Sorry for the pun everyone, but we are getting very excited up at the peregrine site. The eggs are due to hatch any day now and we really are on the edge of our seats. Last week saw a few cold and damp days at the watch site, but the peregrines were still visible on the cliffs. The female is still doing most of the incubating but when I arrived this morning the male was sat on the nest leaving the female free to preen her feathers before disappearing downstream for a short time. However she was back on the eyrie by 10am. Usually the female will take over all the incubation a day or so before the eggs hatch so we shall see if she still lets the male onto the nest later today and tomorrow. We also had some excitement last week when an intruder male peregrine was spotted hanging around the oak tree near the nest, then later that same day another female was seen flying along the gorge! With all these other peregrines entering the territory our resident pair have to step up their game and see them off, especially with the chicks due soon.

At the watch site it is truly feeling like the last fragments of winter have been shrugged off. The trees are looking greener each week and the wildflowers are in full bloom bringing a huge amount of different colours to the woods. The bird song in the morning is impressive too with robins, wrens and a variety of finches and warblers singing their hearts out first thing in the morning. This definitely means that I do not need an alarm for getting me up in the caravan!

We shall keep you posted on any news from the watch site and hopefully the next blog shall be to report the spotting of some fluffy peregrine chicks! Watch this space!

Alex Kekewich – Falls of Clyde Seasonal Ranger