I thought I'd have a last look before leaving, and where before there was none, there was one, having a scratch and a preen:




It went for a quick fly round and settled back on the same spot:

4 peregrines

2 Saturdays ago, I went to check on the Peregrines in Westminster early in the morning again. It was nice and quiet out there until the hordes of tourists started descending...
I did not find them initially, as it happens I was looking at the wrong face at the time. I was looking at a young Woodpigeon feasting on fruit in a small tree when I picked up a bird coming from behind the tower, gaining speed and a little bit of altitude. I saw it make a half-hearted effort at a pigeon, then it finished its circle and disappeared behind the tower again. As it didn't reappear, I went to look on the other side and found this one preening. It obligingly showed me its leg, but no obvious sign of a ring on there.

As this one was sitting there doing nothing much, I tried locating the other one, and managed to find it twice, but only for very fleeting moments. In the meantime, the first one had relocated, on a wing... :

It's only when I got quite far away that the angle allowed me to see both on the same face, and, from their size difference, I'd say that the one above is the female, but I'll have to go and check on them again. Such a shame ;)

I had never until now looked that closely at the sculptures/gargoyles on Westminster Abbey, but I thoroughly recommend using binoculars, however weird it may look, to have a look at them. Here's a lovely doggy for example.

Later that day, I also saw the pair near home on the hospital, as they'd returned a few days previously from one of their 'vacations. They were sat there for most of the afternoon. Which means that I had seen 4 Peregrines that day, which, as far as I can remember, has not happened to me often before, and they were families then. Nice :)

Peregrinations

'My' peregrines having deserted me again at the moment and being in need of a fix, last Saturday morning (15th) I headed for Westminster to try and locate at least one from the pair there. Seriously, tide was high that morning and I did not see much point in doing my usual patch walk, so I thought I'd go and check on the House of Parliament birds. I was told a few weeks ago that one of them had a ring and I had been twice already to see if I could locate them. It had not taken me very long to find where most (all?) their favourite perches were, but, so far I had not seen any.
It was to be 3rd time lucky, one of them was on one of those spots:


I think I have been spotted:



It could give a run for their money to my usual pair, it barely moved for the whole hour and a bit I stayed there, except for a small spot of preening, which exposed a nice bit of heart-shaped spot on one of its cheeks, not very dissimilar in fact to the female I have photographed lots (such as on this photo:



I think I have been spotted again, yet I thought I was quite hidden by a tree (but, obviously, by symmetry, if I have line of sight to it, it should also have to me):






Yesterday, I went to the RSPB London peregrines at the Tate. I had been meaning to go since it started but I had not managed to find time to go during the week until now, and I couldn't be sure I would in the next 3 weeks.
So having a 2 1/2 hours gap in the afternoon, I hopped on a Tube train to Mansion House and fought my way through the hordes of tourists on the Millennium Bridge to get there. And I was not disappointed. Not only did I have a fantastic conversation with one of the volunteers where I learned plenty more, but one of the birds was present. I spotted one as I was getting near the watch point through my binoculars, with difficulties as it was near the edge and the sun was right in my eyes, but by the time I got to the scopes it had gone. Only to reappear a little while later, heralded by all the other birds flying all over the place all of a sudden. It then gained some altitude over the river, tried its luck with probably a pigeon, missed, and then gained so much more altitude that we lost it. I was considering going when it came back and landed in a spot much more suitable for photos, though, as luck had it, it was presenting its back to the scopes. You can just about guess its head as it is preening in the first photo, the other one being another one of those headless shots...





After a few more glances through the scopes, I said my goodbyes and left.

staying put

I often 'complain' that 'my' Peregrines are masters at doing nothing, staying in the same spot for hours seemingly doing nothing, except for a spot of preening or paint (as a case in point, I spotted them on the same perches all afternoon today, from 14:30 until now), but they are real light weight compared to these 3:





I wonder how long these have been there, as I haven't been able to find anything about them, and how long they'll work.
Searching for them, I notice they cost around £25, and for a microsecond I fancied getting one to get rid of my pigeon problem...

Normal situation resumed

The Falcons War in the end was rather brief, probably with a bit of (unwitting) help from the humans, as on Wednesday and Thursday there were men on the roof and chimney doing maintenance. I haven't seen the Kestrels since. Surprisingly, the Peregrines were occasionally there at the same time as the men above, which is something I had not seen before.
The Peregrines are now back, and back to their old routine of doing pretty much nothing for hours, in between bouts of preening, and eating. I witnessed the male eating something, probably pigeon, but if you think otherwise from the photos below, let me know... It was quite substantial but I didn't manage to get a proper angle on it.




For more photos of the peregrines, I have now added a selection of the 2009 photos in my album. You can find them there.

Falcons war, part 1?

As I thought...
I went to check shortly before lunchtime on my way to the shops and noticed 2 Kestrels on the hospital. On my way back, there were some more and I could see that there were actually 5 of them... At one point, 2 were perched and 3 were flying around. Than one split off and went in the direction of the Tube lines (District and Piccadilly between Hammersmith and Barons Court) which might actually be an explanation as to their presence since that's about 10 seconds away for them.

After lunch, I checked and immediately noticed that a Peregrine was on one of their favourite perches. I quickly grabbed my camera and took this photo:

You'll have to believe me that the blobs are what I say they are...

Once I got a better angle, I could see 3 Kestrels at the top. The wind got so strong that they appeared to lose their footing and one went down to the other below and the other one started flying around. Then I think another one arrived from somewhere and, suddenly, there were 3 of them flying around, being noisy as well, and they started mobbing the male peregrine, who flew away pursued by 2 of them. Unfortunately, trees and buildings prevented me to see any further. But 20 minutes later, I could see it had returned and at least 1 kestrel was on top.

I shall now go and check the situation while it's not raining...

There may be trouble ahead...

With the easterlies we had the past 2 weeks the peregrines have deserted their favourite perches, as they usually do in these circumstances. It appears that they don't like having the wind blowing in their faces if they can help it... But I still check the hospital to see if they are around.
Friday afternoon, we were coming back from Hammersmith when I noticed a shape on one of the perches. It felt too small to be one of its usual occupants, but I did not have either binoculars or camera with me to make sure. I picked those up and rushed back and took these photos:


I think I have been spotted...

Let's have a stretch...

Now, I could count the number of times I had seen a kestrel around here this year on one hand, actually just 2 fingers... But the second time was the previous day when I had seen a spot emerging from the direction of the Wetland Centre and getting bigger, flying and hovering, and then spending a fair amount of time around the hospital.

At the beginning of this afternoon, I was in Margravine Cemetery (trying without success to locate the crickets/grasshoppers/whatever I could hear in the grass) when my attention got caught by birds flying around the hospital. Some were pigeons, but some were not: 2 Kestrels! Again? and 1 more? When they settled I took a few photos, even though the angles at which I had to take them mean they're not too great:


The same one after it had turned on its spot.

And the second one.

Then the second one flew away and I lost it for a while, but when I found it again, I then noticed another 2 higher up:

Yes, there are 3 on this photo, the 3rd one is hiding behind the aerial pole.

Another angle, and there you can see the third one (but not the first one...)

I had to get to the shop and when I came back the first 2 had moved next to each other:

You can still see the 3rd one above.


Now, lots of ifs I know, but if they intend to stay around and if the peregrines come back, there may be trouble ahead...