Some sad news

One of the peregrine chicks has died. We are now down to three chicks in the nest.  

Staff, and our peregrine-cam visitors, noticed yesterday that there were only two chicks in the nest. So our first thought was that we had lost two!  

Luckily the third chick returned to the nest in the evening after having been on a journey around the clock tower ledge.  

Today the RSPB project officer has spent the day looking for the fourth chick, but to no avail. It seems unlikely that the chick is still alive.  

One possible explanation is that the chick was the weakest of the four, and that the hot weather over the last few days has been too much for it to cope.  

The three remaining chicks look very healthy and have a very good chance of surviving, particularly as the weather seems to be getting cooler.