Peregrine, Trafalgar Square? (1 Viewer)

bongofury · May 14, 2011

I was in London on business this week and had a brief glimpse of what looked very much like a Peregrine landing on the plinth of Nelson's Column. I was just wondering if this is a regular spot for them - I did a Google search but nothing came back for me.

Hatman · May 15, 2011

bongofury said:
I was in London on business this week and had a brief glimpse of what looked very much like a Peregrine landing on the plinth of Nelson's Column. I was just wondering if this is a regular spot for them - I did a Google search but nothing came back for me.

ive seen them in that area quite a bit so its very likely it was!

bongofury · May 15, 2011

Hatman said:
ive seen them in that area quite a bit so its very likely it was!

Thanks for your reply. Life would be so much simpler if taking binoculars and a scope on business trips was seen as normal:t:

Mari E · May 15, 2011

Yep, peregrines are quite regular in middle of London! There's enough pigeons about so it's like heaven for them!

chazzyf · May 23, 2011

There are some great Blogs and sites covering Peregrines in London including

http://london-peregrine-partnership.org.uk/blog/
http://fabperegrines.blogspot.com/

and this one covering the Peregrines around the Houses of Parliament
http://parliamentperegrinediary.blogspot.com/

etudiant · May 23, 2011

bongofury said:
Thanks for your reply. Life would be so much simpler if taking binoculars and a scope on business trips was seen as normal:t:

An 8x20 monocular will fit anywhere, even if wearing a suit.
A scope is a bit more challenging. http://www.birdforum.net/images/smilies/awink.gif

bongofury · May 23, 2011

chazzyf said:
There are some great Blogs and sites covering Peregrines in London including

http://london-peregrine-partnership.org.uk/blog/
http://fabperegrines.blogspot.com/

and this one covering the Peregrines around the Houses of Parliament
http://parliamentperegrinediary.blogspot.com/

Thanks for those links - an interesting read.

Monocle - there's an option I hadn't thought of:t:

mickbe74 · May 27, 2011

I think Spring or Autumn watch showed them breeding on the houses of parlement didn't they? They found Grey Parrot feathers at the nest site.

punkskaphil · Jun 3, 2011

I need to be a bit more pro-active when it comes to Peregrines. I'm pretty sure I've seen them on a couple of locations but not had anyone with me to corroborate, nor have I been able to get a photo, despite living in London. Definitely a bird I want a confirmed sighting (and some photos) of.

Stuart Darbyshire · Jun 3, 2011

punkskaphil said:
I need to be a bit more pro-active when it comes to Peregrines. I'm pretty sure I've seen them on a couple of locations but not had anyone with me to corroborate, nor have I been able to get a photo, despite living in London. Definitely a bird I want a confirmed sighting (and some photos) of.

Tate Modern Phil - good chance of seeing them there, especially when the RSPB have the scopes set up at the bottom of the wobbly bridge.

Also, I used to live in Vauxhall near the bridge - had a pair there on one of the tall buildings, so could sit outside the pub in St George Wharf and see them hunting over the river and above your head.

chazzyf · Jun 11, 2011

punkskaphil said:
I need to be a bit more pro-active when it comes to Peregrines. I'm pretty sure I've seen them on a couple of locations but not had anyone with me to corroborate, nor have I been able to get a photo, despite living in London. Definitely a bird I want a confirmed sighting (and some photos) of.

err - you live in Putney and you haven't seen them? I'm rather surprised as there is a pair at Charing Cross Hospital, who can usually be seen at a perch there or often hunting over the Wetlands Centre at Barnes - again just down the road from you. Once you finally see them, I'm sure that you'll start seeing them all the time

http://fabperegrines.blogspot.com/

punkskaphil · Jun 13, 2011

I know, I know...

I'm a WWT member so I go to the Wetland Centre regularly, but I've still never seen one. Every time I go there I spend plenty of time in the Peacock Hide, looking towards the hospital, but still no luck. Last time I went I was waiting for a bus near Barnes Station and thought I saw one - it was definitely a raptor and being seen off by a crow (if I remember correctly) - but I wasn't quick enough with my camera and I don't trust my own ID skills to be sure...

nmahieu · Jun 25, 2011

Come around to the other side of the Thames, to Fulham, and you're pretty much guaranteed a sighting at the moment as the young are about to take their first flights. I am the person behind fabperegrines and I'll be doing an informal watch point from next week on if all goes well (2 young have had to be rescued already).
Failing that, go to Parliament, I was told the parents brought their first young there today, it rarely failed me last year.

