PETER the peregrine, who fledged from Salisbury Cathedral in 2014, has been spotted alive and well with his mate and two chicks.

The peregrine, who was injured back in March last year, was spotted in Hampshire by Keith Betton, the chairman and county recorder of Hampshire Ornithological Society, who alerted Phil Sheldrake, RSPB conservation officer, and the cathedral team.

Keith said: “I knew of Peter because he was found shot near Stockbridge in March last year. In fact, one of the first calls made by the Hawk Conservancy Trust was to me to see if he was one of our local birds as he wears a blue ring marked GX.

“We put orange rings on Hampshire chicks so I knew he was from further west and it was with great excitement that I set out to check our Hampshire nest sites.

“It wasn’t plain sailing. Peter has a favourite perch and I could only see the ring if he was facing towards me (it’s on his left leg), but annoyingly he usually faces the other way.

“However, on Sunday (15 July) he was facing the other way, and using a powerful telescope I was able to read the ring number. It was a great moment when I realised it was Peter.

“He had a near-death experience and survived it, and now he is a dad with two lively chicks.”

Peter the peregrine’s partner does not have a ring so it is not possible to work out where she came from.

To date Peter and Aveline are the only two cathedral-ringed peregrines that have been sighted since fledging.

Aveline, who fledged in 2016, was spotted in a nature reserve in Milton Keynes last year.

Peregrines are protected birds.

Salisbury Cathedral keep track of Sally, their resident female, via a GPS tracking device.

A fight over the nest has meant there have been no chicks this year.

The cathedral peregrine cameras have gathered some footage of Sally and what she has been up to which can be seen by going to Salisbury Cathedral’s website.

For more information go to salisburycathedral.org.uk

Keith Betton will be giving a talk entitled The State of the Nation's Birds to the South Wiltshire RSPB Group in Salisbury on September 11 at Salisbury Arts Centre at 7.30pm.

He plans to include the peregrines in that talk.