Print Page - Drama in the air: Two peregrine falcons in extraordinary battle 250ft above grou

Framed against the backdrop of a cloudless blue sky, the two male peregrine falcons look as if they have been almost frozen in time like figures on a coat of arms.

In reality it was the frenzied scene being fought out 250ft above the ground at Chichester Cathedral, West Sussex, as a younger bird tried to take over the nesting ground of a cathedral veteran.

Although the encounter lasted just a few seconds - with the senior peregrine the victor - the whole sequence was captured frame by frame by wildlife photographers David and Janet Shaw.
I have taken photographs of wild animals all of my life all over the world but this is one of the most remarkable sequences I have ever seen,' Mr Shaw said. 'It was totally stunning.'

The couple, from nearby Worthing, were on one of their regular pilgrimages to see the peregrines who have been nesting at Chichester since 2001 when the drama developed.

Mrs Shaw said: 'There has been a resident pair of peregrines at the cathedral for ten years and this year the male was sitting on the pinnacle of one of the turrets when the youngster came along.

'He is one of the young males born last year at a site called Sussex Heights in Brighton and was obviously on the look out for some new territory.

We first saw him up in the sky being buzzed by a seagull which didnít like him being around. Then he came down lower and went straight at the peregrine at the cathedral.

'He was probably trying to take over the nesting site - and the female that goes with it. But the older male was having none of it.

'He flew at him with his talons drawn and saw him off. The youngster would have been too young for breeding anyway because his is still in his juvenile coat.'

RSPB spokesman Sophie McCallum said: 'The youngster is getting to the age when he is looking to breed and he was trying to ruffle the feathers of the older one. It was a bit like stags fighting in the park.'

The Chichester Cathedral peregrines, who are thought to be aged 12 or 13, have reared 30 chicks since they made the turrets their home in a nesting box supplied by Sussex Ornithological Society.

This year the female has four newly hatched youngsters whose progress is being watched by an eagle-eyed army of human fans via a webcam while 20,000 people are expected to visit a viewing point.

In a few weeks, the only visit to the nest will take place when identifying rings are put on the chicks' legs and their sex is determined. After that, they begin the daunting task of learning how to fly.

The young pretender, meanwhile, is thought to have returned to Brighton after living to fight another day.

See the webcam at www.rspb.org.uk/datewithnature/sites/chichester.

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