Fourth peregrine falcon egg laid at cathedral

A cathedral's resident nesting peregrine falcon has laid her fourth and probably final egg - at least for this year.

Peggy, as she is known to her fans, has returned to the same nesting box at Worcester Cathedral with partner Peter every year since 2022, each time successfully raising several chicks.

The cathedral's biodiversity adviser Chris Dobbs said he was not expecting any more eggs in 2025.

"You wouldn't really want any more because that's a lot to feed," he explained.

The birds have become well-known thanks to a webcam set up by cathedral staff which allows people to keep an eye on the nest 24 hours a day.

It had nearly 500,000 views from across the world last year.

Mr Dobbs said keen viewers would be able to watch the eggs hatch, which should happen at about the same time, towards the end of April.

"The science to use is 33 days from the third egg," he said.

"She doesn't really start incubating properly until the third egg and then once the fourth's come, she's on full time.

"That's because she wants the chicks to hatch at a similar time so they're all a similar size, so we don't get a little one that can't compete for food."

The next step - for humans - after the eggs have hatched will be to ring the chicks, which will involve specialists climbing the cathedral tower and removing them from their parents.

"They're not keen on the fact that you've taken the chicks away for half an hour to ring them," said Mr Dobbs, "but they are actually quite used to it now."

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