Peregrine Falcons – Feeding Chicks At Scarborough Marine Drive Thursday, 26 May 2022

The Peregrines have been long term residents on the cliffs at Marine Drive in Scarborough. Every year they nest just above or amongst the kittiwake colony there.

Unfortunately in recent years this pair of Peregrines have been rather unsuccessful in raising offspring. It’s believed that in the past few years the Peregrine chicks have been predated by the local foxes who had managed to get into the Peregrines nest.

This year, The Peregrines nested on a small ledge (Visible in the video below). It was hoped this would lead to success for the peregrine family as the nest site was certainly unreachable by the local foxes.

Sadly in early June I was informed the nest had failed yet again. People were unsure what caused the failure but it was suggested that a black backed gull may have taken the chicks.

Having seen the nest site, and seen similar nest sites at different locations on The Yorkshire Coast I also believe it is entirely possible the chicks fell from the nest due to it been on such a shallow shelf. This is something I have observed at similar locations on the immediate coast.

So it was another failure for the Scarborough Peregrines in 2022. I do have my eyes on several more pairs on the coast which so far are fairing better. I will update on them as and when possible.