Bella scraping

Bella (and CR) are still scraping every now and then.

(I think I will need to tidy up the sticks for them some time.)

Pigeon sticks

CR and Bella are often seen early in the morning on the nesting tray.



The local pigeons tend to use it the rest of the day and have been trying to build a nest by the camera. The peregrines don't seem to like the sticks under their feet.

A close shave

Blink and you might miss it, but Christopher Robin nearly got a pigeon!

Chatterboxes

As you can now hear, I've got the sound working!

Now you can hear our two peregrines having their morning conversation.

Sleepy bird

The camera caught Bella having a nap!

Dawn Chorus

OK, so we've missed the boat this year for breeding, but both Bella and Christopher Robin are still here, and seem to be getting on well. Here they are having their usual early morning chat.

Bella really gave CR a fright when she landed!

Kissing?

It certainly looks like Christopher Robin and Bella are getting on well.



Is this a kiss?

Still here.

Both Bella and Christopher Robin are still around, and the camera usually catches one or both of them on the platform early in the mornings just after first light.

Just good friends!

Hopefully next year...

Because of the disappearance of Alice and the gap of several weeks before Bella arrived, it's now too late in the year for any peregrine breeding at Tewkesbury Abbey.

Fortunately, we do still have a pair of birds, and if they stay together until the new year, may well have another attempt at breeding. 

Here they are having a little chat!

Meanwhile, I'll keep this blog updated with any interesting sightings, and with the progress of Christopher Robin's brothers and sisters at Christchurch in Cheltenham.

I will also try to get the audio recording working, ready for next year.

Success at Christchurch Cheltenham

Thanks to Dave Pearce, I was able to see the 4 chicks at Christchurch today.

These are the 6th brood to hatch there, emerging from their eggs just over a week ago. They really do grow fast!

I think this is something we will have to wait for another year to see at Tewkesbury Abbey.

Daylight robbery!

Bella - that wasn't very nice...!

Early morning courtship

Still no sign of any eggs, but they are still courting as this early morning video shows.

CR was first on the nesting tray, then he was joined by Bella.

Still scraping

Both birds are still around, but unfortunately there are no eggs. Have they left it too late this year?

CR's turn to make a scrape.

New gravel

While they weren't looking, I put some fresh gravel on the nesting tray, since they had managed to lose most of it down the crack between the planks.This is a larger grade than before, so hopefully it will last longer.

 

 Bella and Christopher Robin seemed happy enough with the extra gravel.

Bella soon made a new scrape in the middle.

 Sometimes by shoveling the stones with her feet...

...and also by picking the odd stone up in her beak.

Meet Bella!

Choosing a name for the new female is something we've put a lot of thought into.

We can't name her Kanga, after the other female character in the A.A.Milne books, and other names which came up were Charlotte (after the new princess) and Lesley (the real life Christopher Robin's wife).

Our recently retired Churchwarden at Tewkesbury, Mary Green, suggested Bella, and living on a bell tower, we thought this was the most suitable.

Here she is inspecting the nesting tray.

(PS - I am working on getting audio on the clips. My first experiment proved somewhat crackly. I will try again.)

Breakfast time

The camera captured Christopher Robin having an early morning snack.

I can't quite decide what it is, possibly the remains of a starling?

Looks promising....!

Graham Ainge kindly sent me this photo showing the peregrines mating on top of the tower!

Time to wait and see what happens next...

Plenty of activity!

Our pair of peregrines are certainly making their presence felt! There is plenty of squawking, but there is no sign of any eggs being laid.

The new female.

Unlike some peregrine nesting sites, the nesting platform is not too high up and is easily visible from the lawns at the east end of the Abbey. This makes it an ideal place to see and photograph peregrines without a powerful telescope or a camera with a big lens.

If you have got the necessary camera equipment, then the results can be spectacular.

 

Bob Telford took this photograph of Christopher Robin with a starling.

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!