Urban Peregrines
Urban Peregrines
Ed Drewitt
Pelagic Publishing
www.pelagicpublishing.com
Urban Peregrines
Published by Pelagic Publishing
www.pelagicpublishing.com
PO Box 725, Exeter EX1 9QU
ISBN 978-1-907807-80-0 (Pbk)
ISBN 978-1-907807-81-7 (Hbk)
ISBN 978-1-907807-82-4 (ePub)
ISBN 978-1-907807-83-1 (Mobi)
Copyright © 2014 Ed Drewitt
This book should be quoted as:
Drewitt, E. (2014) Urban Peregrines. Exeter: Pelagic Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission from the publisher. While every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Pelagic Publishing, its agents and distributors will be held liable for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover image by Sam Hobson (samhobson.co.uk)
Contents
About the author
Foreword
Preface
1 The Peregrine
2 What is an Urban Peregrine?
3 How to Spot a Peregrine
4 A Year in the Life of an Urban Peregrine
5 Food and Feeding
6 How to Study Peregrines
7 Ringing Urban Peregrines
8 Myths about Peregrines
9 Changing Threats and the Future of the Urban Peregrine
10 People and Peregrines
11 Where Next?
Further reading
Acknowledgements
Photographers
Index
About the author
ED DREWITT IS A PROFESSIONAL NATURALIST, wildlife detective, learning consultant/trainer, and broadcaster. He has been studying urban Peregrines for over 15 years, specialising in colour ringing their chicks and identifying what they have been eating.
Ed spends a lot of his time showing people wildlife, specialising in teaching birdsong, and helping others to identify, appreciate, and get hands on with nature. He also takes people around the world on holiday tours to see a variety of animals including whales, dolphins, and a variety of birds.
Foreword
THE FASTEST BIRD ON EARTH – more than ten thousand bird species but none moves quicker than this. And it’s beautiful – in a predatory and purposeful way, in a way that screams power. Broad shoulders, sharp wings, massive talons, big eyes and a killer beak; this bird means business. For thousands of years we have revered, feared, loved, hated, reared, worshipped and killed it; it’s never been overlooked or ignored, it’s a part of our culture and enjoys a sensational synergy of respect and awe. From the tombs of pharaohs to the emperors of China, the princes of Europe and now to the precincts of urban Britain the Peregrine Falcon is the impressor. I don’t know why superheroes ever bother to get out of bed.
There is one cachet it has forfeited to join us in the 21st century manscape, and we’re thankful for it: its rarity has faded, and in many ways so has its inaccessibility. And that should secure its future as thousands now watch and admire the intricacies of its behaviour and ecology on remote cameras. On the rainy streets of Norwich, the sunny sidewalks of Chichester and the bustling pavements of Bristol, we can stop shopping and watch the best avian royalty reality show on earth. As Ed says … ‘Wow!’
And what Ed says is worth reading. His obsession with the species and enthusiasm to know it better fuels this rich and comprehensive look at the Peregrine and its place in the urban landscape. The diversity of material is marvellous: history, habits and full-on scientific analysis, opinion, even postulation and essential practical advice … it’s a feast of all things Peregriney, perfect for the young observer who’s just seen their first falcon or the expert who is guaranteed to learn something new. The photos are good too.
So read it and get to know your most exciting new neighbours in the outdoor penthouse suite, forgive their table habits and keep your eyes peeled for a glimpse of speed as a bird splits the sky and stirs your heart.
Chris Packham, New Forest 2014
Preface
WHOOSH’, ‘WOW’, ‘INCREDIBLE’ – just some of the reactions as a Peregrine powers over an audience at the Hawk Conservancy Trust in Andover, Hampshire. With eyes on the lure, the falcon turns swiftly in the air and at full pelt flaps its wings at a blurring speed to grab its food. Just as the Peregrine is about to take it, the lure is whipped away by the falconer, and the falcon repeats its manoeuvres. Finally, after some important exercise, the Peregrine is allowed to catch the lure and bring it to the ground. It mantles the food to stop anything else stealing its well-earned prey and gulps it down in oversized mouthfuls. This is just one memory of many I have of watching Peregrines when I was younger, at a time when seeing one in the wild where I lived in Surrey was unheard of.
