It's egg-cellent news as Peregrines return to Salisbury Cathedral!

The live stream is now back up and running

Author: Jack DeeryPublished 12th Mar 2022

Some of Salisbury Cathedral's most popular visitors have made their annual return to the building.

Peregrine Falcons have made some trips to the nest box at the bottom of the spire, ahead of the hatching season.

We can now keep a watchful eye over their movements, as the Cathedral have turned on their live stream cameras once again.

The new peregrine parents

A couple of birds have been seen making the nest their new home.

Last year, four eggs were laid by the resident female, all of them hatching successful.

The first was laid on March 15th last year, so one could appear any day now.

Gary Price, Clerk of Works, who looks after the nestbox and maintains the cameras, said:

“There has been a lot of noise and activity around the Tower and Spire over the last few weeks, and there have been numerous reported sightings. The nest is clearly occupied and, personally, I think we might get an early egg this season.”

To date twenty-three chicks have fledged from the Tower.

The current pair have been visiting the site regularly over winter, and latterly been seen engaging in courtship behaviour such as bowing (when the male ‘bows’ to the female lifting his tail and keeping his head down), ledge display (when the male stands over the nest and bows to the female whilst calling to her) and scraping (when the birds dig out the nestbox gravel with their feet to create a dip).

You can watch the birds by going to the Salisbury Cathedral website.

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