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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
(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.
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
-- Edited by steven burke on Saturday 1st of July 2017 06:38:25 PM
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.
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.
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.
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, 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
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
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.
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.
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?
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
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
The female was calling & circling above the cis tower around 2.40pm she was in pursuit of an over flying buzzard. Only 1 juvenile visible at the box, quite possible that 2 have fledged but I could be wrong, thought I did hear a juvenile calling on the new lower cis building but could not see anything visible.
Female perched up on the NW face of the CIS Tower's lettering, looking menacing and magnificent, for about 20 minutes this morning whilst I watched; male appeared briefly, some calling, but I didn't see any food passed. He then disappeared to try his luck again, presumably.
-- Edited by Shannon Llewellyn on Sunday 11th of June 2017 05:54:19 PM
the male flew onto the premier inn with a kill around 4.45pm he then flew over towards the cis tower without it, I didn't see if he or the female came back for it as I had to go.
For anyone interested, we went to ring and colour ring the Peregrine chicks in the nest box high up on the CIS tower this evening. Pleased to report 3 fit and healthy chicks in there which looked to be all Females.. Many thanks to the management of the building for allowing access once again.
yesterday evening the young male was showing well perched on the town hall.
this evening the young male was seen twice with food within an hour & a half, I witnessed a food pass to the female on the second occasion but failed to get the actual pass on my camera, I got close but my continuous shoot stopped at the vital moment she then went to feed her chicks.
Tuesday 12:30am(ish). Peregrine flew from quite low over Miller St to the top of the building next to the CIS with prey. I didn't have binoculars unfortunately.
activity at the cis tower this evening when a male peregrine had a food item & the female then took to the nest area where she then looked to be feeding inside. so definitely chick or chicks in there the view of the male bird was not great due to the angle & light but looked to be bearing a red darvic ring on right leg.
I was there today for 4 hours (volunteering with the RSPB) no sign of either bird until about 12:30 when the male sat on the S of CIS until I left at 14:15-ish
It would seem highly likely that a chick has hatched (CIS tower) since a small food item was brought into the nest cavity today and removed 8 minutes later. I watched the site yesterday for over 6 hours and did not witness any food being brought in.
a couple of afternoons yesterday & today watching both the peregrine falcons. the adult female & her 2 year old male spent almost all the time high up on the cis tower, several fly arounds & a couple of ariel contacts between them. they did go out on a hunt but came back with nothing, so a trip to one of their larders was in order.
-- Edited by steven burke on Friday 24th of March 2017 11:40:26 PM