Nature stories

The first of Worcester's four peregrine chicks has made a maiden flight, under difficult circumstances, due to the attentions of seagulls.

The seagulls strike (Chris Dobbs)

The chick flew from St. Andrew's Spire, where the adult birds are nesting, to the roof of the fire station nearby.

Here she was mobbed by gulls, but she managed to take off again, and made it back to the spire again.

The Falcons have been nesting in the spire, in the centre of Worcester near the cathedral, since 1998.

The spire itself is a well-known landmark, known locally as the Glover's Needle, and is all that is left of the church that was demolished in the 1940s.

Peregrine facts and figures

Peregrines are large, powerful falcons. They have long, broad, pointed wings and a relatively short tail. They are blue-grey above, with a blackish top of the head and an obvious black 'moustache' that contrasts with its white face. The breast is finely spotted.

They are swift and agile in flight, chasing prey. The strongholds of the breeding birds in the UK are the uplands of the north and west and rocky seacoasts.

How the experts do it

Peregrines have suffered persecution from gamekeepers and landowners, and been a target for egg collectors, but better legal protection and control of pesticides (which indirectly poisoned birds) have helped the population to recover considerably from a low in the 1960s.

Some birds, particularly females and juveniles, move away from the uplands in autumn.

Peregrine falcons have been clocked flying at over 217mph - the world's fastest animal (source: Guinness Book of Records 2003).

Peregrines mainly eat birds caught in flight. They can spot a pigeon at to up 8km distance (source: Guinness Book of World Records).