2007 peregrine diary

 

Monday 27th August

The peregrine wild watch centre has closed for the season.  Many thanks to all our volunteers and visitors - and of course our peregrine falcons!  See you next year.

Wednesday 15th August

Gone, Gone, Gone...

The juveniles are now up and away, however, both adult peregrines were observed on Monday displaying to each other in the quarry.

The birds were 'chucking' or 'churping' to each other, then the male paid a visit to the scrape before preening beside the female on tree stumps at top of the quarry.

Our red squirrels still visit daily, playfully knocking bird feeders off the trees and chasing each other around the viewing cabin.

But the story doesn't end!

A spare adult female has appeared today causing problems.  Our resident female has been chasing her off, giving the intruder a beating, however, the intruder is still hanging around.  It's wonderful observing all three adult peregrines in the quarry.

Please note the peregrine watch centre will close for the season on 26th August.

Monday 6th August

Huntly Treefest, Cooper Park, Huntly.  Sunday 19th August 11am to 3.30 pm.

Wood, what is it good for?  Come and find out!  Join in on games, crafts and activities for all ages.  Have your say about the woods of Huntly and meet your local rangers.  Joint event with Forestry Commission Scotland, Aberdeenshire Council Ranger Service & Marr Area Partnership.

For more details contact Aberdeenshire Forest District on 01466 794161.

Monday 30th July

Have a bit of fun with our wildlife word search (PDF 41k) - try to find as many birds from the list as you can!

Wednesday 25th July

Surprise surprise - great news!  No, it isn't that the sun appeared for most of the afternoon yesterday but on last Friday afternoon,  two young barn owls appeared in the quarry for the first time.  They were observed popping out from behind rocks on the quarry face and scrambling along the cracks, wings flapping,heads bobbing.

Although an adult has been seen regularly in the quarry for the past two years this is the first sign of young.

Our young peregrine falcons are still sheltering and feeding within the quarry. There are many arial displays above the quarry hide of food passing between the adults and juveniles.

Red squirrels continue to feed daily outside the quarry hide, thundering across the hide roof and chasing each other up and down trees and along branches. There are often four at a time at the feeders.  They are certainly not shy and enjoying displaying to our visitors.

Monday 16th July

"Summertime and the livin’ is easy" isn’t that how the song goes…..

Whoever wrote that certainly didn’t predict that we would be having a summer like this. What a miserable, wet, drizzly, dreich, damp, ………… (insert your own description) June and July we are having.

Here at the Huntly Peregrine Wildwatch Centre, our juvenile falcons are well and truly fledged, but are still hanging around in the quarry for the most part, usually hiding under overhangs trying to stay dry.

The adult male has never been a wet weather flyer, and there is not a sorrier sight on site as him all fluffed up, eyes shut, trying desperately to become a part of the quarry face!

When we are getting dry spells it is captivating to watch the young falcons playing. Stooping, mock fights, and snatching food from one another in flight, all fun and games for now but very important for their survival in the future.

The Red Squirrel family is doing great. The top hide is still giving the best views of these little rogues, lots of playing, leaping from precarious twig to twig, and high speed chases up and down trees, but stopping to pose for photos in front of the visitors. The extended family means that they are now visiting the cabin at the bottom of the hill to steal more peanuts and fat balls.

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Monday 2nd July

Even the rain cannot stop the Peregrine falcons daily displaying in the quarry. Juveniles are observed hounding adults off their sheltering spots within the quarry.  As soon as the rains stops they are seen playfully in pursuit of and escaping each other around and above the quarry. Stooping/diving in front of the hide. A juvenile Peregrine falcon was recorded consuming a bat!!! Question.....Where did they find the bat?

Sad News

Unfortunately both of our osprey chicks (2 weeks old) have died due to the persistent rain and colder weather. Although the female has been seen regularly at the nest site little has been seen of the male.

Shy young squirrels have been sighted daily at the feeding station by the hide. However the adults are still running(jumping) away with our fat balls.

Thursday 14th June

Following the smallest male juvenile making his maiden flight from eyrie to a post last Friday, the second juvenile decided to fledge a few days later on the Saturday. And on Monday 11th, the last chick - the female - took flight. At last all three are in the air. How fast they have grown! 

Although they are often apart, the three juveniles are often seen interacting playfully around the quarry.

Newsflash from the osprey nest:

Our osprey chicks have hatched and there are now two young birds in the nest.

Friday 8th June

The male chick fledged yesterday, taking a maiden flight of around 30 feet.  He flew from the scrape to what we refer to as the 'cubby hole' and then back again.  His mother reacted to the flight - she was clearly cheering him on!  Neither of the other two chicks have fledged yet but we expect them to very soon.

Monday 4th June

All 3 chicks are active and developing before our eyes.  We are expecting them to fledge this week.  They are regularly observed moving around the whole ledge, with both adults bringing in food for them.

