A Nesting Ledge

[Andy Kev.]

This is one for those who know their ornithology.

In spring I noticed what I am fairly sure was a peregrine falcon fly down to one of the student accommodation blocks at work, inspect the wall closely and then hoof it, not to be seen again.

As far as I am aware, the natural nesting site of the PF is a rocky ledge on the side of a cliff but in cities they take on man made structures which meet their requirements. So my question is, would a stone ledge projecting at right angles from the side of a building, function as a nesting "box" for PFs? The building that the bird looked at wasn't particularly tall and it had a look at about second floor height. Does anybody know about this?

 

[Woodbloke]

This is one for those who know their ornithology.

As far as I am aware, the natural nesting site of the PF is a rocky ledge on the side of a cliff but in cities they take on man made structures which meet their requirements. So my question is, would a stone ledge projecting at right angles from the side of a building, function as a nesting "box" for PFs? The building that the bird looked at wasn't particularly tall and it had a look at about second floor height. Does anybody know about this?

I'm no expert on this but the medieval tower of the cathedral here in Salisbury is home to some PF's, the local pigeons being their favourite snack. When we had a Tower Tour a few years ago, the nesting area was littered with pigeon feathers and the guide explained that this was due to the PF's - Rob

 

[Dr.Al]

I'm also no expert, but you can get an idea of one type of nest that peregrines use by looking at the webcams at Nottingham Trent university: https://www.nottinghamshirewildlife.org/peregrine-cam

Not a lot going on at the moment (I guess it's the wrong time of year), but you can see the nest area.

 

[Pete Maddex]

I'm also no expert, but you can get an idea of one type of nest that peregrines use by looking at the webcams at Nottingham Trent university: https://www.nottinghamshirewildlife.org/peregrine-cam

Not a lot going on at the moment (I guess it's the wrong time of year), but you can see the nest area.

Yep they are on the Newton building on the 9 th floor all they need is a box with some gravel in to make a nest or scrape as I beleve its called.

Some days you can go up to the 9th floor and watch the chicks walk along the ledge and check out the people working.

Pete

 

[Andy Kev.]

Cathedral spire, 9th floor ... they're both considerably higher than the second floor of a block. The bird was definitely having a close look but maybe not for a potential nesting site as that looks to be too low.

 

[NickM]

Winchester Cathedral has peregrines. They're in a gully somewhere up near the roof.

They've put a small wooden platform for them to nest on. I guess that keeps them above any puddling water.

They have some webcams here: https://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk ... eregrines/

 

[Eric the Viking]

Ours in the Avon gorge moved house this year.

The group of amateur ornithologists that keeps an eye on them reckons it's because the female isn't the same one that nested on the Leigh Woods side in recent preceding years.

The new female evidently picked a good spot, as four chicks fledged successfully this year. Even in lockdown, the previous pair only managed one or two. I don't think that's down to location really - food is plentiful this year, apparently.

We live close, so my wife has getting daily fixes: watching the courtship, then the adults hunting, then teaching the kids to fly and then to hunt. Recently the youngsters have been practising stooping down onto each other: if it were for real, the intent would be to break a wing of the prey with kinetic energy, then finish it off when it crashed - this diving behaviour makes them the fastest creatures on the planet. But y'all knew that, didn't'ya?

Anyway, the old nest was in a rock cleft with an overhang. Tourists don't realise that the Gorge, and the Downs above, were extensively quarried up until the late C19th. The stone was used to build Clifton and surrounding suburbs. They are well overgrown now, but in the winter you can clearly see the outlines of individual working faces.

So that nest was about 20ft up from the ground, but in the side of an old quarry, maybe 150-200ft above river level, and maybe 500 yards downstream of the Clifton Suspension bridge. In the morning the sun let you see right in from our side: the actual nest was right in the back, about five feet or more.

Surprisingly, the new nest is much closer to humans, under the Sea Walls. It's not visible easily from our side, but we've been told it's an open rocky ledge, which would fit with the ones on various tall buildings as discussed. From the Sea Walls you get a superb view of the birds hunting though. There's an ice cream van above, and thus plenty of pigeons and seagulls. My wife saw one of the youngsters trying to take on a gull last week - wasn't a success...

E.