Salisbury Cathedral peregrine falcon lays first egg of 2022

The female will not start incubating the eggs until the last one has been laid

A peregrine falcon at Salisbury Cathedral has laid its first egg of the year.

Staff at the Wiltshire cathedral recorded the "exciting news" using cameras set up around the tower.

The female bird returned to the nest just before 19:00 GMT on Saturday and laid the egg just before 20:00.

A spokesperson for the cathedral said: "This means there'll be a lot to see on the webcam - but it is still a waiting and watching game."

They added: "The female won't start incubating the eggs until the last one has been laid and she will lay at roughly 48-hour intervals."

The cathedral thanked the local RSPB for the egg alert

The female peregrine stayed on the nest until the early hours of Sunday when the male flew in to take over.

After a short absence she was back on the nest at 06:30.

The male and female will continue to watch the egg in shifts from now on.

There have been records of peregrines nesting at Salisbury Cathedral since 1864.

For nearly 90 years, the birds lived on the tower peacefully, until the use of harmful pesticides, and persecution, led to a lengthy absence, according to the cathedral website.

In 2014 a mated pair of peregrines nested, producing and fledging four chicks successfully in a nestbox.

Since then peregrines have hatched and fledged from the tower every year except for 2018, when a territorial battle between two females prevented laying.