Our ospreys are still incubating two eggs and we are looking forward to them hatching in the near future.

Meanwhile, the red squirrels continue to captivate visitors at the feeding station.

Wednesday 23rd May

Yesterday the chicks were rung with conventional and electronic tags.  They were sexed,weighed and measured by licensed FC employees. We have two males and one female.

After the ringing, the adult female returned to the eyrie within 40 mins.  The adult male was observed on a post nearby within 10 mins.

Monday 21st May

The chicks are now active and inquisitive and are mobile around the scrape, trying to steal food from the adults.  At the moment the adult female is doing most of feeding.

The ospreys are still incubating their two eggs, and the daily visits from red squirrels continue at the feeding station.

Monday 14th May

All three chicks are doing very well.  They have started to become active and are exploring the scrape.  Blue quills are starting to show on their primary and tail feathers, and the parent falcons are leaving them for longer periods.

We've also got an osprey camera up and running at the centre and should have images from it online before too long. A second osprey egg was laid around 7/8th May.  Both the adult ospreys are incubating the eggs.

There's now a variety of juvenile birds appearing on site, including siskins, chaffinches and robins. Red Squirrels are still appearing every day to feed outside the quarry hide at the feeding station.

Tuesday 8th May

The chicks are now 6 - 7days old. All are doing very well. They are fed approximately  8 - 10 times a day, usually by the female, however, the male peregrine does like his turn.

The male often brings food to the right corner of eyrie where the female greets him and turns back to feed the white, downy chicks small pieces of meat.

We nearly lost the adult male on Saturday as he was brooding.  A strong gust of wind caught him under the tail and lifted him up off the chicks.

Our osprey laid her first egg on the 4th of May.  Unfortunately, due to problems with recording we are unable to determine if there are more eggs. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

We still have daily visits from our red squirrels. Both enjoy stealing fat balls from the top feeding station and by the bottom car park.

Wednesday 2nd May

Hooray - At last.... the 3rd egg has hatched. First sighting around 8.30 am. All are fed regularly by both parents and appear to grow before our eyes.

Tuesday  1st May

Hatching - two chicks. At last the waiting is over. Two bundles of white down were visible early morning. Both have been fed regularly by both parents. We are all waiting patiently for 3rd chick.

No sign of osprey eggs, and the red squirrels are as playful as ever.

Sunday 29th April

Of late the weather has been exceptionally warm with frosty mornings.

Subtle behaviour changes are being seen in both Peregrine falcons and we are all patiently awaiting the arrival of chicks. Both Adult Peregrines are incubating with the female doing the night shift.

Red squirrels are feeding daily at top hide feeding station. Little thieves observed going off with fat balls and the whole feeder.

Our new Osprey Cam is proving a great success as we have observed 4 individual Ospreys attending the nest site. Males have been seen bringing in fish and a strange white stuffing material has been brought in to line the nest. Who is missing a horse rug as local chaffinches have also lined their nests with this cosy material?

 Tuesday 10th April

Over the past week, a second female peregrine has been in the quarry, but the resident female has chased her off.  Having dealt with this, both the male and the female are sitting tight, incubating the eggs.  The male continues to bring food for the female at regular intervals.

At the hide, meanwhile, a pair of red squirrels have been turning up every day to feed.

Wednesday 4th April

At the moment, both adult peregrines are incubating the three eggs and the male is regularly bringing in food for the female. 

The visitor centre opened on the 1st April with a toast to the peregrines.  The opening speech was given by John Thomson, the District Manager for Aberdeenshire Forest District.  Many friends old and new, volunteers and staff joined us to celebrate the opening of season 2007.

Friday 30th March

A third egg appeared in the small hours of this morning.

Thursday 29th March

A second brick-red egg was laid on Tuesday 27th March at 1440.  Hopefully there will be more eggs to follow.

Both our female and male peregrine falcons are taking turns sitting on the eggs.  The male is also bringing food regularly to the female. He is often seen plucking then feeding himself first, whilst the female is heard demanding attention in the background.

The weather has been fantastic; although sunny there has been a wee nip in the air and the quarry is alive with woodland birds and mammals. In fact, something is knocking over and helping themselves to bird food from our bins.  Sneaky…

With our fledged wardens from last year returning we eagerly await our opening this Sunday, 1st April.

Tuesday 27th March

The first egg has been laid!  Beautifully brick-red in colour, the egg arrived on Sunday 25th March.

There's lots of wildlife activity on-site just now.  Red squirrels and woodland birds are particularly active.  Why not come along to the Wild Watch centre, opening on 1st April, to see what's going on for yourself?

So far in 2007...

Our resident male and 2006 female have regularly been observed using the quarry over the winter.  They are often seen feeding, roosting in favoured spots and sheltering from the elements.

Will she breed a second year ? They are supposed to pair for life.  Watch this space, or visit Huntly Peregrine Wild Watch centre for up-to-date news and live viewing.