Did you know Peregrine Falcons have been nesting on the University of Leeds Parkinson Tower since 2018 and you can watch them online, 24/7? We discover more as this year’s new arrivals are about to fly the nest.
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00:00 One day I was just walking back down to the station going home, heard Peregrine call.
00:05 Looked up, Peregrine, and flew straight down Woodhouse Lane. So that was my first sighting.
00:10 With a passion for Peregrine falcons and other feathered friends, analytical technician Leslie
00:15 Arkless from the University of Leeds has been monitoring the birds for several years as
00:19 they've come to call the Parkinson building home. This year's new arrivals are about to
00:24 fledge and you can watch the birdies 24/7 on the Leeds University Sustainability Service site.
00:30 They've built up a flock of followers online.
00:32 Once an egg's laid, massive interest. And then once an egg, one of the first egg hatches.
00:37 There's a massive interest from everywhere in just trying to watch what's happening to
00:43 the point where it crashes the system. Peregrine's the fastest animal in the world, probably doing
00:47 about 180 miles an hour. Parkinson Tower, it's a really tall structure and it's also
00:52 on top of a hill. I can see why they take it. It just looks like they're perfect. They
00:56 can see whatever's happening, they're coming around from anywhere.
00:59 Falcons hatched at the University of Leeds are ringed to help track and identify them
01:04 in the future. They're protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, but they
01:08 still face persecution. And Leslie and the team are keen to raise awareness of the birds'
01:13 plight while working alongside nature to manage the campus.
01:17 The generally fledged start starting about 35, 36 days. For the males, they're a bit
01:23 smaller, so they fly a bit earlier. The females, a bit bigger, it's maybe 40 to 42 days. They
01:29 do have a habit of getting around you on the ground, so we do have to rescue them, put
01:33 them in a box and take them up onto the Parkinson roof and let them go and they're perfectly
01:38 okay. They'll hang around for a few months, first starting near and then they start spreading
01:44 out further and further. The parents will take them around the area over winter. They'll
01:50 go off and find their own area to winter and then just explore and then hopefully survive
01:57 long enough to breed somewhere else.