Will Peregrines lay 2nd clutch of eggs? (1 Viewer)

I have been following the progress of a family of Peregrine Falcons over the past couple of months (http://www.nature-photos.biz/peregrines/index.htm), but yesterday when I went to the site it seems that tragically all 4 chicks have perished in the recent bad weather. None were visible from any angle, and I can't really see anywhere they could have crawled into for shelter.

The female was nearby calling, and at one point landed on the nest ledge, looked around, and then left. I imagine if they were hiding somewhere she would have gone to them.

Is it possible that she could lay a second clutch of eggs and try again? They were about 2 weeks old and, as you can see from the last two photos, just starting to tear their own meat.

I expect that the answer is no, given the training time required for the chicks to learn to hunt, but it would be nice to hold out some hope for them as they also lost all their chicks last year.

deshojo said:

I have been following the progress of a family of Peregrine Falcons over the past couple of months (http://www.nature-photos.biz/peregrines/index.htm), but yesterday when I went to the site it seems that tragically all 4 chicks have perished in the recent bad weather. None were visible from any angle, and I can't really see anywhere they could have crawled into for shelter.

The female was nearby calling, and at one point landed on the nest ledge, looked around, and then left. I imagine if they were hiding somewhere she would have gone to them.

Is it possible that she could lay a second clutch of eggs and try again? They were about 2 weeks old and, as you can see from the last two photos, just starting to tear their own meat.

I expect that the answer is no, given the training time required for the chicks to learn to hunt, but it would be nice to hold out some hope for them as they also lost all their chicks last year.

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Hi Deshojo, sorry to hear about that. What do you think went on? Is there anyway that they could be somewhere out of view? If this happened last year do you know the cause of the it?We have loads of rain down this way but they usually get some chicks fledged. The chances of them laying again are slim, unfortunately. If Peregrines lose eggs shortly after they are laid then they will lay a repeat clutch, in this instance i think they are too far along in the breeding cycle to repeat

Hi Valley Boy,
I think the main problem is the wind that we've had over the past couple of days, which has been gusting at 60mph. When that hits the cliff face and concentrates upwards it is extremely powerful, I couldn't even hold a pair of binoculars to my face yesterday it was so strong, and unfortunately it was blowing right at the cliff face they were on. All of the vegetation on their ledge and nearby was blown completely flat.

There is a possibility that they have crawled along the ledge and found somewhere to hide, but I was there for 3 hours yesterday and saw no movement at all, despite the mother landing on the nest ledge which would normally make them very active.

I believe weather was the cause of their demise last year as well, though I didn't go much then so I'm just going on what I've been told recently.

I'll try and get over there tomorrow and have another look, I think there may be a gap in the rain late morning.

as vb said, they will 2nd clutch on occasion but this far down the road it's probably unlikely ... it may be worth informing authorities regards the 'out of sight' young, a similar problem occured at a London eyrie which resulted in one 'walkabout-stage' chick not receiving food, and consequently starving, through being 'stranded' less than a metre and a half away from it's siblings (which went on to fledge)

deshojo said:

Hi Valley Boy,
I think the main problem is the wind that we've had over the past couple of days, which has been gusting at 60mph. When that hits the cliff face and concentrates upwards it is extremely powerful, I couldn't even hold a pair of binoculars to my face yesterday it was so strong, and unfortunately it was blowing right at the cliff face they were on. All of the vegetation on their ledge and nearby was blown completely flat.

There is a possibility that they have crawled along the ledge and found somewhere to hide, but I was there for 3 hours yesterday and saw no movement at all, despite the mother landing on the nest ledge which would normally make them very active.

I believe weather was the cause of their demise last year as well, though I didn't go much then so I'm just going on what I've been told recently.

I'll try and get over there tomorrow and have another look, I think there may be a gap in the rain late morning.

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Thanks for that. Perhaps they might be better off looking for a new place to breed next season

London Birder said:

as vb said, they will 2nd clutch on occasion but this far down the road it's probably unlikely ... it may be worth informing authorities regards the 'out of sight' young, a similar problem occured at a London eyrie which resulted in one 'walkabout-stage' chick not receiving food, and consequently starving, through being 'stranded' less than a metre and a half away from it's siblings (which went on to fledge)

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I have heard of that happening too, but last season at one site i check the only chick had fallen at least fifty feet on to a steep slope below cliff. It survived the fall and was being fed by parents, plenty of bird kills around it. Decided that as it was only three weeks old it would have more chance of survival on theeyrie ledge which is where i returned it, it fledged successfully

deshojo said:

I have been following the progress of a family of Peregrine Falcons over the past couple of months (http://www.nature-photos.biz/peregrines/index.htm), but yesterday when I went to the site it seems that tragically all 4 chicks have perished in the recent bad weather. None were visible from any angle, and I can't really see anywhere they could have crawled into for shelter.

