Day 2 of Fledge Watch. Our young eyas, PF, is 40 days old today.
It was a very warm day and there wasn't much to see in the cemetery. Many birds were staying out of the hot sun but we did hear Goldcrests, saw Long-tailed Tits and both Sue and Nathalie got some good views of juvenile Coal Tits. We also heard a Blackcap calling and got good views of Goldfinches perched on the nearby house aerials. There were also quite a few Swift and House Martins flying over making their distinctive calls.
But the bird we came to see was the lovely adorable PF, who is already developing quite a character.
When PF wasn't peering over the ledge wall......
or 'pancaking' out of view, he was doing a lot of wing flapping......
But he isn't quite running the length of the ledge yet. His confidence is growing though and most times after wing stretching and flapping you could see bits of downy feathers floating around. His adult feathers are definitely emerging more and more day by day.
The morning was fairly quiet with several sightings of both Tom and Charlie flying over head...
and there were a couple of bouts of excitement when twice a Buzzard flew over very high up and got mobbed by both of the Peregrines. No photos unfortunately as they were so high up in the thermals.
Todays feed time was by dad, Tom, which made for some nice size comparison photos of father and son. PF still looks quite small next to Tom but isn't as dwarfed as he is when he's next to mum Charlie.....
Tom on the left, PF on the right...
"Bye Dad, thanks for dinner".......
Tom flew off afterwards and landed on one of his favoured perches....
Just before I left with Sue, Charlie bought a pigeon in but took it straight to the larder on the roof for plucking. Not a great photo as the sun was directly in my eyes....
Whilst it was quiet this morning we watched a couple of Rose Chafers flying around. Luckily for us one landed nearby and Nathalie was able to pick it up. What a beautiful creature the chafer is. My photo doesn't do the colours justice....
Sadly due to work commitments I wont be attending Fledge Watch over the next five days. My next visit will be next Saturday. By then PF will have surely fledged and taken his first flight, so safe fledging little PF.
To keep up to date with this weeks events please see the Fulham and Barnes Peregrines Facebook page for both vid clips and still photos posted daily.
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