Daily delights of new falcon family
A photographer has been following the progress of peregrines – from ‘helpless chicks to ultimate predators’
THE PEREGRINE falcons nesting on the cliffs above Scarborough are as much a draw for some visitors as the town’s long sandy beaches and historic castle.
Breeding season is a particularly exciting time with people eager to see if any young appear on the cliff face at Marine Drive.
This year the unexpected arrival of lockdown has meant wildlife photographer and Scarborough resident Steve Race has been able to document their progress daily and share it with bird watchers through social media.
Mr Race, a director at Yorkshire Coast Nature, said it has been a wonderful experience.
“I was born and bred here so I know the wildlife like the back of my hand. I have been photographing the peregrines for many years and this year lockdown has meant I have the time to go down every day over the past three weeks and show their progress.”
Peregrines lay their eggs around the end of April, beginning of May.
Mr Race said you can tell when there is a nest as the female disappears from sight, eventually reappearing to gather food.
“That is how I knew they were there but they are so small and difficult to see I wasn’t sure how many there were,” he said.
“I saw two and thought there might be a third.
“There was, just a few days behind the others. It was great to see them.”
Outside lockdown, Mr Race leads wildlife photography workshops and nature tours. He said birds of prey seem to fascinate everybody and the peregrine falcon, as the fastest animal on earth, is astonishing.
“It hunts on the wing and when it is catching its prey, it flies up high using a thermal then drops like a stone, hitting its target and killing it straight away.”
He said when the falcon is in the plunge – known as a stoupe
– it can reach 200mph. His ongoing documentary is showing how the adults teach their young how to hunt.
“Instead of delivering food, the adults are now making the youngsters chase them off the cliffs and try to take the food from them. “They don’t know how to hunt and kill yet but the youngsters are practising chasing small birds and in the next couple of weeks they will have learnt how to hunt properly.”
The peregrine falcons nest in and amongst a colony of kittiwakes and Steve said although they rarely eat the sea birds they have been known to use them as teaching aids.
“They often catch the kittiwakes in mid air and drag them along by the legs then let them go.”
He said one of the most fascinating things about being able to document the youngsters on a daily basis has been how much they change in such as short space of time.
“They change day by day and it is incredible in four weeks they go from being helpless chicks to the ultimate predator.”
In the next two weeks they’ll have learnt how to hunt properly.
Steve Race, wildlife photographer and Scarborough resident.