Fulham and Barnes Peregrine Fledge Watch......part one

What a gorgeous day to start doing my four days of Peregrine Fledge Watch at Charring Cross Hospital ! It was warm and sunny, with a breeze that cooled you off now and then.

I'll introduce the peregrine family first, Tom is the Dad, Charlie is the Mum, and the three youngsters are called George, Buster and Amy.

George fledged on Sunday and Buster fledged early this morning before I got there.
That just leaves young Amy on the nest ledge.
By the time I left tonight at 6.15pm, all three were asleep on the ledge, with Amy still yet to fledge.

So who chose the names for A2, A3 and AZ (the young Peregrines leg ring numbers) ? They were picked by the children from Class E at St Marys Primary School in Eltham. Their teacher and fellow Peregrine fan, Miss Crew, is also a personal friend of mine and of some of the others who were at Fledge Watch today. We all had a lovely few minutes when Elaine (Miss Crew) phoned me, and Corinna, Sue and myself waved to the web cam and could hear all the kids shouting out 'hello' to us. Class E have been following the peregrines progress on the web cams since the first egg was laid by Charlie on March 14th. I cannot think of a better way to get a bunch of six and seven year olds interested in nature. Well done Miss Crew, and well done Class E for picking some very good and fitting names.

I'm back there tomorrow morning, when I really hope Amy decides its time to join her brothers. The youngsters will still stay around the hospital for a few more weeks yet. Once they've fledged they face the challenge of learning how to take off and land, and how to catch prey. Charlie is a very experienced mum, and Tom is proving to be a good dad, despite being a bit 'strict' sometimes.

So a very pleasant day today. Along with Corinna, Sue and myself, other Fledge-watchers included Laurence, Maggie, Carol and of course Nathalie. Without Nathalie's dedication to the peregrines over the years, none of this would have been possible.

My photos below are in no particular order and aren't really that good, but I wasn't there
 to take the perfect photo today, I just wanted to capture the moments and memories of this years Fledge Watch.

Part two of Peregrine Fledge Watch tomorrow night..........

Tom

Tom

Tom snoozing at the front of the hospital

Charlie and prey

Charlie bringing in prey

Charlie grabbing forty winks at the front of the hospital

Charlie

Buster, Amy and George on the ledge

Buster on left, and Amy

Buster

George coming in for a perfect landing

Amy bottom left, Buster top right

George and Tom have a tender moment on top of the cooler

Amy practising
 

brief sight of Amy