© Laurie Campbell
More often found on cliff edges, these amazing birds of prey have begun using our urban areas as nest sites. This is great news for many birders and also for more casual observers as they can often be seen without resorting to expensive optics and strenous hiking.
Somewhat surprisingly our fastest bird, which can reach speeds of well over 200mph when stooping, has begun to adapt to urban areas remarkably well. High buildings in these areas can readily replace their usual cliff nest sites and urban areas are an excellant source of one of their favourite foods - the pigeon!
This story covers a pair who have taken to St Andrews spire in Worcester and have succesfully hatched the first two of four eggs.
Over the bank holiday weekend a television monitor was setup showing live pictures of the nest and was visited by hundreds of people who came to watch the chicks being fed. This monitor has now been taken away but will be returned next weekend, by which time it is hoped that a third and maybe even the fourth egg may have hatched.
Peregrines have made a considerable recovery in more recent years after numbers had dropped very low in the 1960s. This was due to a combination of persecution, egg collectors and pesticides. New legislations and legal protection has certainly aided in their recovery though they are still on the amber list.
Hopefully their recovery will continue, and as their numbers continue to rise we can all hope that many more of us will have the opportunity to watch these amazing birds in action over our towns and cities. I know that someone we met said that one of the best wildlife experiances he ever had was when he happened to be watching a small flock of pigeons crossing the sky when there was an explosion of feathers as a peregrine 'hit' one of the birds at very high speed. Ever since then he always trains his binoculars on any flocks of pigeons - just in case!
The full story can be read on the BBC website.