Blogs

All three peregrine chicks from the clock tower nest on City Hall have successfully taken their first flights, and have been seen soaring over the city centre, practicing their new flying skills.

Even though the chicks are almost as big as their parents, they still have a lot to learn.

Over the next two months, they will continue to use the clock tower nest as a base but will spend more time learning to fly and hunt expertly just like their parents.

See this fantastic bird family for yourself through telescopes and binoculars set up at our viewpoint most days outside City Hall, until the end of August.

As of today there are no black-winged stilts left on site at Neumann's Flash, and our viewpoint is closed.

We will update you if this situation changes.

We are delighted that two peregrine chicks have successfully made their first flights from their nest, high up on Malham Cove.

The parents will now spend the next few months thrilling visitors to our viewpoint as they teach their two hungry youngsters how to hunt.

Kittiwake numbers appear to have shrunk at an important colony found on cliffs just outside Seaford.

Not only is this bad news for the Seaford kittiwakes, but is also another worrying decline in English seabird populations.

Last year around 800 pairs and their chicks left Seaford to spend the winter over the Atlantic, but less have returned. Countless things could have happened out at sea – they could have hit stormy weather, or not found enough food, or it could be something else entirely.

Despite the decline this is still a brilliant colony to watch. You'll get to hear their unusual 'kitti-waaark' call, and see countless chicks nesting on ledges so steep they take your breath away.

These gulls only make contact with land once a year when they visit the cliffs to nest, so now is the time to visit us at our viewpoint.

Two balls of fluff have hatched for the ospreys at Aberfoyle, and from now until the chicks fledge in late summer, you'll be able to catch every intimate detail of their lives.

Images from the nest will be beamed live to the bird of prey viewing room at the David Marshall Lodge for visitors to enjoy.

The chicks are extremely vulnerable at this age, and they've already come under threat from a very determined osprey intruder, probably another female, who was dive-bombing the nest. But mum, Red 6A, managed to drive her away and she's been sitting tight the rest of the time, protecting her chicks from danger.

Dad's also been doing his bit - bringing in plenty of fish.

Visit us at the bird of prey viewing room, or keep up to date with news from the nest with the Aberfoyle ospreys diary.

The moment we've all been waiting for has now arrived at two of our projects - both the Chichester Cathedral and the Manchester peregrines have fledged.

Now is the time to get fantastic views of the Manchester peregrine young as the perch round the square, learn to fly and hunt and start on the road to independence.

The Chichester peregrines can also be seen zooming around the skies right above the cathedral, chasing each other, play fighting in mid-air, making loads of noise and generally wowing the crowds.

With their unexpected move to a new nest this year, we have been forced to turn detective to work out whether the eggs have hatched in the Lakes osprey nest.

On Saturday, the female osprey started sitting much tighter on the nest and has since only occasionally left the nest for ‘comfort breaks’, while on Monday the male increased his food delivery frequency to the nest, bringing four fish in an hour!

Based on this behaviour we are confident that at least one chick has hatched.

The ospreys’ unexpected move has meant that visitors to the viewpoints at Dodd Wood are now getting better views of the birds than ever before. With the male delivering more food to the young, this a great time to visit the osprey viewpoints.