On Saturday 30th June, I spent about 5 hours in Margravine Cemetery, just opposite Charing Cross Hospital, trying to get photographs of the peregrine falcons that nest there. The two adults hatched three chicks about a month ago. One of these flew away, never to be seen again (at such a young age, it will have undoubtedly met an unfortunate demise).
From the photographer's point of view, it is very hard to get good pictures of peregrines. They are invariably high up in inaccessible places, which is a challenge for most lenses (at least the ones I can afford), or moving very quickly. These particular peregrines nest on the side of the building that does not face the sun, so are in relative darkness a lot of the time. This isn't a great picture, but is one of the better ones I managed to get.
Great shot David - falcons have nested atop that builiding a long time - I remember seeing them flying around over 20 years ago when I worked in the Psychiatry Department at Charing Cross Hospital - possibly these parents are the off-spring of those I saw then?
ReplyDelete5 hours in the cemetry! Used to lunch there with the dead whenever there was a sunny afternoon - they were quite pleasant company
Thanks Keith - I don't know the history of these peregrines. However, the male of the pair is new - he ousted the previous male a few months ago. There is now a nesting box for the peregrines on top of the hospital, to protect eggs/chicks from bad weather, and there are webcams set up. If you check out the Wildlife Whisperer website you can watch the birds in real time, or watch previous clips. Flickr also has a bunch of pictures under the name FaBPeregrines (FaB = Fulham and Barnes).
ReplyDelete