With all our other peregrine nests busy celebrating the arrival of chicks, things have gone a bit quiet from the Cardiff peregrines, so I decided to find out why.
Sarah Lewis, our lady at the Clock Tower, told me more:
The start of May was a depressing time for us Date with Nature staff working on the Peregrines on the Clock Tower project in Cardiff city centre.
After a normal morning on Sunday 3 May, at about 3.30 pm the birds suddenly became very agitated and active around the Clock Tower. At first, we thought their excitement was due to the eggs hatching. This turned out not to be the case.
The birds could be seen perched at the top of the tower, leaving the nest completely unattended. Later that evening, one of the adults was seen forlornly circling the tower, occasionally landing at the eyrie (but not sitting) and looking generally lost - the eggs had failed and the peregrines had abandoned the nest.
A new day....
Tuesday 5 May was another day of interesting behaviour with the birds spending a lot of time on or around a new (old raven’s!) nest on the east facing clock face.
It is unusual, but not unheard of, for peregrines to lay a second clutch of eggs after sitting for the full incubation period. And when it does happen it tends to occur only in city nesting peregrines, reflecting the greater availability of food in cities later in the year.
It is now middle of May and there is no sign of a second clutch. However, they continue to show the ‘lovey-dovey’ bonding behaviour more commonly seen before laying in February and March, so we live in hope.
We do have some good news - our fantastic new camera is up and running and even has its own windscreen wiper, giving people fantastic views of the pair.
So, get yourself down to the National Museum Wales - there is still plenty to see.