City Centre Peregrines

Simon Johnson · Status: Offline

RE: City Centre Peregrines

steven burke · Status: Offline

Male perched on the letter D of the arndale this afternoon, no sign of the female.
None seen at faraday tower shortly after.

Adrian Dancy · Status: Offline

Images attached of male and female together and another of the female alone (looking to her left) taken on 28th February 2018 the image of the male (which is seen looking to his right) was made on 25th February 2018. All images capture in late afternoon sun.

steven burke · Status: Offline

Adrian Dancy wrote:

The birds seen at the Faraday Building are not the same birds as those which have previously bred in the city centre. The male bird is without rings and the female has an aluminium ring on her left leg and no darvic (coloured ring) on the right leg.

Adrian, glad you established the identity of the other peregrine ( the ringed on left leg female) as I wasn't too sure of that one after finding out about the unringed male. This will now mean that these 2 peregrines are definitely not the media city pair as the female there is unringed & male is ringed on right leg. All good stuff smile

Hopefully catch up with you soon.

Adrian Dancy · Status: Offline

The birds seen at the Faraday Building are not the same birds as those which have previously bred in the city centre. The male bird is without rings and the female has an aluminium ring on her left leg and no darvic (coloured ring) on the right leg.

Andrea Wilson · Status: Offline

Thanks for the info Steven, I'll try and remember which is which. A

steven burke · Status: Offline

nice photo andrea, the male is the top bird, female below.
I also seen both male & female this afternoon on the cis tower, distant photo attached, male on the right, female on the left with a full crop. no peregrines seen at faraday tower earlier on.

Andrea Wilson · Status: Offline

Pair of Peregrines on the E of Arndale late morning today, I'm assuming male and female.

Andrea

steven burke · Status: Offline

both male & female on view this afternoon in usual location.
after a lot of photos & confusion about the recent sightings at faraday tower peregrines I can now safely & confidently say that there is in fact a 3rd peregrine falcon around. today I got photos of a bird eating prey on faraday tower & not bearing any rings on its legs, photos attached, I'm inclined to say that this bird is a male ! but I still get things wrong hmm

steven burke · Status: Offline

both male & female on view this afternoon, eventually, I had a good mooch around looking in all the usual spots, twice, and then they were just perched up in the first place I looked. the male had a little dive at a pigeon but gave up straight away & flew off.

Adam Jones · Status: Offline

Tuesday 6th February 12.50pm

One flew low overhead and towards the Arndale this afternoon. Was unable to locate any at the Faraday building, but probably due to noise at the site.

steven burke · Status: Offline

I paid a visit to the university north campus faraday tower this afternoon, on my arrival at 3.55pm there was a peregrine falcon perched in the same place where Reynard has been watching one. I took several photos & in the first photo attached the peregrine has a full crop & bloody talons, i could not see its legs to see if there was any rings. at 4.10pm the bugger flew off without me seeing it go

I decided not to move from where I was stood & hoped it would come into view either side of the building in front of me, within a couple of minutes a peregrine returned & perched a little further to the left but was not quick enough to get a photo of its legs, eventually I got a shot & it looks to have a metal ring on its left leg, this would then mean that it is not the city centre female peregrine as she has a metal ring on her right leg, so this peregrine is either the young male, who has a metal ring on his left leg then he should have a red darvic on right leg with letters RA. or maybe this is another peregrine hmm

also when this bird returned I noticed that it did not have a full crop, see second photo, I do think it is the same bird maybe the short flight off helped to empty its crop hmm

I left at 4.35pm as I desperately needed the toilet, I also paid a visit to the regular sight at 5.05pm & 1 peregrine was on the top of the arndale which soon flew off & headed into Salford, no other sightings up til 5.30pm.
a thanks to Reynard for spotting & reporting the sighting.

Reynard Spiess · Status: Offline

Managed to get a better (though still not perfect) shot. Briefly back after a fortnight's absence. Colleague saw her with a notably smaller male, so we're fairly confident this is she.

Adrian Dancy · Status: Offline

Reynard....a nice shot.

