The young "falcon" at 80 days old having a good stretch.
Out at the Peregrine territory yesterday it was good to see the young bird doing well at 80 days old. It fledged the nest ledge 37 days ago but it is still dependant on it's parents. There is a favourite perch where I have photographed adults and youngsters over the last 4 years. Not only Peregrines but Kestrels and Stock Dove as well. When I arrived there yesterday I crept carefully in to the hide positioned nearby and as soon as I was settled I peered through the front and could see that the youngster was perched right there in front of me and oblivious to my presence, this was brilliant of course. I sat and watched for ages and could see how relaxed and healthy it looked. It would have been a shame if I hadn't been able to get a photograph for the record but I desperately didn't want to cause any disturbance whatsoever. I was faced with the problem of getting a lens in position. Very carefully I removed the pipe which I leave protruding from the hide to imitate a lens so that when a lens is protruding nothing looks different at all. Once I got the pipe out I gently poked the lens through but as slowly and quietly as was humanly possible. I waited until the young bird was looking with it's head away just to make sure. The young bird stayed right there still relaxed, unconcerned and obviously unaware of me. It was a big thrill to see the bird through the viewfinder and then get a few pictures for the record. This was obviously a good result because sometimes I can spend several hours without getting the chance of a photograph and here she was without me having the normal wait. The bird stayed right there for at least 40 minutes, imagine how satisfying that was. I had witnessed this bird as an egg, then a newly hatched chick and been there to see it progress until it left the nest ledge after 43 days. To know that it is doing well makes me very happy.
Beautifully, alert and healthy.
After a while proceeded by lots of head bobbing the bird decided to depart, still unaware me and then I caught sight of it zooming around in the strongish wind, obviously now a very adept flyer. Surprisingly a Stock Dove flew in to settle on the perch, obviously not aware that the young peregrine was nearby it stayed on the perch for ages. Stock Dove are a very attractive delicate bird that is rarely photographed here in Devon probably because they are overlooked as much as anything. I have had the chance to photograph Stock Dove twice on the perch, one of my photographs being used in the Devon Bird Atlas recently. This is a male bird because I watched and listened to it calling in typical pigeon fashion.
Stock Dove.
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