First falcon chicks hatch in town centre nest box

Three peregrine falcon chicks have hatched from five eggs on top of an office block in Woking.

The chicks hatched between Sunday and Tuesday, in a nest box looked after by The Woking Peregrine Project at the top of Export House.

Craig Denford, who runs the project, told BBC Radio Surrey that more chicks could also hatch soon before stretching their wings properly next month.

Denford said: "They have hatched a day or two earlier than we expected, and in early June they will begin to venture out of the nest box."

He added: "The fact that we had five eggs is quite significant.

"By mid-June they will be attempting to fly, and by a week after that they are pretty agile in the air."

Denford said once they were ready to spread their wings, the falcons would look for their own territory which could be hundreds of miles away.

This year was the first since 2022 that five eggs had been laid by falcons in the nest box, and the first time ever for the current breeding pair.

The first of this year's eggs were laid on 21 March, with the final eggs arriving on 31 March.

Denford added that, while they hoped all five eggs would hatch, often the final egg did not.

The birds' nest box is also fitted with a webcam, and visitors to the Woking Peregrine Project website can watch a live stream.

The box was first installed in Export House in 2016.

Peregrine falcon populations in the UK neared extinction in the 1960s due to human persecution and pesticides in their food chain. However, improved legislation and protection helped the birds.

Despite peregrines historically living on cliffs, tall buildings also make an ideal nesting place, and the population has expanded to urban areas including large office buildings and churches.

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