photospotperegrines

Photographing Manchester's peregrine falcons has been something of an obsession for me. Without doubt I have witnessed some fantastic sights watching these fantastic birds but as a photographer my main enemy has been their distance and poor quality of light. In April 05 I went up the clock tower of Manchester Town Hall to investigate nesting kestrels. I was gob smacked when this peregrine falcon flew towards me. It flew around the tower and I made my exit so as not to put the bird off coming into land which it did, just a few feet above me. My instinct though was to take a few shots whilst I was making my way out. I knew my camera was not exposed for the bird so I just had to hope for the best. I caught the bird full frame and with a bit of brightening up in Photoshop I was amazed at the detail retained. At Manchester City Council's Bio-Diversity Campaign launch held at Manchester Museum someone showed the image to Chris Packham. His comments on the shot left me speechless. I was incredibly honoured to receive such praise from Chris who is an outstanding bird photographer and a judge with an international reputation. Many may have seen the image with a digitally enhanced background. This is 'real shot' and makes a beautiful pin sharp print.

Below: I had only recently purchased my camera and lenses and in early 2005 the peregrines had been very active around City Tower. I brought my gear into work each day hoping to get the peregrines and I was fortunate one evening to capture them going through their breeding ritual. The pictures made it to the national press. The quality of the images were rubbish but I was glad to capture something rarely caught on film....and a first for Manchester! The birds were also filmed by the BBC mating on the town hall tower. The camera-man had come to film the kestrels. I was invited up onto the roof when I indicated he had caught something a little better...so the news went out that night. The BBC have remained interested in our birds ever since.

Below: The Town Hall kestrels have been breeding successfully for many years but there has never been a photographic record of them. I obtained permission to go up the town hall clock tower and investigate the nesting site and photograph the birds , if I could. from a winding staircase I came across a tiny broken window and saw a male kestrel on the boiler room chimney. I jammed my 400mm lens to the glass hole and took the shot and several others. The distortion created by the heat coming out of the chimney makes for an unusual image which is one of my favourites. The image and a few more were used by London architects for an exhibition in Luxemburg promoting the design of buildings which are bird friendly, they also used some of my peregrine shots and many images were translated into silhouettes for wall coverings featuring raptors. Sadly the kestrels moved on owing to the peregrines.

Below: Sadly the nest site at City tower was waterlogged and breeding failed and the peregrines abandoned their nest site. However they remained in the city but moved around a lot. The town hall was a favourite roost site and in early 2006 I tried to persuade the powers that be at the town hall to allow a nest tray to go up. The problem was that the town hall is a grade 1 listed building. I asked Colin Brookes from 'Skyline (steeplejacks) if he could make a tray and he did ...and what a great piece of work too. The Town Hall was forward thinking enough to provide a home for our birds but the formal permissions needed sorting out. I had also found out that the birds liked to perch up near the cathedral and saw a ledge which I thought would be suitable for them I contacted Judith Smith and she agreed that the site may be just perfect. Judith and I sought advice from other peregrine experts. I contacted some people in Canada and the United States and Judith contacted British experts . Everything looked good. I made the initial approach to the building owners who were accommodating and I contacted Colin Brookes of skyline and requested he make a tray...which he did. Judith organised everything else and the birds took to the tray as soon as it was installed. The birds had now found a new home!

Manchester City Council sorted out the permissions for a new nest tray but sadly despite their efforts and enthusiasm the birds took to the other site. The picture below shows one of the peregrines flying over the River Irwell near the nest site.

Below: On the 4th May2006 Judith and I obtained permission to go onto the roof of a nearby building to see how the birds were doing. Success! 4 chicks!!! we were delighted and could not wait to see how things would turn out.

The picture below shows the two adult birds in 2006 and if you look closely you will see they are both ringed. This is interesting since the male bird this year (2007) is not ringed.

Below: In mid June I managed to capture the maiden flight of the last peregrine to fledge. After a lot of coaxing from the parent bird it took to the sky. It had been running along the ledge all morning flapping and making short flights but never coming off the ledge. Finally it bit the bullet and several other members of the public and birders watched the fledging bird catch a thermal (we all cheered!) and it shot up high not knowing what was happening while daddy circled around making a lot of noise. The bird flew in circles and descended after longer than I would have expected and was completely disorientated. It crashed into a building. It survived the crash and learned its first lesson. It was wonderful to watch it get back with its siblings again.

The picture below is of the male parent (I believe) watching over the fledged birds (2006) flying below