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Message: <blockquote data-quote="joannec" data-source="post: 1407544" data-attributes="member: 30076">Some of you may remember last year when I was fascinated to learn that peregrines and ravens sometimes nest within a few feet of each other.  I learned about such a site well into the nesting season last year and wrote about it in this thread which turned up some very interesting information:<a href="http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=112440" target="_blank">http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=112440</a>I thought this year I would like to regularly visit the site again to see what's going on and to document my observations over the course of the season.  I am not going to give away the location as nest predation by egg thieves is a worry but will say that it is in the south of England and is a well monitored site impossible to get close to. I hope other people will feel they can make contributions of their own peregrine and raven nesting observations and knowledge to this diary.Peregrines and Ravens 2009Called in at the cliffs with two friends on Wednesday  afternoon, 11 February after a days unremarkable coastal birding. Two Ravens, two Peregrines.  And what an end to the day; the ravens nest is about 5’ below the grassy ledge that the peregrines nested on last year with the female peregrine sitting  on the ledge. Suddenly the two ravens fly in, they are putting the finishing touches on their nest and according to another friend who was also watching today, there is probably an egg or two  in the nest already.  Mrs P was having none of it…....off her perch she goes flying at the ravens.  She constantly harasses them on their return, diving at them and trying to chase them away; it really does look like there could be injuries if this continues.  All the while Mr P sits calmly preening himself first on a higher ledge, then moving to a sideways one, occasionally giving a supporting bark to his mate.  Very exciting, he occasionally joins in  but mainly he leaves the raven chasing to the old battleaxe Mrs P.  13 FebruaryA special trip out today to see how the cliff dwellers are doing.  Beautiful sunny afternoon with the sun on the cliff.  Mrs P on the grassy ledge and Mr on a higher ledge to the right, looking resplendent in the sun.  As the light was so good it gave an excellent opportunity to study these two birds.  There doesn’t seem to be much of a size difference between them but the female is slightly darker than the male and he has a more dome shaped head.  The space on the neck behind the mustachial stripe on the female is greyish and on the male it’s whiter…..I’m getting to know these birds. Ravens were both absent during my visit and the peregrines were certainly more relaxed than the other day.A couple of digiscoped pictures which aren't too good but I'm thinking of getting a better digiscoping camera so hopefully they will improve as this diary progresses.  The female is in the first picture, her mate in the second.</blockquote>

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