It is very difficult to tell with certainty the sex of a peregrine.

Reynard Spiess · Status: Offline

One has been on the University North Campus Faraday tower (what's left of it) intermittently for most Jan so far. Seen feeding on 8th and 9th. Pic taken 15:00 on 11th all fluffed up against the cold.

How do I tell if it's male or female? I know the F is bigger, but that's not much help when you can only see one.

steven burke · Status: Offline

both male & female on view this afternoon, both landed on the arndale at one point. the male almost caught a pigeon above me near the cathedral needless to say I lost view of it as it carried on down deansgate. a funny moment with the female as she flew overhead & headed towards one of the new buildings up cathedral approach,101 embankment, she was looking to land on the letters on the front of the building, the letters saying SWINTON, & as she went to actually land on the letter N she couldn't as they were stuck on letters biggrin

she then turned around & decided to land on the premier inn. currently one of her favourite perching spots is covered up & has scaffolding around it, just like the cathedral
hmm

Charles Farrell · Status: Offline

Fri 22nd Dec: 1 Peregrine perched on Arndale Tower, viewed from Shudehill bus station. Sat 23rd Dec: 1 bird seen chasing pigeons above St Anns Square, then flying low over my head across Deansgate and along the side of Kendals. 1 hour later a bird seen flying past the Cathedral. Nice to see the birds doing something other than just sitting around.

Simon Adams · Status: Offline

One Falcon currently sat on the Lowry Hotel. Chapel Street side, not Irwell.

Think its taking refuge from the rain.

steven burke · Status: Offline

Male & female both on view this afternoon, on the last few visits I have noticed the female has actually been lying down on a favoured spot rather than perched upright, she did stand up at one point walk along then plonk herself back down, well she is getting old now !
The male got some food from a nearby larder (a new one that I have not noticed before) then fly off with it & went out of view.

Ollie Wright · Status: Offline

Two Peregrines currently perched up on the Town Hall Clock Tower.

Shannon Llewellyn · Status: Offline

Three peregrines over Piccadilly Gardens around noon today. A male and female engaged in what looked very much like display; male flashing around, stooping and diving, and even what looked very much like food passing-like behaviour on occasion (though, as far as I could tell, neither had any actual prey); a second male also about, though he'd appear and disappear (too high to make out colouration on any of them). Watched them for about 20 minutes.

What was likely to be happening here? It seems an odd time of year to witness this type of behaviour. Simple pair bonding? Young male getting into practice with parents watching on? Stunning to watch, whatever the explanation.

steven burke · Status: Offline

spent the afternoon watching both male (RA) & female peregrines, good views in the sunshine. the female had a bath & spent some time preening & drying herself off, a couple of photos attached.
the male at one point was perched on the letter E of the arndale, not seen any on there for a long time, but then I haven't been in for a while. he also brought some food in, not a recent kill, was from one of the larders they have nearby.

I forgot to mention that back on the 1st of july I had taken some photos of the female & noticed that she had lost a talon on her right leg, after looking at todays photos she had grown that talon back.

-- Edited by steven burke on Sunday 5th of November 2017 08:46:26 PM

Ollie Wright · Status: Offline

One is currently perched high on the Town Hall Clock Tower and should be visible easily from Albert Square.

Adrian Dancy · Status: Offline

3.45pm two birds in very close proximity. One plucking a food item. The two were still together just before dark. I am fairly confident and happy to say one of the birds was the resident female.

James Richardson · Status: Offline

Looked out the bedroom window just at the right point this morning; one of the peregrine falcons carrying a large looking prey item from near the Hilton flying northwards along deansgate. Lost sight of it past sunlight house.

steven burke · Status: Offline

the male & juvenile were both on show this evening, the juvenile had flown up from a building top & landed on top of an ariel it looked very wet so probably just had a bath, it then stayed there for some time preening, the male close by. no signs of the female.

Ollie Wright · Status: Offline

At least one Peregrine has been loafing on the Town Hall Clock Tower pretty much every time I checked today - one bird screeched in and dislodged a second from a favoured perch at one stage.