BTW, at the Wetland Centre, they're usually only visible when the planes are not flying ahead, i.e. the winds are easterly

punkskaphil · Jul 6, 2011

Thanks for the info. As it happens, I've just been away to the Greek island of Kefalonia and I finally got my first confirmed Peregrine whilst high up on the top of Mount Aenos. Unexpected, but very welcome!

http://www.birdforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=334793&d=1309892572

chazzyf · Jul 18, 2011

nmahieu said:
Come around to the other side of the Thames, to Fulham, and you're pretty much guaranteed a sighting at the moment as the young are about to take their first flights. I am the person behind fabperegrines and I'll be doing an informal watch point from next week on if all goes well (2 young have had to be rescued already).
Failing that, go to Parliament, I was told the parents brought their first young there today, it rarely failed me last year.

BTW, at the Wetland Centre, they're usually only visible when the planes are not flying ahead, i.e. the winds are easterly

I got some great views yesterday (Sunday 17th) - first from Barnes and then from much closer.

Fozzybear · Jul 18, 2011

punkskaphil said:
I know, I know...

I'm a WWT member so I go to the Wetland Centre regularly, but I've still never seen one. Every time I go there I spend plenty of time in the Peacock Hide, looking towards the hospital, but still no luck. Last time I went I was waiting for a bus near Barnes Station and thought I saw one - it was definitely a raptor and being seen off by a crow (if I remember correctly) - but I wasn't quick enough with my camera and I don't trust my own ID skills to be sure...

I've been exactly the same with a lot of birds of prey too - Peregrine and Hobby were both species I 'should' have seen but hadn't even though I'd been in the right places. Finally saw both this year after missing them in various places where other people had seen them the same day... now going to be looking out for Merlins and Hen Harriers instead. :-O

If you haven't seen them then it can be surprisingly difficult to pick them out, seems sometimes almost as though you need someone to point it out so your brain can learn what to look for... have done that with a lot of birds over the last few years, someone shows me something new and then suddenly I start seeing them all over.

chazzyf · Jul 20, 2011

Fozzybear said:
I've been exactly the same with a lot of birds of prey too - Peregrine and Hobby were both species I 'should' have seen but hadn't even though I'd been in the right places. Finally saw both this year after missing them in various places where other people had seen them the same day... now going to be looking out for Merlins and Hen Harriers instead. :-O

If you haven't seen them then it can be surprisingly difficult to pick them out, seems sometimes almost as though you need someone to point it out so your brain can learn what to look for... have done that with a lot of birds over the last few years, someone shows me something new and then suddenly I start seeing them all over.

I empathise completely! Hobby had eluded me for years like Sparrowhawk but once you see them for deefinate its as if the brain suddenly connects with the 'jizz' of the bird and they are subsequently much easier to pick out. I've had 4 Hobbies already this year (unlike just the 1 last year).

Merlin continues to elude me and though I've seen Hen Harrier just recently in France (for the first time), I've yet to see Marsh Harrier for definate. I may have seen one in northern France last year, but the glimpse was so fleeting, im unsure whether it was really a Marsh Harrier and not a Buzzard - though the head immediately struck me as being completely different to a Buzzard, but we passed by so quickly in the car, I'll never be really sure.

Fozzybear · Jul 20, 2011

You need to get up to Cley or Minsmere then, loads of Marsh Harriers there! :t:

chazzyf · Jul 21, 2011

Fozzybear said:
You need to get up to Cley or Minsmere then, loads of Marsh Harriers there! :t:

Minsmere always looks a bit of a trek by public transport from my part of NW London ...but you're right I should do it and maybe make a weekend of it

chris butterworth · Jul 21, 2011

bongofury said:
Thanks for your reply. Life would be so much simpler if taking binoculars and a scope on business trips was seen as normal:t:

Isn't it? No-one tells me anything :-C

Chris

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