Glasgow’s ace peregrine project
The team were preparing to abseil down the side of one of Glasgow's most important landmarks, the Gilbert Scott Building, into the nesting site of wild peregrine falcons. Several weeks later, what should have been a happy family story turned to tragedy thanks to bird flu however, there is good news for the young male Victor as he continues to explore the city. With fabulous images by top Scottish natural history photographer, Laurie Campbell.
On the ropes with HEIGHT at the University of Glasgow
Working as an IRATA rope access technician provides access to stunning locations across Scotland. One that is hard to beat is the impressive panoramic view over the city of Glasgow. Amongst the lucky few each year to share this vantage point are the team from the Glasgow Peregrine Project. Earlier this summer, the team returned to carry out monitoring work of some very special birds of prey who call home in a nook right at the top of the university tower. In 2025 the peregrines returned to breed in the old raven nest set within an alcove of the tower. These wild peregrines, named Bonnie and Clyde, are local celebrities and even have their own University of Glasgow staff cards!
Spotlighting the fascinating life of the peregrine pair, The Glasgow Peregrine Project is an amazing collaboration of volunteers, raptor experts and enthusiasts led by The Scottish Ornithologists’ Club, University of Glasgow and the RSPB. Other organisations support the conservation effort and include The Glasgow Natural History Society, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Glasgow City Council, Friends of Glasgow’s LNR’s and the Scottish Raptor Study Group. The project is brought to the public through engagement events at a dedicated watchpoint and videos to social media platforms and people really love to watch them and hear the latest news.
Project team, staff, supporters and volunteers on the day
As a specialist raptor worker, my role combines skills in working at height with my passion for working with rare and protected wild birds for conservation and science. A great example of a conservation success is the peregrine falcon. Once absent from much of the UK due to persecution and historic poisoning of the food chain by toxic agrochemicals, peregrines are now found nesting in many cities across the UK.
Peregrines remain protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which provides the highest level of protection for a species and all work is carried out under licence. This means plenty of planning and preparation. Large birds like falcons also choose to nest in pretty funky places and as this involves dangling on ropes a long way above the ground, there are complex logistics to figure out, alongside adherence to strict health and safety protocols. These measures are essential, given that the team was preparing to abseil into the nesting site of wild falcons, down the side of one of Glasgow's most important landmarks, the 85-meter tall Gilbert Scott Building.
“Hundreds of people came along to watch and enjoyed seeing the birds and having the conservation benefits of the ringing operation explained. It was simply fantastic!!!”
Each summer the building is home to nesting wild peregrines. Like all falcons, they don’t build their own nest and instead seek out a ledge or other structure in which to lay their eggs. Two years ago Bonnie and Clyde chose the big stick nest, tucked into the recess of a nook right up near the tower’s spire. You could say the peregrines are in quite the crow’s nest in more ways than one as this nest was made by a pair of ravens two years ago and after much use is now looking a little tatty to say the least!
To reach the nest safely requires specialist technical equipment and PPE including several hundred metres of rope. This isn't normally a problem however, this job has an extra challenge: negotiating a cramped, stone spiral staircase with hundreds of steps feeling like a scene out of medieval Scotland. Access to the staircase is behind a special locked door on the sixth floor and luckily is nice and cool in there but the stairs seem to go on forever until you finally pop out at the top, sweating despite the ample shade. Local rope access team HEIGHT were tasked with rigging lines in precisely the right place, ready for my descent.
Specialist raptor worker on the ropes over a 200’ drop!
It was still early but already it was hot. After a quick swig of water, it was time to slip into harness, helmet and other PPE. Tasked with safely descending the lines to the nest, I was to collect the young peregrine chicks and bring them up to the ledge, before returning them safe and sound. With safety checks completed and attached to two lines with my Petzl Rig and an ASAP, I was ready to transition over the edge for the abseil.
“All of us on the Glasgow Peregrine Project team are indebted to Tim for all his efforts.”
