The peregrine watch site has now closed for the season. Unfortunately, it has been a repeat of last years story; with the falcon laying only one egg (normally 3-4) in early April only to abandoned it when unhatched after 40 days of incubation. It is believed that the egg has been infertile from the start due to the old age of the birds. With the tiercel now at least 16 years old (2nd known oldest in Scotland) and the falcon believed to be 13-14 years old.

A good natural lifespan for a peregrine in the wild is approximately 12-15 years old. Although, the average age of a peregrine is  recorded at only 6 years old, less than half that. It is believe this is due to a high mortality rate in juveniles and repeated persecution by people i.e illegal shooting, poisoning and trapping that keeps this figure so alarmingly low.

However, the true fate of the egg still remains unknown…

The good news is, we are planning to collect the egg this week and have it tested and see what, if any, answers the clever science people can come up with. If all goes to plan we are hoping to feature the story on BBC Scotland’s Out of Doors show, more details of this to follow later in the week…

Hopefully soon, unlike the birds, we wont be left scratching our heads.  Well at least not for this, anyway.

To be continued…

Adam Murphy – Peregrine Ranger