9th June - Romsey Abbey, Romsey, Hampshire

Overcast conditions were not conducive to butterfly searching so I decided to return to Romsey and the Peregrines that were nesting on the Abbey in the centre of the town.  As I walked around the Abbey I could see a Peregrine siting on the roof of the abbey.

Blood on the beast and belly feathers meant that this was probably the female.  A definitive identification would be to see if there were any rings, the male being ringed the female not.  However you couldn't see the legs at the moment.

Things were quiet for about half an hour, of interest was this partial leucistic Blackbird.

The female then moved to the cross that is above the gutter area where the chicks are.  Every so often you could hear the chicks calling.

At first we thought there was maybe a kill being held, but on a closer look it was clear that it was one of the legs curled up while the falcon stood on one leg.

Then with  out warning the Peregrine flew off, heading north, but seemed to be chasing something over the cottages, as the peregrine came back I picked up a Hobby flying off towards Fishlake.  The Peregrine then made its way back to the Abbey roof.

I then turned my attention to the other speed master of the air, the Swift, there were at least four flying around the abbey.

As well as the swifts there were also a few House Martins around the trees.  Other birds seen were Buzzard and Red Kite, while a Little Egret flying over seemed a little out of place.  Another raptor, a Sparrowhawk was chased away by a pair of crows.

Back to the Peregrines, this was the female on the roof.

With plenty of wing stretching.

The female flew off and the male appeared, flying on to the main tower, and looked down on me with those big black eyes.

And confirmation that this was the male bird came when it stretched out its leg to show the ring.

Continuing to watch the abbey roof.

I had arrived a little before 10:00am but others had been present since 8:00am and no food had been brought in for the chicks, so we were expecting some action soon.  When one bird went off we would see it circling high above the abbey.  The female then flew in to the area close to the nest site.

She didn't stay long and showed some great views as she took to the air.

My favourite shot of the day, showing the power and size of the bird.

Still no food being delivered, both birds away from the abbey, but always returning after a short while.

The male came in a settled on the weather vance, but then was evicted by the female who barged into her mate to move him off.

Flying out over our heads.

My time was up, so I left the Peregrines with both birds sitting on the abbey, the male on the roof and the female on the weather vane.  I will be coming back, the chicks will soon be looking to fledge and hopefully there will be some better light, which might mean an earlier start.