More Awesome Peregrines

I had another day in Derbyshire today and finally got some decent weather. I pulled up at my site and before I could even get out of the Landrover I had the pair of Peregrines displaying over their quarry before they quickly dropped out of view. A few hours passed with little further activity, but as the weather improved so did my fortunes...


Peregrine (Source Unknown)

Around lunch time the Peregrine pair got up after their lazy morning and started to conduct a range of vocal aerial displays. This lasted for almost 20 minutes and was at fairly close range at times. Suddenly, after an age of meandering flights the male closed wings and shot out of the sky straight into a small group of Feral Pigeons, they flew upwards to avoid the male Peregrine, only to fly straight into the path of the female, a quick twist by the Pigeons and suddenly they were face to face with the male Peregrine. In a flash the male crashed into one of the Pigeons - game over! It carried the pigeon onto the cliff-face as the female flew around and then joined it. A few moments later the female stole the food of the male. She gradually ate it, leaving only a small amount for the male! Little reward for 20 minutes activity!


Peregrine on Feral Pigeon kill (Source Unknown)

The rest of the day passed with little excitement, but the above was enough to keep me going for a few hours!