Salisbury Cathedral falcon spotted 90 miles from home

Flo the Falcon, one of the peregrine chicks that fledged from the Cathedral Tower in 2021, has been spotted 90 miles away from home as the crow flies, in Hertford, Hertfordshire.

British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) ringer, Nigel Jones, contacted the Cathedral peregrine team to let them know that Flo had taken up residence on some prime real estate in the centre of the Hertfordshire county town.

Pictures of Flo captured on 16th September 2022 by Kevin Garrett and 17th September by Rose Newbold plus a subsequent sighting by birdwatcher Tracey Burrows, all indicate that Flo has moved onto All Saints Church Tower. She was identified by her orange colour ring with the initials TND.

Nigel Jones, who rings the Cathedral falcons, said, “It is great to see the colour ring system working so well. It allows us to discover where the fledglings go and whether they survive. Around 70% of young peregrines die in their first year, so every success story is welcome.”

The Salisbury peregrines usually settle on the Cathedral’s South Tower balcony around March, but are often in evidence during the winter months, just keeping an eye on things.

So far 27 chicks, including one adopted orphan chick, have fledged from the Tower since 2014, when the peregrines returned after an absence of just over 60 years.

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