High rise hunters
Written by John Macpherson
Urban peregrine & the London Eye © Bertie Gregory
I arrived at 6am with stars still twinkling above. By the time we’d got through numerous security checks and they’d determined my tripod was not a bomb threat; the sun was starting to creep up above the horizon. Just as we were admiring the stunning sunrise over London, our first peregrine flew in. The adult female flew over to Big Ben and perched right on the very top of the tower, closely followed by one of her offspring. The juvenile’s two siblings had already left home but this one was clinging on. The adult male then flew by without stopping, presumable to go and hunt, the female then followed his lead. While they were gone, the juvenile put on a show. In between flights she would sit on the middle tower between the tower I was on and Big Ben.
You can read more about Bertie’s recent work in his blog post here.
Author — John Macpherson
John MacPherson was born and lives in the Scottish Highlands. He trained as a welder in the Glasgow shipyards, before completing an apprenticeship as a carpenter, and then qualified as a Social Worker in Disability Services. Along the way he has cooked on canal barges, trained as an Alpine Ski Leader & worked as an Instructor for Skiers with disabilities, been a canoe instructor, and tutor of night classes in carpentry, stained glass design and manufacture, and archery. He has travelled extensively on various continents, undertaking solo trips by bicycle, or motorcycle. He has had narrow escapes from an ambush by terrorists, been hit by lightning, caught in an erupting volcano, trapped in a mobile home by a tornado, kidnapped by a dog's hairdresser, rammed by a basking shark and was once bitten by a wild otter. He has combined all this with professional photography, which he has practised for over 35 years. He teaches photography and acts as a photography guide & tutor in the UK and abroad. His biggest challenge is keeping his 30 year old Land Rover 110 on the road. He loves telling and hearing stories.