The Tercel today.

I have been back from South Africa for exactly a week now. Its nice to be back in the UK and exciting to know that spring is on the way and with that, the breeding season. I have started observations at my Peregrine site for the fourth year running. (I am a holder of a Schedule 1 license to photograph peregrines at this nest territory.) This year I have deliberately decided to spend time watching and observing before egg laying commences.  I want to record and photograph the entire breeding cycle.  I am putting together an eBook and I need to photograph courtship and nest site selection etc.

My first visit was on Monday and I spent 2 hours 30 minutes sat in the hide that I had prepared before I left for South Africa at the end of January. I have made provision to get into the hide undercover so as not to disturb the peregrines that may be nearby. Peregrines have eyesight that is 18 times more powerful than a human's and it is incredibly difficult to get in to the hide without being seen.  Even though my license allows for disturbance it would be totally alien to the way I conduct myself if I did. In addition, any disturbance, or even if the birds had any idea that I was there would make my visit pointless.  The birds would just leave and sit somewhere else. On Monday I saw both birds and heard them calling but didn't manage to get any photographs. Tuesday was another 2 and a half hour session.  The weather was cold with wintery showers.  From a distance I saw a bird as a dot which got bigger and bigger, it was a peregrine flying at real speed and with real purpose. It flew right past the hide to perch on the rock face.  It was the tercel and it was was totally sheltered from the conditions under an overhang.  Obviously, once the snow and sleet started, it hurried back to a perch that it remembered where it would offer some shelter.  This one piece of behaviour told me a great deal about the intelligence of this bird Remembering, as it did where there was a dry perch, it flew back at great speed to get in to a dry spot.

Wednesday was a total waste of time and I spent 4 hours 30 minutes without sight or sound of a bird which was demoralising and disappointing. Thursday was not too much better but I did hear and see the tercel.  In all the hours that I watched though, I did not see any activity at the nest ledge that they used last year. I didn't go on Friday but today was very successful and from the moment I arrived in to the hide I could see a peregrine.  It was the tercel,  I took a few photos and sat back, pleased that I had a peregrine in front of me after so much watching this week. After an hour it hadn't even moved it's position and was sat in the same place as it was when I arrived.  Then with a clucking contact call, there was the falcon perched just 3 feet from it. This was good because it is the first time this season that I have seen the falcon properly. Quite amazingly both birds sat on the same perches for the next 2 hours hardly moving except to preen.  During that time there was a little bit of interaction between them as well, the falcon bowing and "displaying" to the male.  This was a surprise and interesting because I would have expected the male to display to the female, not the other way around.

So in total I have watched for 15 hours and seen the birds for 3 of them, 20% of my time , so considering that nesting has not quite got underway, that's not too bad.

The Falcon today.