It's not Alice!

I've had a quick look at what the video camera has captured over the last few days.

The good news is that we do seem to have a pair who are very keen to breed.

However, the really interesting thing is that the female is NOT Alice.

As you can just about see, she has no rings on either leg.

There is a video of the new female here.

There are no eggs yet. 

We have a nesting pair!

Great news!

 

 

This morning both CR and DX were seen on the Abbey tower, and what's more, Alice was sitting in the nesting tray! This explains CR's scraping behaviour over the last week or so.

 

Welcome back Alice!

 

 

Christopher Robin was higher up the tower.

 

I will check to see what the video camera has captured later in the week to see if she might be sitting on any eggs yet.

CR scraping again

The camera has spotted Christopher Robin making a scrape again.

You can see the video here

 He is instinctively behaving like there is a nest with eggs, and could be a good sign if Alice reappears, however she has not been seen for several weeks.

CR caught on camera

The video camera has caught Christopher Robin again.

This morning he was filmed making a scrape in the gravel

Sadly, there is no sign of Alice, so why was he doing this?

Lots of pigeons

Sadly, there is still no sign of Alice, although Christopher Robin is still around.

The video recorder has not captured CR since 1st April, bit it has recorded lots and lots and lots of pigeons, and a pied wagtail.

Still just one bird

Unfortunately, Alice hasn't been seen since the video of 17th March, not even at Bishop's Cleeve. Fingers crossed she will turn up somewhere soon.

Christopher Robin is still around. I saw him this morning flying from his usual perch on the east side of the Abbey tower.

There is much better news from Christchurch Cheltenham where CR's mum and dad have produced another batch of 4 eggs. Click HERE to see Dave Pearce's video of the last egg being laid.

Alice - where are you?

Everybody was really excited after the last post to this blog, however since then nothing has been seen of Alice, neither at Tewkesbury or Bishop's Cleeve.

Christopher Robin is still around - this short video was captured yesterday.

If you study the video from 17th March carefully, you will see that Alice has a damaged foot with one talon on her right foot at the wrong angle. Let's hope that this hasn't caused her any problems in feeding herself.

There's much better news from Christchurch Cheltenham, where the female has laid her first egg!

Look who's back!

Great news!

The camera on Tewkesbury Abbey tower has finally caught some action.

Firstly we see CR (Christopher Robin) and then DX (Alice) joins him. CR flies off after a while, leaving Alice on her own. There's lots of calling going on too. (except you can't hear it as there is no sound on the video!)

Let's hope that they settle down.....!

Just one bird still.

Dave Pearce took this photo at Tewkesbury today.

We think this is CR (Christopher Robin).

There is no sign of Alice at Tewkesbury, however she is regularly seen at Bishop's Cleeve.

This account was send to me by Ann Jessop, a Bishop's Cleeve bell ringer.

 

Last Saturday, Alice was spotted attacking a seagull which fought back amid lots of squawking, attacking, counter attacking, evasion, turning, dropping, feinting and chasing!

Then a second peregrine appeared on the scene.

 The seagull stood his ground and Alice gave up the chase.

One peregrine then flew off to the east and the other to the west.

The question is who was this second peregrine? Was it CR, or was it a visitor from Christchurch, or somewhere else?

A pair of pairs!

There was a pair of birds on the tower this morning!

 

Unfortunately, one was a pigeon!

It's amazing that prey and predator can live so close side by side. Perhaps the pigeon knew that the peregrine had only just had his breakfast so wouldn't be hungry any more?

 

 

The other pair was at Christchurch, Cheltenham. This photo was taken on Thursday.

On top of the tower

There was one bird sitting right on top of the tower this morning.

I've never seen one sitting up there before.

Just one bird again

There was just one bird showing this morning, probably the male (CR?) judging by its size.

Unless Alice comes back from Bishop's Cleeve in the next few weeks, I am beginning to wonder if there is going to be any breeding at Tewkesbury this year ...

However, there are signs of activity at Christchurch Cheltenham with the gravel being scraped in the next box this week.

I think that this is the female (CR's mum) sitting on the pinnacle with the new moon in the background.

