Peregrines

Another collaboration between an undisclosed site, North Notts RG, South Notts RG and Access Techniques Ltd (who provide the expertise in accessing the nest), resulted in four Peregrine chicks being ringed on the 25 May 2022, all under the relevant licence requirements.

I am the latest person to monitor this natural nest site and have been doing so for about 8 years. Being a natural nest site its pretty difficult to monitor with any certainty, so much so, and the site are so keen, that a few years ago, during the Winter, they installed a camera to view the nest ledge. This proved invaluable for monitoring the nest and creating a nest record. It also captured a few upsetting episodes, like when a female adult peregrine died on the nest and another year when the eggs and freshly hatched chicks were predated. The adult bird was retrieved and sent away for analysis, though the results were inconclusive.
This was the start of a terrible run of failed nests, including another year when I saw chicks being fed but when returning to ring them a few days later they were not there.

Unfortunately, for me, the birds now nest on a different ledge, so I'm back to fleeting views, when the vegetation moves in the wind, and guesswork from quite a distance away. Take this year for example, I had seen the heads of three chicks so was surprised when there were four. A great result though.
Hopefully now the birds nest on this new ledge we will have a few successful breeding seasons!

Many thanks to the site and Access Techniques Ltd.

Mick P

Tawny Owls

Followers of the blog, and our activities, will know that at this time of year much of our time is spent monitoring nest boxes of several species to gather information on breeding outcomes. Many of these nest boxes have been put up following contact by a home-owner who has a keen interest in the natural world and who has a suitable location for a box. 

I checked such a box on 29/4/22 and ringed these two Tawny owl chicks, along with their mother. As you can see they are now keen to explore the outside world. Thanks to the home-owner for the photo which was taken some time after I visited.

Thanks to people like this, who buy and allow nest boxes to be put on their land and give us permission to visit every year, we are gathering a lot of valuable information about such birds. 

Mick P