Peregrine play over Tisbury

Male peregrine (Toronto) by Mykola Swarnyk, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

I was woken by the distinctive cry of a Peregrine above the garden and sprang up to watch it repeatedly stooping on a crow, which seemed to be enjoying the fun rather than making any real efforts to get away. 

A new species for my "from the bedroom window" list and the first time I have seen one actually over Tisbury (usually up on one of the local ridges) so it confirms the entry in the bird list that I’m working on for this website.  I gather that the cathedral breeders scout out a considerable distance from the tower or it may have been a roving winterer. I am ignorant of the extent of quarrying still going on at Chicksgrove, so I am wondering if there is scope for them to nest in there undisturbed?

[editor: no Tisbury photo available yet!]

Andrew Graham

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