Pair engaged in aerobatic activity around CIS tower most of today.

I saw the birds mating today. Also got another spectacular and very close view of the male attacking crow.

Both adults on view this morning before my visit to Elton res, they did not seem to be bothered about the rain whilst perched out in the open !
And both seen again in lovely sunshine in the afternoon, the male with a kill.

One zoomed low over Exchange Square towards Arndale at about 4.45 today - looked dinky, so I reckon it was the male.

4 sightings of the Peregrines yesterday, including one of 2 together over the Town Hall/St.Peter's Square area.

Info thanks to John Frankland

They are starting to show an interest in nest site again, albeit low key.

the male & female on show this afternoon, the female on the letter e of the arndale & the male on the cathedral, at 1.50pm they both flew of & lost to view, they both returned circling & gaining height, obviously hunting, the male carried on but the female gave up & went back onto the letter e of the arndale the male was then lost to view.
both adults looking a little tatty in flight maybe because they are now moulting, I was watching the female perched on a ledge last weekend, as the sun was shinning on her she was preening away & lots of feathers were coming of her also when she had a shake you could see clouds of dust coming of her.
I assume the juvenile peregrines have now dispersed as I have had no sightings of them since mid august, but I have not been in the city centre as much as I should of been lately.

Tues + Wed spent volunteering for RSPB Manchester Peregrines Date with Nature as parrt of the Dig the City event in the City Centre. (This is on every day until the 10th, on Victoria street north of Deansgate, just by the back of the Cathedral for anyone interested - lots of good kids activities with various stalls and events.)

Great views of the male on the Cathedral on Tue, with the female spending some time on the Arndale Sign. Several flypasts as well.

No sign of the female on Wed, but the male showed continually (resting, sunbathing and even having a nap - very obliging!) from app 1-4.15pm, much to the delight of several visitors. Great to meet some really enthusiastic kids, especially an 8 year old boy whose bird knowledge kept the Peregrines team on our toes! His smile really made my day when I pointed out the male peregrine I'd just spotted.

Also present (highlights) were several grey wagtails, a charm of goldfinches continually present, cormorants and grey herons by the river etc. Also someone reported two kingfishers seen flying along the river.

I was told yesterday that many of the (stunning) pictures in our 'peregrine album' were taken by Steve Burke and Adrian Dancy from this forum. These are amazing - so on behalf of the team could I just say a massive congratulations for capturing such stunning images and also a huge thank you - they are really great aids when talking to the public about these amazing birds, especially if the actual birds are not on show.

-- Edited by Tanmay Dixit on Thursday 7th of August 2014 10:43:07 AM

Ollie Wright wrote:

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Just had a visit to Town Hall Clock Tower from two Peregrines - one of which was extremely vocal. I've always assumed that the screeching tends to come from the juvenile birds, is that so?

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In my experience the juveniles do screech a lot especially when begging for food whether or not an adult is nearby. The presence of another juvenile may excite and/or prolong the behaviour. Adults will vocalise when making contact or warding off potential predators.

This afternoon, was fortunate enough to see one of the Peregrines detach itself from the Arndale and seriously go at a large gull (I assume Lesser Black-backed, but didn't have bins and was too busy watching the falcon). Fantastic to see the world's fastest creature make the gull look like a lumbering wreck - the poor thing was totally outmanoeuvred and flapped off out of the territory as soon as it could regain something like composure.

It's fantastic that we can enjoy these magnificent birds in the city centre, where they are mercifully safe from persecution.

I always browse the gallery Mike. A lot of the shots are good 'out in the field' shots rather than mega clear close-ups, and a lot of the time that's how many observers will see the bird. You might just see a shot that matches or resembles an image of your own and that could well be the moment you realise that's the species you saw, or in what stage or plumage the bird was.
As Ian McKerchar once told me...sometimes you just won't get a true feel for the bird or the image you need from a book alone. I've learnt a lot from many of the gallery images, which in my view and no doubt many others view too...is a valuable tool for help with bird ID.
Cheers
Rob

Rob Creek wrote:

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Mike Savage wrote:

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Forgive rookie question, but what should I be looking for to identify juveniles in flight?

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It can be quite tricky Mike unless you know the birds well and have followed their progress from chick like Steven, Adrian, Ian M, etc....
But one thing I've looked for in the past as a general rule with juv Peregrines as opposed to adults (if your view permits such a close up rather than silhouette, but it quite often doesn't) is that adults have horizontal barring on the breast usually of an even look, whereas the juveniles usually have vertical streaking of somewhat darker colour and not as uniform. That said though Mike, it would probably depend upon the age of the juv and at what stage of plumage it was in, so my comments are purely of a 'general' observation. Hope this is of help.
Cheers
Rob

ALSO...check the photo's in the Gallery on the main homepage, some good shots of both juv's and adults

-- Edited by Rob Creek on Wednesday 16th of July 2014 08:09:51 PM

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rob you took the words right out of my mouth
mike, like rob says check the gallery & look at the recent shots of one of the juveniles & adult male, they should help.

Forgive rookie question, but what should I be looking for to identify juveniles in flight?

Mike Savage wrote:

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last night about 6pm I was waiting on the open area next to John Rylands Library with my daughter, where we got a great view of 2 birds wheeling over Deansgate and reflected in the plate glass of the new buildings - they were only just about roof height

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That's pretty much the same spot I saw one yesterday afternoon! Maybe it's a new place to view them instead of walking all around Manchester!

One of the peregrines (not sure if adult or one of the juveniles) screeching around the RBS building at Spinningfields. Didn't see it with a catch but a few feathers were floating down!

one of the juveniles perched on the town hall this evening at 8.25pm, no sign of the second juvenile. both were having a feed earlier on around 7pm.

Paul Risley wrote:

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just looked at Steven Burkes excellent new photo's in the gallery, the adults beak though is desperately in need of trimming. If you look at Stevens last shot of the juvenile then that will show you what approximate length the beak should be

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thanks paul
ian actually mentioned this about the upper mandible being a little longer than normal he himself has not seen this before in raptors, its actually been like this for a few years now, yep it could do with a trim, but he seems to be doing just fine with it. it does help also to identify him if he is sat on his own.

Both juveniles doing well, in the two & a half hours watching them this morning both doing plenty of flying around & having a few tussles & with mum, also very confident landings from them on Sunday the female peregrine attacked a female kestrel, the kestrel managed to land on a nearby ledge but eventually dissapeared out of view.

I was with Adrian when the second juvenile fledged, whilst watching it for almost 4 hours (obviously not as long as Adrian watched them for) i managed to get some good photos, well it was close at one point i do hope it got fed before dark !

thanks again for you're help Adrian.

-- Edited by steven burke on Saturday 21st of June 2014 09:13:58 AM

Looks like they may have taken flight!

Looking at the webcam there appear to be a large number of flies around the box - I presume that Peregrines are not tidy eaters!

MJKeating wrote:

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Empty box.....have they fledged?!

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matt, they have not fledged yet, keep a close eye on the bottom of the screen. sure it wont be long now before they do fledge, maybe this weekend !

Mike, both juveniles were having a feed on a small bird that the parents left them at around 12.45pm they were both taking it of each other which was quite funny
at least, i think, another week before they fledge.

Amazing to watch these young chicks develop. When can we expect them to fledge?