Our falcon brought in another pigeon today, which she plucked and ate around half of. Today she chose to pluck her prey on the ledge rather than the plucking branch, maybe because the rain had started! The female then went on to store it in one of her larders. The tiercel actually got very impatient and flew off the nest to call to the falcon while she was eating. Realising he wasn’t going to get any food yet, he was forced back to the nest to keep the 3 eggs warm!

I’m not sure the male was aware of where she stored the remainder of the pigeon. He went to where had seen her feeding, but found only a few scraps. He must have been hungry as he was pulling small morsels of meat off the plucked feathers!

We had no further intruders into the gorge today, most adults should now have an eyrie and have laid. Those that do come through are likely to be unpaired adults who have not found a territory, or young birds. These should be birds that our pair are able to chase off fairly easily!

I’m often asked if we know where any of the previously fledged chicks from this site are. We do radio tag the chicks, but there is a very limited distance in which we can read these from.

Two of our birds have been recorded at St Mary’s Loch near Moffat in Dumfries and Galloway. Other birds have been recorded at Biggar and along the Clyde valley.

Tom Wells – Peregrine Protection Officer