Three peregrine chicks fledge from St Albans Cathedral nest

Three peregrine chicks have taken their first flights from the nest tray at St Albans Cathedral, closing out a breeding season that began with a record four-egg clutch for Alban and Boudica. The three chicks hatched in May and were ringed on 1 June by Barry Trevis, the licensed bird-ringer and Herts Breeding Peregrine Co-ordinator who has helped track the pair since they first settled at the cathedral in 2022.

The latest fledging lifted Alban and Boudica’s tally to 13 chicks raised through to fledging at the cathedral, a run that has made the pair one of the most closely watched urban peregrine pairs in Hertfordshire. The birds laid two eggs in their first breeding year in 2022, with one failing to hatch, then laid three eggs each year from 2023 until this spring’s four-egg clutch.

That monitoring has been unusually public. A live webcam was installed on the nest tray in 2023, and the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust said the page drew more than half a million views last year. The trust and St Albans Cathedral have also used Peregrine Watch events with the RSPB St Albans Local Group in Abbey Orchard to keep local watchers tied into each stage, from hatch to ringing to first flight.

The fledging also follows a difficult spell for the pair. In 2025, the first clutch of eggs was lost after unauthorised access to a restricted area, a matter the cathedral reported to Hertfordshire Constabulary before reviewing safeguarding and access procedures. Since then, cathedral leaders have framed the birds’ return and new eggs as a sign of resilience, and Debbie Bigg called the three chicks going on the wing “a real boost for nature.” With the cathedral saying its peregrines are one of only five breeding pairs in Hertfordshire, this season gave a clear answer to what good urban nest sites can still do when they are protected and watched closely.