It appears increasingly likely that the Peregrines are not going to breed in the Sussex Heights nest box this year. Peregrines have bred successfully in the nest box every year since 1998, with the exception of 2002 when they raised three young on West Pier. The male is still seen fairly regularly on the cameras on Sussex Heights but seemingly without a mate. Maybe he doesn’t have a mate, or perhaps she is sitting on eggs elsewhere. Maybe they are nesting on the pier again this year, or another location nearby. Time may tell.
Sadly, the injured adult female found in Pavilion Gardens in February 2020 did not recover. She was almost certainly our old Sussex Heights breeding female. Although the male (which has a metal ring on his right leg) found a new mate last year we are not sure if she is still around. So it seems that the Sussex Heights Peregrines are having a turbulent period.
Graham Roberts
The Sussex Ornithological Society
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