29 May 2024
The new Peregrine falcon chicks at St Albans Cathedral were ringed on Bank Holiday Monday, the attachment of an individually numbered identification tag which also revealed there were two females and one male.
The process was carried out by Barry Travis, who explained: “When a Peregrine chick was bred for the first time at St Albans Cathedral in May 2022, as a licensed bird-ringer/nest recorder and holder of a government license to visit the nests of this specially protected species, I ringed the young female bird which was seen to successfully fledge the nest in late June of 2022. We were then delighted to see the Peregrines return to breed again in 2023 and they raised three young, all males, which I ringed on June 1 in that year.
“On Bank Holiday Monday, now with another three chicks in the nest tray, I went with colleagues to the nest and carried out the ringing of them, just three weeks after they had hatched.
“We know from the webcam live-stream that the parents have looked after them well, so when we checked them over we saw that they were all in good condition. We fitted a ring on each of their legs. One is a British Trust for Ornithology metal ring, a bit like a license tag, the other is a larger ring which is coloured orange with black lettering which means we’ll be able to track them in years to come.
“Quite reasonably many people ask why do we need to ring birds? Well, if we don’t put rings on these birds we don’t know much about their origins or their future. We see birds sitting around, they turn up at nests or whatever and we have no idea where they came from, how old they are, who they are. However, those with the colour-rings which can be read from a distance let us know exactly who each bird is. That means we have a much better idea of how long they live, their movements around the UK and even abroad, along with their relationships as sometimes they might not get on and split up or have mishaps, so the ringing gives us a way of tracking the family trees of Peregrines going forward.”
The first-ever Peregrine bred at St Albans Cathedral was ringed on June 9 2022 and given the name ‘Artemis’ by public vote. She flew from the nest in early July and was seen with her parents around the Cathedral a few times during that summer.
She was recently re-sighted flying near the church in the coastal village of Winterton-on-Sea in Norfolk, with another Peregrine on April 14 2024 – 675 days since she was ringed and 106 miles away from St Albans.
Although one can never be sure whether all of the young falcons will make it to the flying stage it is hoped that this latest Cathedral three will fledge from their nest ledge about the end of the third week of June and will be seen around the area for some months to come before finding their own way further afield.
