THE first of the three peregrine chicks hatched on the Cathedral Tower this year has fledged.

Rex, who was ringed and named just over three weeks ago, took his first flight off the parapet wall (nearly 70m up) on Wednesday, June 7.

Leaving his two sisters, Rose and Lily, the male juvenile took to the air at around 11.28am, returning after around 31 seconds of flight.

Meanwhile the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds’ (RSPB) Date with Nature team has set up telescopes on the Cathedral lawns.

The telescopes and RSPB peregrine experts will be on hand for the next month or so, giving visitors the opportunity to watch Rex honing his flying skills up close and learning to catch prey from the adults. Hopefully, he’ll be joined shortly by his siblings Lily and Rose.

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Rex can be identified by the large orange plastic Darvic ring on his left leg, which bears his unique two-letter identification.

Each chick wears a Darvic ring so that they can be monitored and tracked, providing important insights into the secret lives of these magnificent birds.

Anyone with sharp eyes, binoculars or a telescope can identify the falcons and let the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) know where they saw them and how they were.

One amazing tracking story comes courtesy of Barry Trevis, warden of Lemsford Springs Nature Reserve in Hertfordshire. Barry and colleagues have been monitoring Flo, a female that fledged from Salisbury Cathedral Tower in 2021.

In May, he contacted the Cathedral Peregrine team to let us know that Flo had moved on and established a nest on the top of Welwyn Garden City’s iconic former Shredded Wheat silos, designed by Louis de Soissons in 1926 to encourage the American company to set up base in the town.

Barry Trevis said: “Flo has clearly deposed the original female, which had bred there for three years, raising ten young, but until the end of May we couldn’t be entirely certain because the building is in a poor state and too dangerous to enter.

"Fortunately for us the Herts Constabulary team agreed to put up a drone in order for me to establish breeding success – and the captured shots of two chicks up on the silos.”

Generally, only a third of peregrine juveniles make it through their first year, making the news about Flo very special.

Meanwhile, back home, anyone wanting to learn more about these extraordinary birds can visit the Date with Nature team.

They will be at the Cathedral with their telescopes Monday through Friday from 11am to 4pm.

The exceptions to this schedule will be an additional day scheduled on Saturday, June 10, and the team will be unavailable on Wednesday, June 28.