Andrea Wilson · Status: Offline

Spent an enjoyable hour from 3.15 this afternoon watching a peregrine on a cooling unit halfway up the Premier Inn near the Cathedral. I'm not sure if it was an adult bird but it was having an extensive preening session and I got some strange looks whilst loitering with a camera!

Karen Foulkes · Status: Offline

I could hear a Peregrine calling this morning while I was stood at Market Street tram stop, but I was unable to locate it.

Adrian Dancy · Status: Offline

On way back from Rochdale I looked out for the Manchester juv. It was kicking 7 bells out of two crows which made their exit over the Manchester arena. The juv returned and was not very good at landing on various locations. It finally rested on a high rise when it decided to harass a grey heron which was flying very low over Cateaton street and corporation Street. It finally rested on 1 Deansgate.

Adrian Dancy · Status: Offline

I visited Manchester on 12th July and had some good views of the juvenile and the female. The juvenile harassed the female for food but she was having none of it. Late into the evening the juvenile was hunting by herself.

steven burke · Status: Offline

Ian McKerchar wrote:

steven burke wrote:

(IMHuO) "in my honest opinion". it took me a while but I eventually got it, with some help from the rspb though
HuMBLE opinion??
Emphasises the point with thes bloody things , anyway, I'm getting off topic here, sorry...

What a silly burke

I have edited it now
& now back to something I forgot to mention, the adult female also made a quick dash after something & it looked to be a kestrel but only a brief glimpse of it.

Ian McKerchar · Status: Offline

steven burke wrote:

(IMHuO) "in my honest opinion". it took me a while but I eventually got it, with some help from the rspb though

HuMBLE opinion??

Emphasises the point with thes bloody things biggrin , anyway, I'm getting off topic here, sorry...

steven burke · Status: Offline

i spent over 4 hours this morning/afternoon watching the peregrines, only 3 seen the whole time spent there, juvenile female, adult female, 2yr old male (RA). the juvenile had a couple of short fly arounds, male & female doing some hunting but never brought anything back. the adult female did spend some time on the crane next to Victoria train station even whilst it was moving, she kept changing her position as it tilted. I have attached a photo of her whilst she was on the crane showing her metal ring on right leg. as Adrian says one can only speculate what has happened to the other 2 juveniles. Adrian, to me also it does look like the male & female are only caring for this juvenile.
I spent some time chatting to the rspb whilst watching the peregrines & they were happy to show lots of the public good views of the juvenile at one point.

(IMHuO) "in my humble opinion". it took me a while but I eventually got it, with some help from the rspb though hmm

-- Edited by steven burke on Saturday 1st of July 2017 06:38:25 PM

Ian McKerchar · Status: Offline

Mike Crawley wrote:
The male (IMHuO)

I actually thought that was an odd ring number it had for a while there... doh

Mike Crawley · Status: Offline

The male (IMHuO) spent a couple of hours perched on a crane behind the football museum this morning.
Having disappeared at 12-ish he flew across Cathedral Gardens at approximately 13:00 followed by an immature female.
That bird pushed another off a perch on the Premier Inn behind the cathedral. Too far away with binoculars to determine adult or immature.

A very good day for the RSPB project team who were able to show the public a nearby peregrine.

Ollie Wright · Status: Offline

Two Peregrines currently on the Town Hall clock tower - one plucking a prey item. Should be visible from Albert Square.

Adrian Dancy · Status: Offline

I have not seen more than one fledged juvenile and the behaviour of the adult peregrines seems to indicate that they are caring for one juvenile only. One can only speculate what has happened to the two juveniles which have not been seen.

steven burke · Status: Offline

Despite the drizzling rain it was nice to actually see one of the juveniles flying around this afternoon, looks confident & even landed onto one of the larders. Also adult female nearby.
Still not seen 3 but could easily be anywhere else.

steven burke · Status: Offline

cracking views of one of the female juvenile peregrines this aft/eve. adult female came close also & dropped some food of for the juvenile.

