falcon

She came in with a starling in toe tow this morning. The chicks must be getting stronger as both parents are spending time out of site and away from the nest. However they could be more than 2 km away and still see the chicks clearly, as was shown on that amazing BBC Natural World programme called Super Fast Falcons. They also showed how this, the fastest animal on earth can pull 14g when it dives and manoeuvres on its prey. The program helped to understand how the bird can cope with such forces and achieve speeds of 200 mph. Well worth a watch iPlayer.

I have added a photo of its home, Belper Mill, The nest is on a ledge near the right side turret. As you can see it is a perfect urban equivalent to its natural cliff habitat.