14 March

08.20 this morning

10 March

The benefit of multiple cameras on the tower walkway. The male is first spotted arriving on the south walkway (16.45), before scuttling along the west side, to arrive at the north, where he works on the gravel in the nest tray.

9 March

Feeding frenzy!

8 March

A red kite drifted near the church at 15.15 and our female peregrine chased it off, accompanied by suitable calls of encouragement by the male, perched on the spire. First engagement with a raptor this year.

7 March

Much activity on the nest today – single birds and sometimes the pair.

6 March

Male brings a gift for the female, but she had just left.

5 March

Love is in the air! Numerous visits by our pair today.

3 March

A few visits by the female today, enlarging the scrape and eating gravel (that aids digestion). Then, around 17.30, the pair arrived together, with the male first on the nest. The female remained for 20 minutes.

28 February

The male poked his head through the crenellations at 7am this morning. Presumably checking the nest is still in place!
Later, the female made two visits to the nest – at 12.09 for 25 minutes, and again at 16.00 for 10 minutes. On both occasions she worked on creating a scrape in the gravel, ready for nesting.

26 February

FINALLY!!! the cameras are working. I hope to get the live-streaming going in the next day or so, in the meatime, I'll post any interesting footage here.

21 February

Another day, another fruitless climb to the tower, to replace a failed power unit. However, the problem remains – probably somewhere in the photo below. Any qualified CCTV experts available?!
Meanwhile, our pair have taken to roosting on the east side of the tower, sheltered just above the bell chamber. We would expect the female to begin sitting on the nest in a couple of weeks.

16 February

A power failure somewhere has stopped the recording and streaming. Possibly within the church, which is closed until tomorrow.

13 February

First visit to the nest tray by the pair this afternoon. They arrived at 15.51 and stayed for 12 minutes. Exactly the same date as last year!

9 February

Black redstart visible on the east walkway 08.00.

6 February

Second visit by the male at 07.08. He stayed for 6 minutes, eating gravel. The black redstart was recorded by the cameras on all four walkways from first light.

2 February

10 days earlier than last year, the male makes his first visit at 07.35 today. The black redstart was also present briefly at 09.45

29 January

A remarkable recording by the nest camera yesterday. Around 13.30, a black redstart was seen feeding on and around the nest tray. It remained for about 1 hour and was possibly the bird seen in the east of the town on 7 January, a scarce winter visitor and a first for Louth since April 2012.
Click the image below to see the video on YouTube.

27 January

The nest tray was put in place today. Also, all the cameras have been installed, including the live-stream to the church coffee shop and a new camera monitoring the south walkway (previously hidden from view). This camera was paid for by Mike Tarrant and Julia Mullett, in memory of Julia's brother Barry Clarkson, an acomplished bird-watcher, who passed away suddenly on 26 December 2023.

Our birds watched the proceedings from the spire.

15 January 2025

And we’re off! The pair together on the east side of the tower, roosting above the bell chamber mid-afternoon.
Cameras and nest tray on 27th January, weather permitting.

27 December

Our pair were displaying around the church late morning, then flew together southwest.

10 December

Both birds in flight around the church this morning, with the male landing on a flying buttress above the walkway, and the female eating prey above the bell chamber on the south side.

20 November

In the latest Rare breeding Bird Report in Britain for 2022, published in the November 2024 issue of British Birds, it states there were 18 confirmed breeding pair of peregrine falcons in Lincolnshire. Of the 40 English counties, Lincolnshire was the 8th most successful for the species. Considering the county has no sea-cliffs or inland crags, presumably all our peregrines breed on tall buildings like St.James'.

11 November

Catching the rays on the south side, lower walkway this afternoon.