-- Edited by steven burke on Saturday 24th of June 2017 11:57:03 PM

-- Edited by steven burke on Sunday 25th of June 2017 12:06:56 AM

Graham Smith · Status: Offline

Happy ending to this story baby bird was taken to a higher floor and flew back home thanks to all who help in this matter

Adrian Dancy · Status: Offline

Graham Smith wrote:
The juvenile which is OK sat peaceful looking around a pigeon is not far from the bird, unfortunately some one has tried to feed the bird with some cooked meat. The bird has been ringed today. Plenty of wing stretching as I watched at lunch time, I also managed to get some good shots on my phone. Thankful the location is surcure

Just bumping this post so my request does not get missed.

Mike Crawley · Status: Offline

Adrian Dancy wrote:

Mike, I could be wrong but from my observations I tend to think the development of the birds is pretty much even with the Rochdale birds with the slight edge on Manchester birds.

Adrian,

i didn't visit the park myself, I was just repeating what another RSPB Peregrine Project voluntee told me last Friday

Adrian Dancy · Status: Offline

Hi Graham,

What do you mean the bird has been ringed today? The Manchester Peregrines were ringed on 24th May.

Will you please let me know the location of the bird by Private Message.

Thank you

Adrian

Graham Smith · Status: Offline

The juvenile which is OK sat peaceful looking around a pigeon is not far from the bird, unfortunately some one has tried to feed the bird with some cooked meat. The bird has been ringed today. Plenty of wing stretching as I watched at lunch time, I also managed to get some good shots on my phone. Thankful the location is surcure

Adrian Dancy · Status: Offline

It would seem all three birds have fledged. One juvenile bird was discovered on another building by a building manager who expressed concern for the bird. However, an investigation did not give any cause for concern and it was thought that the bird should be left where found. The parent bird was aware of its location.

Adrian Dancy · Status: Offline

Hi Laura and welcome to the Manchester Birding Forum.

I think that the birds you have seen were Common Kestrels which have bred at a secret location in the Piccadilly basin area. The location is kept secret because the birds are vulnerable for several reasons. The Kestrels had four chicks this year and they all fledged successfully about a week ago. They are still a delight to see in the city and the adults are often seen very early in the morning flying very low looking for rodents and even Kentucky Fried Chicken which as been dropped on the footpaths next to rubbish bins etc!

Manchester Peregrines:-

I observed one fledged juvenile on the main structure below the nest cavity. A second juvenile was in the nest box as yesterday (but looking good to go). I could not locate a third juvenile.

Below is an image of the juvenile in the nest cavity...the image was made from a very long distance and is a huge crop.

Laura Mingins · Status: Offline

Hi all, new to this forum but thought I'd chirp up with our recent peregrine sightings in case folks were interested. We live at Piccadilly Village by the Ashton Canal between Great Ancoats Street and Ducie Street and have enjoyed watching the juvenile peregrines from the flat yesterday and today. Good views this evening of three juveniles landing on the old Mill buildings opposite the bridge and crane in Piccadilly Village. No pics I'm afraid - they're a bit too far away to get a shot that looks like more than a blob. Anyone else seen them about?

Adrian Dancy · Status: Offline

Yesterday, I watched a low flying Common Buzzard being attacked by an adult Peregrine.
I could only detect one chick in the nest tray which looked good to fledge.
I did not see or hear any fledged birds and nor did I see any food being brought in despite extensive viewing. Of course it is possible that I have simply missed feeding activity owing to viewing angle restrictions and of course the birds if they have fledged could be on another building.

Mike, I could be wrong but from my observations I tend to think the development of the birds is pretty much even with the Rochdale birds with the slight edge on Manchester birds.

Image attached of Common Buzzard whilst being attacked ....sadly the Peregrine is out of view.

-- Edited by Adrian Dancy on Monday 19th of June 2017 09:13:03 AM

Mike Crawley · Status: Offline

As you probably know it is possible to see the nest from a park
I have not been there myself but a fellow volunteer on the RSPB project observed the nest on Friday lunch time.
All three chicks have dark feathers emerging but they are a week or so behind the Rochdale chicks wrt their development