University of Leeds Peregrines

Peregrines have been nesting intermittently on the Parkinson Tower since 2018. In that time, ten chicks have successfully hatched. We typically see most activity around the tray from around February / March onwards. Eggs are usually laid around the end of March, although can be later – you can see more detail on when eggs have been laid in previous years by using the dropdown menus below the camera feeds.

The Sustainability Service share updates on peregrine activity on our social feeds so be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, and you can also sign up to our newsletter. To find out more about our campus biodiversity monitoring programmes or for any queries about the cameras, please email sustainability@leeds.ac.uk.

If you want to know more about peregrines read our blog post written by Paul Wheatley. Paul is a local birder, University of Leeds graduate and volunteer Ranger for the RSPB. Check out his Twitter account: @LeedsBirder.

Please note: only one camera stream can be viewed at a time.

Camera 1:

Leeds Peregrines History

2022

Four eggs were laid in 2022, on 19^th, 21^st and 26^th March. A bleached (light coloured) egg from last year’s failed hatching was also noted on the ledge. Incubation began on 24^th March and hatching began on 27^th April.

The first chick hatched on the morning of Friday 29^th April. Three chicks hatched in total, with the fourth egg failing to hatch.

The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust came to ring the chicks on 17^th May, detail as follows:

Metal ring GY08739, colour ring TFS (black on orange). Weight 700g (thus likely female) – Fledged on 11^th June
Metal ring GY08740, colour ring TJS. Weight 600g – Fledged on 7^th June
Metal ring GY08741, no colour ring. Weight 525g (thus likely male) – Fledged on 9^th June

Update – December 2022 – TJS above was found dead in Boroughbridge, cause unknown.

2021

Due to on the ongoing restrictions again only limited monitoring was possible in the build up to egg laying.

Three eggs were laid on 23^rd, 25^th and 28^th March, with expected hatching 34-35 days after the third egg being laid. All three eggs failed to hatch, possibly due to the cold weather in April and a first time breeding falcon, with Huddersfield (1), Nottingham (1) and Sheffield (2) also saw a lower number of successful hatchings and fledgings.

2020

Due to the Covid-19 lockdown during March only limited monitoring of peregrine behaviour around the Parkinson Tower was possible as the breeding season progressed. No eggs were laid during end March/early April and it was not until May that a new female (falcon) was seen on the nest tray, identified by rings on legs.

Unfortunately due to damage to the plastic Darvic ring the code was unreadable and her identity was initially unknown. Leedsbirder finally managed to phonescope and read the darvic in 2021 and identify her as 7.H who was ringed at the nest by West Midlands Ringing Group in Stoke 2017.

2019

Laying was a bit earlier than 2018, with four eggs being laid in March. All four had successfully hatched by the end of April.

In May, the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust came to ring the chicks.  The rings were black text on an orange background. Detail as follows:

TCD – weight 725g
TAD – weight 675g
TBD – weight 525g
T7C – weight 700g

2018

The new tray and camera were successfully installed early in the year. In mid-April, the pair were seen on the tray and were mating.  Not long after, they were seen on the camera making a scrape and in early May we had our first eggs!  Three eggs were laid in total and all hatched in June.

At the end of June, the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust came to campus to ring the chicks. The rings were black text on an orange background.  Detail as follows:

TAC, weight 550g
T7B , weight 700g
TBC, weight 565g

DNA Analysis 2019 / 2020

Thanks to a member of the public the remains of a juvenile peregrine wing were found on the Parkinson steps in Jul 2019.

Following the failure of breeding in 2020 various moulted feathers were collected and sent with the partial juvenile wing to Sheffield university for DNA analysis by Deborah Dawson from The NERC Environmental Omics Visitor Facility and kindly analysed by Lucy Knowles.

A suitable feather from each sample was analysed. All three sexing markers and 22 out of 23 microsat markers were identified.

Both feathers were sexed as male sharing a lot of alleles. From the results it looks like that sadly one of the young males from 2019 (the two other young being one female and one male) did not survive long after fledging.

Want to get involved?

Our biodiversity work is an ongoing process and we are keen for people to get involved in order to share their ideas and help shape how we support biodiversity on campus.

There are lots of ways to become part of the biodiversity community, including:

Joining our biodiversity monitoring programme on campus and at Bodington Fields
Monitoring and recording our campus wildlife, including birds, mammals, pollinators, and bats
Signing up to our annual BIG Campus Birdwatch
Getting involved in the Sustainable Garden activities
Keeping an eye on our Peregrines via our webcam in the spring.

If you’d like to find out more about any of these activities, get in touch by emailing: biodiversity@leeds.ac.uk.