Peregrines, like dinosaurs, big cats and owls, provide a great lure and gateway for getting lots of people interested in nature. They catch people’s attention, wow audiences with their ability to kill and to fly at fast speeds, and inspire people to get more involved with the natural world.
In 1991, when I was 11 years old, I visited Symonds Yat Rock in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, to see my first wild Peregrines. Wow! Real life Peregrines – I remember reaching up to look through the scope, and seeing at least one bird at the nest site. That week I had also visited The International Centre for Birds of Prey (formerly the National Birds of Prey Centre) in Newent. Jemima Parry-Jones was leading the display there – I was right at the front cross-legged on the grass watching the raptors being flown, including a Bateleur Eagle and a Secretary Bird. In the shop on our way out I proudly bought, and wore, a grey T-shirt with a beautiful image of a Peregrine on the front. Little did I know that seven years later I would begin studying this impressive bird.
In my infant school we had a Barn Owl flown around the hall – and without speaking a word we listened, but didn’t hear a thing, as the owl’s softened feathers allowed it to fly silently. During my time at first and middle school we had a few visits from people bringing along owls and falcons, and in my middle school we had a day learning about falcons and eagles. I remember having special access to spend time with the dozen or so birds at lunchtime, when they were relaxing on their perches on our school field. I just sat and watched, glued to their every movement as they preened and rested. And during the summer holidays my parents often took us to the Hawk Conservancy Trust in Andover – a chance to watch falcons swooping at speed past our heads, George the vulture thinking about the possibility of flying (but never quite getting airborne!), and a Tawny Owl flying between posts, still begging like a baby.
But my interest (and indeed obsession) with Peregrines really began with Greenfinches. Perhaps not the most obvious link, but bear with me. When I was eight years old and at middle school in Epsom, Surrey, playtime was always a diligent affair for me. In amongst playing tag and other games, I would be scouring the school field for feathers or watching the birdlife nearby – I particularly remember collecting up Starling and Pheasant feathers. Close to the school building a row of cherry plum trees was home to numerous Greenfinches. I didn’t see the finches very often, but I did find their moulted feathers in the leaf litter below – their brightly coloured yellow wing feathers fascinated me. I loved trying to match them up in the order they would be found in the wing itself. I would pick up primary, secondary and tail feathers from male and female finches, keep them safe, and later set them out on cotton wool (Fig. a). I did the same with Mallard, Starling and Black-headed Gull feathers, and gradually built up a large feather collection during my teenage years. In 1992, I remember the excitement of visiting my secondary school for the first time and finding Lapwing feathers on the school field. These were a new feather species for me, and I realised Lapwings were using the field to rest and moult in the summer. I kept the feathers in my rucksack and took them home to add to my collection.
Throughout our lives, mentors can be important and indeed pivotal in how we decide to shape and evolve our careers, hobbies and relationships. I was very fortunate to have teachers (Mrs Sharman, Mrs Brewis and Miss Wood) and peers who encouraged and supported my love of birds. Two people in particular, John Tully and Nick Dixon, have supported my Peregrine studies during my time in Bristol. John sadly passed away in 2012, but during the 14 years I knew him he was a great role model and someone who gave me the opportunity to take on the wonderful work he had been doing on Peregrines. It was back during a very rainy October 1998 that John took me to Broadmead in Bristol and introduced me to the Peregrines that were using a tall office tower block. That day I remember we found the half-eaten corpse of a Lapwing, various parts of Redwings and Fieldfares, the legs and wings of Golden Plovers, and much more – all the prey of the Peregrines. I laid them out in my student hall bedroom to study and photograph (Fig. b). John regularly met with me and took me up the University of Bristol’s Wills Memorial Building where we checked all the nooks and crannies for prey remains – the best we found was the ring from a Black-headed Gull which had originally flown here from Lithuania. Previously John had also found rings from Dunlin. Without John, I would never have got into Peregrines in quite the same way. I also helped out with the Bristol Ornithological Club’s Peregrine Watch which John helped oversee, keeping an eye on the pair nesting in the Avon Gorge.