 Here she is again in a close up photo taken by Dave Pearce.

Sitting pretty

This morning, there was a peregrine sitting in the water chute on the north side of the tower.

It had just finished eating and was making itself comfortable!

Judging by its size, this is a male, so it is probably Christopher Robin.

New Floodlights

The new LED floodlights were switched on tonight!

The effect is superb.

There was one well illuminated bird flying about, eventually coming to rest on the NW corner of the tower.

No raptors this weekend.

I didn't see any peregrines this weekend at the Abbey.

However, there is some activity judging by the feathers scattered around the churchyard, and I also saw a Carrion Crow polishing off some prey remains.

The camera on the nesting tray had a good view of this grey wagtail.

Calling?

The peregrine on the tower this evening was sitting on a ledge I've not seen used as a perch before.

This is on the NW corner of the tower.

He (assuming this is CR) was calling every few seconds.

Does this mean that he is lonely, or that there is a second bird he is calling to?

(An update - Alice was at Bishop's Cleeve at this time - info from Bob Telford)

The north wind doth blow...

There was one bird (CR?) sheltering on the south side of the Abbey tower this morning.

Alice is still at Bishop's Cleeve (info from Bob Telford).

Peregrine Spotting

Once you get your eye in, spotting peregrines on a building gets easier.

Here's a little test...

This photo was taken today at Christchurch, Cheltenham.

There are two peregrines - can you spot them both?

Scroll down for the answer....

Is that you Christopher Robin?

There was a peregrine at Tewkesbury this morning having its meal in the usual place on the tower.

I saw it perched on the side of the tower a little later, and judging by it's size, I would say it was a male.

Bob Telford also points out that Alice (aka DX) was at Bishop's Cleeve last night.

Does this mean that Christopher Robin is back?

A guessing game?

The peregrines in the area are certainly keeping us guessing at the moment!

There were more fresh feathers on the top of Tewkesbury Abbey tower again today, so which of the birds is eating there is a mystery.

Alice has been seen regularly by Bob Telford at Bishop's Cleeve, but there have been a few evenings when she has not been seen. She was there last night, but Christopher Robin hasn't been seen for months.

Fortunately there are signs of activity at Christchurch in Cheltenham where he fledged in 2010. Both the male and female are around, so things are looking good for 2015!

Here is a close up taken by Dave Pearce a couple of days ago of CR's dad perching on the pinnacle.

Two birds?

I saw a peregrine this morning on the Abbey tower, and again this evening. Both times they were on top of the water chute on the north side of the tower and difficult to see well enough to hazard a guess as to whether it was male or female. Both times, they were feeding too.

(Not a very flattering camera angle!)

Interestingly, Bob Telford also reports seeing DX at Bishop's Cleeve last night and again tonight.

Does this mean that we have two birds in the area again?

Mum and Dad

I went for a walk past Christchurch in Cheltenham today.

Thanks to Dave Pearce, I knew where the peregrines liked to sit, and sure enough there they were!

I think that these are the female (right) and male (left), and are Christopher Robin's Mum and Dad.

There may well have been a third bird as well, as I am pretty sure that the female was still on the tower when the male was seeing this one off.

(I think I need to save up for a camera with a better lens as my Canon SX230 is getting rather old and has some annoying marks and scratches on the optics.)

Feathers

Bob Telford kindly tells me that he has seen Alice at Bishop's Cleeve for several days in a row.

So who has been leaving pigeon feathers scattered around Tewkesbury Abbey churchyard and in the gutters on the tower?

Some of these look fresh to me.

Bishop's Cleeve update

Bob Telford has spotted Alice on the tower at Bishop's Cleeve virtually every day for a couple of weeks now.

Here are a couple of his photos.

I went to work via Bishop's Cleeve this morning, and she was still there on the south east corner of the tower. This tower isn't all that tall, and Alice is really easy to spot from the churchyard.

Alice's other home.

Bob Telford has kindly let me publish this photo he took of Alice on New Year's Eve.

He spotted Alice on the Church tower at Bishop's Cleeve with her half eaten meal. She was also there again today. You can clearly see her blue ring with DX on it.