Lift Off

Powering up from the ledge on the side of Tewkesbury Abbey, Christopher Robin (no I didn't make that up) aka dad to Paddington and no I didn't make that up either, had just delivered a pigeon take-away from the local fast food outlet. 

Christoper Robin so called because his leg ring has CR on it and Paddington, keeping with the theme of children's cartoons, has PDN in large letters so easily identifiable from a distance. They know he's a male only from the measurements and weight after they abseiled down the east side of the tower to pick him up, otherwise you cannot tell the sex.

Born on the 15 June Paddington was the only surviving chick of Bella and CR. The first died they think of starvation and one egg unfortunately didn't hatch at all. Paddington was ringed by the Gloucester Raptor Monitor Group on 2 July when just 17 days old and the Abbey if you are interested have a webcam where you can see all the action from the start. I think Paddington was at his cutest on the 9 day old webcam footage - so white and fluffy :)) 

The parents have a larder on top of the tower but fresh food is brought in regularly; Tewkesbury has a lot of pigeons!