10.12 Incubation change over the tiercel takes over from the falcon to give her some nest relief. The falcon lands on the South face of the church just in view from the watchpoint.
10.30 Another incubation change over the male flies out and lands on the NE pinnacle.
10.37 The male flies to the back of the spire out of view from the watchpoint.
10.45 A female sparrowhawk flushes a group of pigeons and in the chase flied off to the South.
10.46 Male on NW pinnacle.
10.50 The male flies around and takes some prey (red shank) from the cache on the SE corner of the church above the drainpipe and flies off with it. He lands on the S ledge of the church and feeds.
11:00 With a full crop and resting one leg the male perches on the NE pinnacle.
11:27 Male flew SE at speed in hunting flight. He returned empty taloned and landed out of view from the watchpoint on the W side of the church.
11:48 The male landed on the NE pinnacle.
12. 26 The male chases a gull and then returns to the tower.
12.50 As I prepare to start my shift the Falcon (female) is sitting on the eggs, facing south-east, dozing in the sunshine.
12.54 She peers around and a gentle clucking can be heard from the Tiercel. Seconds later his shadow can be seen on the back of the box and he flies in. After a bit of squawking the two birds change place.
He does his usual quick bob before sitting on the eggs.
12.55 He fidgets about and bobs some more before sitting back down to brood the three eggs, facing into the back of the box. The falcon sits on the handrail inside the tower.
12.56 Still not completely settled he wriggles around and scrapes with his talons to enlarge the scrape before he finally seems satisfied, facing more or less east
13.00 The clock strikes one and a lot of gulls can be heard calling in the background. The Tiercel sits tight.
13.05 He is dozing on the nest.
13.21 The Tiercel is looking more alert.
13.26 He looks around but spoon begins to relax again and his eyes fall shut.
13.30 The bong from the church clock goes unnoticed.
13.39 He pecks at the gravel.
13.46 He has another peck at the gravel and stands to rearrange the eggs, bobbing and then turning them with his beak before appearing to move them with his feet as he settles back on to them.
13.47 He is ensconced facing east.
13.48 The Falcon can be heard chirping and the TIercel is alert.
14.00 The clock strikes two.
14.01 The Tiercel is briefly alert.
14.04 He is looking around intently.
14.08 He can obviously tell the difference between a car alarm and a Peregrine, as he is completely unaffected by the car alarm going off in the street below.
14.18 He looks skywards.
14.30 The church clock bongs and the Tiercel chirrups quietly.
14.32 It's gravel-pecking time, followed by repositioning on the eggs, with much shuffling and bobbing.
14.33 He has turned to face west now, and settles to doze.
14.56 He is awake and looks around a couple of time
15.00 The clock strikes three. He is quite alert, looking round curiously.
15.02 He rises and pushes the eggs back under him.
15.04 The Falcon is calling loudly close by. The Tiercel responds with little peeps and chirps.
15.05 She calls again.
15.07 Her calls become much more distant.
15.08 Things seem to have calmed down again and the Tiercel dozes off while brooding the clutch of eggs.
Thank you to todays blog volunteer- Val and watchpoint volunteers- Brendon, Zoe, Bev, Jane and Richard C.
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