Cambridge peregrine chicks fly successfully after hitting street

Peregrine falcons were first spotted in Cambridge in 2014, according to Saimon Clark, who documents the birds

Four peregrine chicks have fledged successfully after falling on to a city centre street on their first attempts.

Saimon Clark, who has documented the birds, said "several people" sometimes visited Cambridge city centre at 05:00 BST hoping to see them fledge the nest.

Fledging is when young birds feathers have developed and they attempt to fly.

There have been people "on hand to help" put them back in their nest after their initial struggles to stay airborne, Mr Clark said.

He said this pair of adult peregrines first came to Cambridge in 2014 and reared a chick in 2015.

He said he did not want to disclose the precise nesting location, because of the birds' status as a protected species.

People were around to "rescue" the peregrine falcon chicks when they first fledged the nest in case they fell on to the street below, Mr Clark said

Saimon Clark has posted updates and pictures of the Cambridge peregrine chicks over the past month on Twitter.

He told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire he had been visiting the birds to "document what's going on and share the news" about them.

The final chick fledged from its rooftop on Monday at about 17:00, he said, where it "fell on to the street and lots of people went running after it to save it".

Mr Clarke said: "If they get it right, they're OK, but with the wind direction and the height of the nest, they do tend to slip out of the nest and fall to the street.

"They don't hurt themselves, but as long as someone's there to rescue them, they're fine."

He said fledging could be an undignified process, he said, but "normally after the second flight from the top of the roof, they're fine".