Bird of pray? Peregrine falcon takes up residence on St Michael’s Church tower in Bishop’s Stortford

Following reports on social media of possible sightings of a peregrine falcon in Bishop’s Stortford town centre, our Nature Notes columnist Jono Forgham headed to St Michael’s Church with his binoculars in hand...

After a brief search of the tower, I found the bird roosting on the eastern side, head tucked into its wings and asleep.

The church bells indicated it was 9.30am. With the ringing, the falcon came awake, scanned the horizon before returning to sleep mode.

A super bird to see in the town. The peregrine is the fastest creature on Earth. When hunting, it sits on prominent buildings or clifftops and has the ability to spot prey up to a mile away.

Upon sighting a bird, it climbs high above its prey before fixing its gaze onto it and begins to dive, known as stooping, reaching speeds in excess of 200mph.

The peregrine hits the other bird with such force, catching it in its talons, that the prey is killed instantly. Even if the dead bird falls from the falcon’s grasp, it has the skill to catch it as it falls to earth.

I informed the parish administrator Katharine Stanley of the bird’s presence and she told me it had been reported in December by leading peregrine expert Barry Trevis.

I was unsure if I should make the sighting public, so sent details to Herts Bird Club, which acknowledged the record and happily put it on its website sightings page. Barry agreed that it was in a position where it would not be disturbed and therefore letting the public know of its presence was not an issue.

The peregrine is a heavy bird of prey with a wing span of around 105cm (41.3in) for the male and 140cm (55.1in) for the larger female. Long pointed wings and a white chest with black barring help identify it in flight, as does a prominent black “moustache”.

Once a rare bird due to persecution, it is now making a comeback. Over the last 10 years, records of peregrines have been made on St Albans Abbey, a building in Stevenage, the old Shredded Wheat factory in Welwyn Garden City and, more recently, the parish church of All Saints in Hertford.

A look at Hertfordshire records shows that up until 1983 there were only 67 for the county. The increase has been fairly rapid, with five reported in 1990, 10 in 2003 and 156 in 2012. It is now recorded as a “scarce resident species becoming an established breeder”.

In over 40 years of birdwatching in and around the town I have seen this species only about 10 times, with four coming in the last three years.

Recently, I have noted a female hunting over Stocking Wood, Bury Green, which I suspect is the same bird on the tower of St Michael’s. A hint of brown on the chin of the church bird makes me think this is a female.

If you are walking by the church, do have a check. At such a height it can be tricky to see, but it seems to favour the concrete edging at the bottom of the brickwork on the tower and is invariably found on the eastern or northern side.