Friday 30 November 2012

Peregrines wintering in Bristol and Bath

These days you are more likely to see a Peregrine in an English city thank you are a Kestrel or Sparrowhawk

As we are head in to winter, urban-dwelling Peregrines are spending plenty of time hunting and roosting over towns and cities. Here in Bristol, various Peregrines are using different buildings as their base throughout the city. One pair which raised one chick in the centre of Bristol this year are still around - just the other day they were spotted by Peregrine watcher Sam Hobson.

During the winter, Peregrines will stay close to their breeding territories, but many younger birds (known as satellite birds) will be roam around the UK, and may turn up in areas where during the summer they would normally get chased off very quickly by territorial birds. 

Over the next few months we will be reflecting on the 2012 breeding season and some of the interesting results we have received from some of the young birds we have colour-ringed over the past few years. I have been studying Peregrines in the Bristol and Bath region since 1998, and with the help of others who watch, study and photograph Peregrines, we are developing a bigger and more detailed picture of how these birds live in our towns and cities. 

I am linking to our previous blog below which followed some of the comings and goings of the Peregrines in recent years throughout the west region in England. We will now put postings on this current blog but didn't want to lose the stories and information shared on the blog below. 

http://swperegrinestudygroup.blogspot.co.uk/

Ed Drewitt November 2012
eddrewitt.com


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