Happy Christmas!

This is the view that Christopher Robin would have had on December 19th 2010. This was his first winter and was also the first time that prey remains were noticed on the tower roof. He was joined firstly by DX (aka Alice) and when she disappeared, by the unringed Bella. Lets hope that they can successfully breed in 2017. 

A Happy Christmas from Tewkesbury Abbey!

Another black redstart

We've also been visited by a female BLACK REDSTART,

This is another rare bird, but not a long distant visitor like its Eastern relative.

A pair!

With all the attention surrounding the Eastern Black Redstart, there have been lots of people watching the tower recently.

This has confirmed that there are definitely two peregrines around which is a very good sign for the 2017 season.

The camera has also seen both birds together on the nesting tray :-

Fingers crossed!

Eastern Black Redstart

We have had a visit from a EASTERN BLACK REDSTART.

From birding expert Mike King (Gloster Birder) :-

"This Black Redstart has been re-identified today as Eastern Black Redstart. EBR is a subspecies of Black Redstart. Eastern Black Redstart is a long distance migrant from its central Asian breeding grounds to wintering areas in central India west to northeast Africa. This is the first record for Gloucestershire."

Notes for birders :-
- The best place to see it is apparently from the south/east side, either in the churchyard or the field between the Abbey and the River Swilgate.
- There are plenty of places to park nearby. Gander Lane car park is closest.
- The Abbey's "Touching Souls Tea Room" is open until 1.30pm for refreshments. There are various other places for refreshments in the immediate area.

Good Luck!

The quiet season

Apart from brief visits from two different types of wagtail (pied and grey) the other day, the camera hasn't seen any activity at all for weeks.

It was nice to see a peregrine on the tower this morning. I think this is Christopher Robin by its size.

A good sign

It's usually the male which makes a scrape for the female to lay the eggs, but for Bella to be exhibiting this behavior at this time of the year has got to be a good sign for breeding next year. (fingers crossed)

Noisy pair!

What a lot of squawking!

Still together

Bella and Christopher Robin are still together....

This has got to be a good sign for next year!

Not a lot to report

Don't worry, you haven't missed anything, but there's very little to report over the last few weeks.

Both birds are still around, and are sometimes to be seen on the Abbey tower. The Abbey Vergers still find the occasional carcass in the Abbey grounds, and there are usually plenty of feathers blowing around too.

There was one bird showing well this morning on the NE corner, probably CR judging by its size.

Everything is ready for them for next year....

Panting Peregrine

Pigeons scatter as Bella lands on the platform with her breakfast.

The effort of hunting and then flying with the extra weight of her prey (probably half her weight again) is quite enough for her to be out of breath. After she recovered, she spent most of the rest of the morning eating it.

Getting quieter

There's not much happening at the moment, indeed things are getting quieter. Both birds are still around, and occasionally get together on the nesting tray for a little chat...

If this year is anything like 2015, then there probably won't be much to report until winter turns into spring. I'll keep the blog up to date with any interesting happenings though.

Better luck next year!

Close up chatting

Although camera 3 doesn't have sound, I have merged this clip of CR and Bella (mostly just out of view) chatting together with the sound from camera 1.

CR seems to prefer this corner of the nesting platform, which is why camera 3 was put there to get close ups of anything happening.

Getting on very well

Bella and CR seemed to have paired up quite well again, rather like last year.

It's a pity they weren't behaving like this in February and March. Lets hope they are successful next spring.

Catching food

Christopher Robin seems to be rather good at catching prey.

Here are a couple of videos of him landing on the nesting platform with something in his talons. In the first one, he is definitely not sharing and he flies away. In the second, he lets Bella have it.

Camera 3

Camera 3 can provide some nice close ups. Here is CR chatting to Bella (mostly just out of shot)

(There is no sound)

Floodlit landing

Camera 2 watching CR and then Bella landing on the nesting tray.

(There is still no sound on this camera)

Note that the camera has been pushed sideways by a pigeon. This has now been corrected.

Breakfast

CR bringing a starling for breakfast, which Bella takes off him and proceeds to eat.

An hour or so later, after Bella had eaten and left, CR briefly landed with a half eaten meal of his own. Perhaps he made sure Bella had eaten first, allowing him to have his own breakfast undisturbed.

(This is the first time I have seen prey being eaten in front of the camera.)

scraping

Both birds are still around, especially early in the morning and late at night. The rest of the day, the pigeons are the usual occupants of the nesting tray.

This video shows Bella and then Christopher Robin making a scrape in the gravel, and then unusually, CR scraping while Bella watches.

If only they had exhibited this behaviour a few months ago, we might have seen them feeding their chicks by now!

Playing?

CR seems to be having fun with this stone.

(I've no idea what the background noise which sounds like Morse Code is. It doesn't seem to be there when the camera is in its low light, B&W, mode.)

A close up of Bella

Bella investigating the camera....

Quackers!

There has been very little activity on the tower over the last week or more, until the last few days.

One highlight was the visit of a female Anas platyrhynchos

There has been a bit more peregrine activity recently with both birds on the tray several times, chatting to each other, and occasionally scraping at the gravel.

Unfortunately, they are too late to breed again, so we will have to cross our fingers for next year.

Antiques Roadshow

Sadly, no peregrines at all on the nesting tray over the last few days.

 

There was plenty of activity down below, since the BBC were recording the Antiques Roadshow!

A clever pigeon?

Seen on the Abbey tower today.

Do pigeons know that peregrines take prey on the wing?

Bella's Breakfast

Camera 3 caught CR with some early morning prey for Bella.

(there is no sound from camera 3 at the moment)

Mobbing

No eggs yet, so they've probably left it too late again.

The camera has seen quite a bit of peregrine activity, including this interesting video.

You can see that Bella is being mobbed by another bird. It all happens too fast to see what kind would be bold enough to do this.