Three peregrine falcon chicks have taken their first glimpse of the world from an Exeter church spire.
The Exeter church has put itself under the global spotlight after it allowed unrestricted access to its family of peregrine falcons.
St Michael and All Angels Church in Mount Dinham became the first church in the UK to house the famous bird back in 1988 since then almost 50 young have hatched and been nursed to maturity.
The peregrines - famed as the fastest animal on earth after being clocked at speeds of more than 200 miles per hour – recently laid eggs for the 17th year in succession at St Michael and All Angels Church.
The five-week-old birds – two females and a male, who has been named Hector – are now fledging and will be flying the nest in the coming weeks.
Ed Drewitt, a wildlife expert and author of the book Urban Peregrines, said the youngsters will soon be preying on the local winged wildlife, including night-time forays aided by the glow of street lights.
"The birds will hang around the church for the first month or so and the parents will bring food back for them," he explained.
"In August they will start flying further afield and will become quite nomadic, travelling quite a lot around the UK before starting to breed at around two or three years old.
They are beautiful birds which are still recovering from being incredibly rare in the 1960s.
"Only recently have we realised that in addition to their regular diet – which includes pigeons gulls, and terns – that they have been catching birds returning to estuaries and reed beds helped by street lamps, such as woodcock and little grebe ."
The birds have been tagged to record their movements for future study of the endangered species.
