December 24th
I will get to number 24 eventually! Not really got the excuse of being busy from now on! Today’s species isn’t exactly Christmassy (nor have most of the rest if I’m being honest!) but it’s one that I have seen today when I was on a small walk around the park. I’m pretty certain it’s the first time I’ve seen one there too.
Peregrine Falco peregrinus Tunstall, 1771
It’s not often that I see an apex predator in my park but there was one today. Only fleeting but close enough to tell what it was through binoculars. I noticed it was chunky and had powerful wingbeats, unlike the Kestrel, which is the more common falcon around here. I think it was a male as it wasn’t too large and from the plumage I think it was a juvenile. They have a brown plumage and very distinct spotted, almost vertical striped, markings on their breasts. Adults tend to be dark blue/grey with horizontal looking pinstripes across their breasts. Like many birds of prey the female is bigger than the male. Today’s bird could have come from anywhere as juvenile Peregrines can wander for hundreds of miles once they’ve fledged. I had heard years ago that the word peregrine means ‘wanderer’ so this may reflect that behaviour.
Advent species so far…
- 1st: Goosander Mergus merganser
- 2nd: December Moth Poecilocampa populi
- 3rd: Horse Chestnut Aesculus hippocastanum
- 4th Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus
- 5th Cape Sparrow Passer melanurus
- 6th Loricera pilicornis
- 7th Great Tit Parus major
- 8th Tipula paludosa
- 9th Redwing Turdus iliacus
- 10th Bank Vole Myodes glareolus
- 11th Tawny Owl Strix aluco
- 12th Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus
- 13th Kingfisher Alcedo atthis
- 14th Nebria brevicollis
- 15th Virginia Opossum Didelphis virginiana
- 16th —–
- 17th Bacchus elongata
- 18th Reed Warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus
- 19th Red Deer Cervus elaphus
- 20th Jay Garrulus glandarius
- 21st —-
- 22nd —-
- 23rd Winter Gnat Trichocera annulata
- 24th Peregrine Falco peregrinus
A Species a Day 