Not long after I began realising the potential of studying Peregrines I remember phoning Nick Dixon from a student house I was living in on the steep hill of Constitution Hill in Bristol. Nick was rather cautious of me at first – a young student suddenly taking an interest in the diet of Peregrines. Fortunately I met with Nick the following spring in Exeter and we had a stroke of luck. The Peregrines there had just eaten something very exciting – a Roseate Tern. This particular tern had a silver identification ring on its leg. It had been ringed as a chick in a nest on the island of Rockabill near Dublin three years earlier. That December I visited Nick and his family on the edge of Dartmoor, and we went through various skulls and feathers from a gutter clearance of a church in Exeter – the remains included the skull of a Noctule Bat. Thirteen years later, I continue to help identify the prey of the Peregrines Nick studies in Exeter, and we have written various papers together. Nick also keeps tabs on all the urban and industrial Peregrines around the UK, and was involved with research on the impact of Peregrines on racing pigeons in the late 1990s. By working with Nick, we have been able to shed light on the nocturnal habits of Peregrines and liaise with others in the UK, Europe and the USA to amalgamate further evidence of night hunting. Nick Brown and Nick Moyes, who run a Peregrine project in Derby in England, have also provided support and evidence in the form of video footage of the Peregrines bringing prey back at night. The Derby Peregrines have become popular all around the world and the city even has a pub and a hotel named after the falcons.
In 1999 I received a small grant from the Millennium Awards, given by the Heritage Lottery Fund. With support from Chris Sperring (Hawk and Owl Trust) and Stephen Woollard, who supported this and other projects out of Bristol Zoo Gardens, I was able to really kick-start my work on Peregrines and take the project into schools and local communities. It was thanks to this award that I was able to take my research on Peregrines to a new level.
In 2007 I visited Poland to attend the 2nd International Peregrine Conference. This was a brilliant opportunity to meet other like-minded people working on Peregrines all across Europe and in other parts of the world too. From this conference a book, Peregrine Falcon Populations by Janusz Sielicki and Tadeusz Mizera, was produced, the most comprehensive amalgamation of papers and science about Peregrines in the twenty-first century. The conference also gave me a chance to network, publish more of my work, and discover more about Peregrines, particularly those living in urban areas.
The Peregrine world is now a very different place compared to when I first came to Bristol as a student in 1998. If I were coming to Bristol in 2014 I would be arriving in a city (and country) with many more Peregrines, and people studying them, than 16 years previously. Since I began studying Peregrines in 1998, there has been an incredible rise not just in the number of Peregrines using towns and cities across the UK, but also in the number of people watching and enjoying the falcons, and in those actively showing people Peregrines via nest boxes, web cameras and ringing chicks.
Why write a book about urban Peregrines?
In the late 1990s, a Peregrine in a town or city was a rare sight and there were just a few people watching or studying them, such as Nick Dixon in Exeter, Graham Roberts in Chichester and Brighton, John Tully (and later myself) in Bristol and Dave Morrison in London. Coming from the south of England, the only Peregrines I hoped to see were those wintering on the Kent and Sussex coastlines. When I came to study at the University of Bristol, I was both amazed and excited to learn that Peregrines were living in the city centre. Since then, Peregrines have become common all across southern England and while there have been declines across north and west Scotland, north Wales, parts of northern England and Northern Ireland, there are more Peregrines in cities and towns than ever before. As the species recovers across Europe and other parts of the world, it has continued to inhabit tall tower blocks and cathedral-type buildings in urban areas.
As Peregrines have become more widespread over the past 15 to 20 years, the wealth of information we have about them has also increased. But up until now, there has been nothing that specifically deals with urban Peregrines.
With new technologies and better accessibility, urban Peregrines have enabled us to glimpse more into their lives – it is a far cry from walking miles in open, rocky country to monitor a nest, although gleaning information from rural Peregrines is just as vital. Studying Peregrines in cities has enabled us to discover new details about their lives, including what they eat, when they hunt, and how they behave.
Throughout this book, I will be exploring the increasing use of urban areas by Peregrines, and what we are learning about their behaviour and lifestyles.
The book provides an in-depth view into what to expect from urban Peregrines, mainly in the UK but also in other parts of the world. It explores how to study them, interesting and unusual behaviours, and a perspective on the bigger picture, looking at how Peregrines will fare in a complex future with increasing urbanisation and proximity to people. It is also a chance to discover where to look for them and how to spot one of these magnificent raptors in a town or city.
Ed Drewitt