Not quite chocks away but ... Yes the season of peregrine chicks is upon us and soon London's skies will be full of these magnificent creatures swooping and diving and testing their flying skills.
Sadly not all of London's peregrines successfuly bred this year. Eggs were washed out on one nest and vanished from another site, but Scotland Yard's Wildlife Crime Officers are looking into that. The Tate Modern peregrines have hatched their eggs and the pair that roost on the Palace of Westmister have FOUR chicks, which you can see via our webcam. London's peregrines were a week or so later in hatching than last year and later than those on Chichester's cathedral.
I should warn you that it can get a tad gory at mealtimes but this is real nature, not the stuff that comes wrapped in sugar-pink tissue paper, sitting on a satin cushion.
I've had several conversations with people this week about swifts. Many have arrived back in London, but those that have danced over the rooftops of my east end street for the past few years are still missing. It's a worrying time as bad weather and a lack of food between here and their wintering grounds in Africa have been taking a toll; anecdotally. Swifts need nooks and crannies in buildings to lay their eggs and breed and that's what they do when they migrate back here each year. Do look at our swift survey pages if you want to help swifts survive futre years. The info you send us will help direct where we focus our conservation efforts... that's why it's important to find out where swifts aren't as well as where they are.. that sounds like a Donald Rumsfeld quote.
On a wider theme, the conflict between draught-proofing your home to reduce heat loss (linked to energy use) and caring for wildlife throws up a unique conflict. It's not just swifts. House sparrows too like to nest in the gaps in the structure of our homes. The good news is that you can do something about climate change and save wildlife too. If you know where a nest hole is, you can build an internal box around the entrance. If the hole can't be left open, you can install a swift or a sparow box as close to the original nest site as possible. Cavity wall insulation is generally OK as birds don't normally penetrate that deep into house strructures. There's always an exception to the rule though.. so check before carying out any work. There's another thing you can do for wildlife from the comfort of your chair and it won't cost a thing, sign our Letter to the Future.. better still join us to ensure there's cash to save our dwindling global species.
Right now you can see noisy marsh frogs, watervoles and a variety of birds at Rainham Marshes and our Rye Meads reserve offers breathtaking views of kingfishers, flitting back and forth to their nest to feed their chicks. We'll have stands at both the BBC's Wild Day Out at Alexandra Palace Gardens and Camden Green Fair coming up over the weekend of the 5 and 6 June.