Egg-citing arrival inspires flurry of new paintings

There’s something very impressive about seeing the fastest bird in the world perched on the majestic turrets of this medieval cathedral and my sightings have inspired a new flurry of paintings.

Now I have learned that the falcon eggs hatched in mid-June.

It will be some time before these tiny birds of prey fledge and begin to learn how to hunt for themselves from their precipitous city perch.

But it is quite incredible to think that when they do visitors to York can combine a spot of shopping or sightseeing with the opportunity to glimpse a family of peregrines perched amidst the architectural splendour of York Minster.

I was lucky enough to visit the peregrines the very day the female laid eggs. I knew that she had laid eggs because I noticed the pair perform a nest "change over", where the male incubates the eggs while the female feeds.

I was in contact with a vigilant group of birdwatchers, York Peregrines, who keep a constant watch on the pair and I knew that this was the first time the peregrine pair had done this.

I had gone into York especially to see the peregrines after first spotting them there last year. I wanted to see how the pair was doing and, like many birdwatchers, was keen to discover any signs that they could be nesting.

I scanned the cathedral turrets with my binoculars and finally found the male peregrine perched high on the bell tower overlooking Dean’s Gardens.

There were several pigeons on the battlements below him, but peregrines like to catch their prey on the wing and he didn’t appear to be interested in hunting these.

Then I watched him stretch his wings and take off. He flew a small loop high above the gardens. As he returned to the Minster he started gaining height and I noticed he was starting to fly faster.

Then I spotted a pigeon flying below him. It clearly hadn’t noticed this formidable predator gaining on it until it was too late. The peregrine swooped down and grabbed it from behind with its talons. It was so quick the pigeon barely had time to turn its head.

The peregrine then flew back to the Mister with his kill and landed on the front of the tower.

I followed to the cathedral façade and set up my camera equipment. I couldn’t find the peregrine at first but then I saw feathers floating down on the breeze. He was perched on a gargoyle high near the top of the tower and without the occasional puff of feathers that kept floating down it was hard to spot him.

Then I watched him fly back to his catch and start circling and calling over Dean's garden. At this I noticed the female emerge from a balcony along the top of the north tower. This was the exact spot I had previously noticed the pair prospecting for a nest earlier in the season.

She flew out calling in response. She is a bigger bird and has a deeper call. The male landed on a gargoyle and the female joined him. Both were calling. Then the male presented the pigeon to the female. The female kept calling at him. He then flew to the balcony to brood the eggs while she had her meal.

She stopped calling and looked down at him, as if to check he was doing as he should.

Then she started to eat. She began to tuck in heartily but after a while flew off with the remains to the main tower where she left it on a gargoyle and then flew back to the bell tower.

From there she kept looking down at the male brooding her eggs. She had been off the nest for nearly two hours and it was time to return to sit on her clutch.

I felt very excited to have witnessed this definite confirmation that the peregrines had laid and couldn’t wait to share my news with York Peregrines.

And when I got back to the studio I felt inspired to finish a new painting I had begun after my last visit. I had been unsure how to fill in the background, but now I decided to perch the male peregrine falcon onto a gargoyle.

I wonder if I will get any sightings of the chicks as they fledge and how they will look perched high on this infamous cathedral’s intricate carvings?