The female was nearby calling, and at one point landed on the nest ledge, looked around, and then left. I imagine if they were hiding somewhere she would have gone to them.

Is it possible that she could lay a second clutch of eggs and try again? They were about 2 weeks old and, as you can see from the last two photos, just starting to tear their own meat.

I expect that the answer is no, given the training time required for the chicks to learn to hunt, but it would be nice to hold out some hope for them as they also lost all their chicks last year.

Click to expand...

Hi deshojo

The only time a Peregrine will lay a fresh clutch is if she loses the eggs while they are still fairly fresh, I've seen replacements many times when the nest has been robbed of eggs during early incubation. One particular nest was robbed every year for 13 years (It always reported to the Police, NCC, RSPB, never any action taken?), sometimes on fresh eggs, sometimes on 10 day to 2 week old young, usually by falconers or persons taking them to sell to some arab sheik somewhere! In nearly all cases where fresh eggs were taken the birds replaced within a couple of weeks, only to have the replacement eggs taken again. The birds never replaced when the young were taken! Eventually the birds failed to return to the eyrie and have not been back since. I suppose once that pair had died out there was no offspring to replace them.

Incidentally, are you sure the young weren't stolen from your nest?

nirofo.

nirofo said:

Hi deshojo

The only time a Peregrine will lay a fresh clutch is if she loses the eggs while they are still fairly fresh, I've seen replacements many times when the nest has been robbed of eggs during early incubation. One particular nest was robbed every year for 13 years (It always reported to the Police, NCC, RSPB, never any action taken?), sometimes on fresh eggs, sometimes on 10 day to 2 week old young, usually by falconers or persons taking them to sell to some arab sheik somewhere! In nearly all cases where fresh eggs were taken the birds replaced within a couple of weeks, only to have the replacement eggs taken again. The birds never replaced when the young were taken! Eventually the birds failed to return to the eyrie and have not been back since. I suppose once that pair had died out there was no offspring to replace them.

Incidentally, are you sure the young weren't stolen from your nest?

nirofo.

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It does seem rather odd that they appear to have lost all the chicks for the second season running due to weather. As you have pointed out Nirofo when undesirables get an angle on a nest it is targeted season after season, even to the extent of coming back for any repeat clutches

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all your comments.

I returned to the nest site today and stayed for a couple of hours and no chicks were visible. After about an hour the female flew in carrying a kill, which she would usually take straight to the nest, but she stashed it behind some sea thrift about 40ft away, stayed nearby calling for a few minutes and then left.

It is unlikely that they were stolen as the site is very inaccessable. There is about 100 yards of dense blackthorn and gorse between the cliff top and the nearest path and it has not been disturbed.
Access from below could only be made by boat, and as the beach is visible from a well used public footpath it would have to be at night. Given that there have been gales blowing constantly since I last saw the chicks I think that landing a boat at night in heavy seas, and scaling the cliff in 60mph winds, is beyond the crass stupidity of even a nest thief.

They have nested at this site for 14 years that I know of, and are usually very successful. However this year they chose a different ledge which was much smaller and more exposed and the usual one.
I just hope next year they go back to the old ledge which has plenty of ivy cover to shelter behind, and maybe their success will return.

deshojo said:

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all your comments.

I returned to the nest site today and stayed for a couple of hours and no chicks were visible. After about an hour the female flew in carrying a kill, which she would usually take straight to the nest, but she stashed it behind some sea thrift about 40ft away, stayed nearby calling for a few minutes and then left.

It is unlikely that they were stolen as the site is very inaccessable. There is about 100 yards of dense blackthorn and gorse between the cliff top and the nearest path and it has not been disturbed.
Access from below could only be made by boat, and as the beach is visible from a well used public footpath it would have to be at night. Given that there have been gales blowing constantly since I last saw the chicks I think that landing a boat at night in heavy seas, and scaling the cliff in 60mph winds, is beyond the crass stupidity of even a nest thief.

They have nested at this site for 14 years that I know of, and are usually very successful. However this year they chose a different ledge which was much smaller and more exposed and the usual one.
I just hope next year they go back to the old ledge which has plenty of ivy cover to shelter behind, and maybe their success will return.

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Sounds to me like you may have a new bird as mate to either the male or female, it's probably the female as she would choose the nest ledge! She would probably be more likely to be inexperienced, leading to the young not being properly cared for during bad weather conditions. Another but more unlikely scenario is the female is now too old to raise a successfull brood, this could eventually lead to the nest site being abandoned alltogether when she dies, or more likely the male finding a new mate. Usually when the female finds a new mate she will use the original nest ledge. It coul be of course that a completely new pair has taken over the traditional nest site, in this case it is probable that at least one of the pair was reared at the original nest site.

nirofo.

interesting nirofo, never realised that an elderly female may be less successfull at brood raising