Fleeting glimpses

The camera caught a brief glimpse of the male the other day.

It was rather too fleeting to be able to be clearly read the letters on the ring, but I am pretty sure it is CR.

(in case you are new to this story, then CR, aka Christopher Robin, fledged from Christchurch Cheltenham in 2010)

Another brief visit from CR, this time from camera 2...

Looking promising

After many months, the video camera on the nesting tray has finally seen some promising peregrine action!

Both birds briefly visited the tray on Saturday, first the female and then the male, squawking excitedly to each other.

It's not easy to read the ring on the male, but it could well be CR (aka Christopher Robin). After a few seconds, Bella seems to chase him off though...
(If you can't see the video, it is also available here)

Camera 2 wasn't much help in reading the ring...

I will see if I can move it to a more useful position.

Disappointingly quiet

It really is disappointingly quiet at the moment.

One bird is definitely around, and I think it might be the female, Bella.

 

Here she is on her usual night time perch on the north side of the tower, lit up by the floodlights.

I am just wondering if there is going to be any breeding this year after all.

Christopher Robin - where are you?

Bella is often seen on the Abbey tower, however CR has been somewhat elusive.

Even Bella is looking out for him.

Don't forget that National Nest Box week runs from 14th - 21st February.  Here is a suitable picture taken on September 6th last year to mark the occasion.

Exciting news!

Our birds are back!

Dave Pearce saw them putting on a spectacular courtship display today!

 They were observed flying and stooping around the tower and over the ham for several minutes.

 

Eventually the female came to land on the tower calling to the male.

Here she is flying off again. Note the lack of a ring, so this has got to be Bella.

Thanks to Dave for this exciting news!

A waiting game

Apologies for the lack of updates recently.

The reason is that there has been nothing to report. I've not seen any peregrines, and neither have the video cameras.

Everything is in place for them. The nesting tray has been serviced with new gravel, and there are plenty of pigeons to eat....

 

The Kestrel is back.

The new camera 1 not only has a higher resolution, but it has a better night-time performance.

The Kestrel who visited a few weeks ago has been back. It looks like a female or a young bird during its first winter. (Thanks to Dave Pearce)

Bella watching the floods.

Bella (or at least it very much looks like her) was sitting on the tower again today.

She was on her usual ledge on the east side of the tower, just a little bit above the nesting tray.

 

Having climbed to the top to the tower to view the floods, I did manage (just) to take this photo of her flying off.

 The water is up a bit at the moment.

These two seemed to be happy swimming on the Swilgate River, even though there are a few more places to swim than usual.

Camera upgrade

Not only has camera 2 been installed, but I have also replaced camera 1 with a higher resolution one. This has also been mounted closer to the tray.

Luckily, a passing Columba livia domestica was on hand to test it out!

Sitting in the sun

There was one bird to be seen this morning perching in the usual place on the East side of the tower.

Judging by the size, I think this is Bella.

Camera 2

Camera 2 is now up and running!

Hopefully there will be a bird for it to see soon!

New Gravel

The nesting tray has been serviced, closing up the gap between the planks, and a layer of new gravel has been provided.

All we need now is a pair of peregrines. I did see Bella on the tower twice last week (but too dark to photograph), but Christopher Robin hasn't been seen since September. This is nothing unusual as he was not to be seen at this season in previous years.

I don't know what bird has triggered the camera - all you can see is his tail and feet!
(It does look rather like the rare BLACK REDSTART we saw last year)

One more species

Since the video camera has been recording movement on the peregrine nesting tray, it has recorded several species of bird.

The list to date is peregrine, starling, pigeon, grey wagtail, chaffinch, pied wagtail, black redstart, and now ....

.... a kestrel.

(OK, it's not the best view!)

Bella calling

Bella is still around, but I've not seen Christopher Robin for several weeks.

Maybe he is nearby, and Bella is calling to him?

Bella on the nesting tray

The video camera hasn't seen any peregrine activity for a few weeks, so it was nice to see Bella had been resting on it the other day.

In fact, she was on the nesting tray for nearly 4 hours!

The tray needs servicing before too long with the gap between the planks closing up and some new gravel to get it ready for the 2016 breeding season.

All rather quiet

It's all rather quiet at the moment.

Neither CR nor Bella have been videoed on the nesting tray for a couple of weeks or more, but they are certainly around. I did spot them both at the same time on the Abbey tower last week.

There are plenty of prey feathers fluttering around the Abbey churchyard at the moment.

There's now a display board at the back of the Abbey so that visitors can see what's been happening.

 Thanks to Dave Pearce and Bob Telford for allowing me to use their photos.

A rare visitor

Don't tell CR or Bella, but a rare bird has been spotted in Tewkesbury! A ROSE COLOURED STARLING has been seen at Priors Park and on the Abbey.

(Photos by Tim Cash on the Gloster Birder website, entry dated  Sun 4th Oct 2015.)

Getting on very well...

CR and Bella are getting on very well indeed...

Looks promising for next year!

Bella (and CR)

Bella was watching the Congregation arrive for the 9:15 service today. This is the first time I have seen her myself for a few weeks, although the video camera behind her has seen her several times so we know she is still around.

Not far away, Christopher Robin was sitting on one of the water chutes .

A few days ago, the camera saw Bella dropping in on CR for chat.

Beautiful Bella

A close up of Bella....

(I'm not sure what the occasional buzzing sound is. Bella seems to hear it too. Perhaps it is a fly in a spiders web right by the microphone?)

Christopher Robin on camera

It's a long time since Christopher Robin has appeared on this blog!

Here he is doing a bit of scraping.

Christchurch update

The four chicks have fledged from Christchurch in Cheltenham.

Here are a few photos of CR's brothers/sisters taken by Dave Pearce.

Still a pair of peregrines

Just in case you were wondering, we still have a pair of peregrines at Tewkesbury.

Here they are having a chat!

Shoo!

Get off my perch!

Bella nearly gets a pigeon

A lucky escape!