The Lincolnshire Bird Club

The male Peregrine was perched on the East face of Louth Church this morning at 08.45.

I had heard a female has been seen in the last few weeks so I went down this evening to see if I could see the pair. The male flew in around 19.30 and seemed to go to roost on the North side. I hung around to see if the female would fly in but there was no sign. At 20.05 the bird that had been hunched down, sat up right and started emitting an extremely strident 2 note call. After 5 minutes of this it flew to the South side for 5 minutes and continued with the call. It then flew back to the North side still calling. I left at 20.25 when it was too dark to see if the female would fly in. I could hear the male calling as I walked home and could still hear it from my front door 450m from the church. There was a Tawny Owl calling at the same time.

Its the first time I've head this call and a local expert I consulted has not heard it either, except over my mobile. Any one else out there heard it from this bird before, or in Grantham or Lincoln perhaps, and would care to interpret?

The male has been using that call for some months now. There is an example of it on my BWPi, with the explanation
"...Long-drawn wail or whine, repeated slowly for varying periods; described as 'waayk', 'waik', 'waaik', or 'wayee'. Clear, high-pitched, and slightly ascending call with great carrying power but fading gently away; querulous and drawn-out, rising in pitch at end. Recognition or location call given when pair separated, somewhat more frequently by ♂, but with no obvious differences between sexes; summoning call to mate, e.g. by ♂ to entice ♀ to nest ledge."

Just hoping a female responds!

Geoff