It was whilst conducting a butterfly survey on a hillside near my home that I first met Doug Yelland, a local nature enthusiast and regular Naturetrek client. He had been monitoring and filming the nest of a pair of peregrines on an electricity pylon. At that point two downy chicks were just visible in the nest. As we studied the birds we talked about how the population of Peregrine Falcons had increased in Hampshire over the past few decades and how pylons had become a regular nesting place for peregrines in the area. Unfortunately, unlike birds that nest on churches and other tall buildings, those which nest on pylons do not tend to fare so well, with fewer chicks surviving to fledge.

On 16th July, three and a half weeks later, I was walking along the same hillside and once again Doug had his telescope trained on the nest but, as I approached, Doug said he was concerned as one of the chicks could not be seen and he felt it was early for it to have flown. After waiting a little longer and seeing no sign of the chick we decided to search the area around the base of pylon. The grass surrounding the legs of the pylon was long but as we approached we could just see the chick on the ground. It didn’t appear to be injured or in distress but neither did it make an attempt to fly away.  At this point we decided to contact Keith Betton who is the bird recorder for Hampshire and who has a wealth of experience with peregrines. Keith advised us to return in the evening and attempt to encourage it to fly. If the bird was still on the ground at that point, and not flying, he said we should then try to feed it raw chicken and lift it onto one of the bars of the pylon out of reach of predators, such as foxes, and return the following day. This we did.