Taking great care of the stonework and camera cables on the way down, I abseiled down the side of the outer wall and was soon at the alcove where two fine, half-grown, fluffy peregrine chicks stood with their back against the back wall. The nest and surrounding ledge was strewn with feathers and bones from all their prey. The young falcons were focussed on me and were quite shouty which is fine as this is a natural defence to any intruder to the nest. Approaching with great care so as not to frighten them further, each bird was gently placed into their own special cloth bag then into the protective haul bag to keep them safe during the short climb back up.
Carrying a precious cargo of young peregrines
Once up at the ledge, the precious cargo was handed over to the waiting bird handling team. There, renowned peregrine expert George Smith and assistant Dr. Paul Baker examined the birds and assessed their condition. They took biometrics, measuring weight, wing length, and tarsus and then each bird was fitted with two rings, a unique metal BTO ring on the right leg and a specific alpha-numeric colour-ring on the other. These larger colour rings are far more easily seen from a distance and are great for reading in the ‘field’ even at a distance using a telescope or a long-lens camera.
Finally, each chicks was given a mouth swab for a DNA sample. The DNA data feeds into a long-running study into peregrine genetics that is used to inform police work where, in cases suspected wildlife crime, birds stolen from the wild claimed as ‘home bred’ birds can clearly be shown to be from a known wild lineage, so this invaluable evidence.
“The chicks were then returned to the nest and everyone then retired from the tower. Bonnie went straight back into the nest. It couldn’t have gone any better.”
The chicks were given the names Jack and Victor in homage to the lead characters from BBC Scotland sitcom Still Game. And their fame didn’t stop there - aside from the climbing, all of this was also captured by the BBC Landward team and top wildlife photographer Laurie Campbell, all of which was choreographed by the fabulous Clarke Elsby of the UoG. Down in the Quad below, people gathered for a glimpse of the peregrines and team in action, with optics kindly provided by Viking Optics.
Visitors looking up from the Quad
George and Paul take DNA samples
Jack (L) & Victor (R) showing their rings
And that should have nearly been the end of the story. But, sadly several weeks later there was a bitter twist in the tale, as you will see. Our first nest visit was on the 21st May and, in the weeks following this, everything had seemed ok. The young birds grew fast and lost their white, fluffy look as their flight feathers grew in. Much flapping of wings and exercising of their flight muscles took place and as usual, sometimes the young birds leave the nest early and need a little rescue or a helping hand - to prove this, on the 8th June Victor took his first ‘flight’ and required a helping hand to get back up onto a ledge as per the pre-prepared UoG protocol, all ok so far.
But by the next day, June 9th, the other chick, Jack started to appear unwell and looked tired, even refusing food from his parents. Things started to look worse for him and so the project pulled out all the stops with a huge amount of logistics behind the scenes to carry out an emergency evacuation.
Rope access in full HPAI PPE
For our return visit, the abseil had to be in full PPE with protective suit and face mask as it was suspected that Jack might have bird flu. With a lot more safety measures in place this was not a happy visit and, despite everyone’s best efforts, the SSPCA’s assessment deemed he had likely contracted avian flu and sadly, had to put him down to ease his suffering. Following this on social media, the project was touched by the overwhelming support that that they had from the public.
This was a tough reminder that avian influenza is of course still very much present in the UK and many species of birds including eagles, buzzards and peregrines have been affected. Somehow, only Jack was affected so maybe it was a sick pigeon he was given to eat? At that stage the young birds use their wings to stop nestmates getting any of it so he would have had it all himself. We will likely never know. Thankfully what we do know is that both adults are fine, as is the now free flying Victor (34R) and all seem to be healthy and venturing over the city.
“Prey assessments continue and ranging behaviour is closely monitored... It will be fascinating to see how this picture unfolds as the year progresses.”
With all three peregrines venturing into the city centre, they can now be spotted across a much wider area of the city. Do keep an eye out for them and especially look out for Victor’s orange leg ring - any photos can be send in to the project and also see their Instagram page. Working with birds is a real privilege and always fascinating and all work was carried out under licence. I’ll leave you with a distant image of Victor, roosting on the side of one of Glasgow’s landmarks. With thanks to John Simpson, Clarke Elsby at Glasgow University, Laurie Campbell, HEIGHT Group Ltd and all the partners in the project.
Peregrine falcon Victor taking a breather in between exploring the city of Glasgow
