Ealing Peregrine Webcam – Watch Falcons Raise Their Chicks

The Ealing Peregrine Webcam looks straight into a gravel nest tray on a high concrete ledge of Ealing Hospital in west London, the home of a peregrine falcon pair called Dusty and Freddie. Ealing Wildlife Group streams it around the clock. Pebbles fill the wooden-edged tray, ribbed concrete walls rise on the left, and past the ledge the view drops to treetops, the roof of a house with dormer windows, a wide road with people walking along the pavement, and a grassy slope beyond. In spring this ledge is a nursery: the pair have laid eggs on the hospital every year since 2022, and by early June the chicks are scrambling along the concrete before their first flights. Outside the breeding season the tray is often empty.

About the Ealing Hospital Peregrines

Ealing Hospital stands on the Uxbridge Road in Southall, between Southall town centre to the west and Hanwell to the east, about 15 kilometers (9 miles) west of Charing Cross. The present building opened on 5 November 1979 and is run by London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust. In the summer of 2020 a pair of peregrines took up residence on the roof, where hospital staff welcomed them for keeping the pigeons in check. Ealing Wildlife Group named the birds after Dusty Springfield and Freddie Mercury.

The group’s first nest box turned out to be too big for the ledge the falcons preferred, and the pair did not breed that year. A replacement built from scrap wood and an old pallet then went onto the north-eastern edge of the building, on a ledge that local press place on the tenth floor. It worked. Three chicks hatched in 2022 and all three fledged, two chicks were getting ready to fly in June 2023, and four eggs were laid in 2024. By April 2025, the start of the pair’s fourth breeding season on the hospital, they had raised seven chicks. The group rings the young each spring and otherwise only watches.

The current stream has run since January 2023. Wildlife Windows Ltd installed the camera, and Ealing Council sponsored it as part of its Biodiversity Action Plan. The group is frank about what a nest of birds of prey looks like: prey such as pigeons is plucked and torn up on the ledge, sometimes while still alive, and under its non-interference policy nobody steps in if a chick fails. The one exception is rescuing adults or fledglings from man-made dangers such as pigeon netting.

Weather and Climate in Ealing

Ealing has the mild, damp climate of west London. At the Met Office station in nearby Northolt, January averages highs of 8°C (46°F) and lows of 2°C (36°F), while July averages 23.5°C (74°F) by day and 13.4°C (56°F) at night (1991 to 2020 figures). Rain falls through the whole year and adds up to about 663 millimeters (26 inches), with October the wettest month over the past decade. Snow is uncommon and seldom lies for long.

The breeding season runs with the warming spring. Daytime highs climb from about 11°C (52°F) in March to 17°C (63°F) in May, the weeks when eggs are incubated and chicks hatch, and by June, when the young take to the air, highs reach about 21°C (70°F). The trees below the ledge are in full leaf through the nesting months and had turned yellow by early November, when misty mornings can soften the road and houses into a grey wash. British peregrines mostly stay put through the year, but in summer common swifts hunt insects over London’s rooftops, birds that spend the winter in central Africa on a route traced on our bird migration map.

Things to Do Near Ealing Hospital

Wharncliffe Viaduct crosses the valley of the River Brent less than 400 meters (a quarter mile) north of the hospital. Built in 1836 and 1837 for the opening of the Great Western Railway, it was the first major structure on the line out of Paddington, and its eight brick arches still carry trains 20 meters (66 feet) above the river. The Grade I listed viaduct takes its name from Lord Wharncliffe, who chaired the House of Lords committee that heard the railway’s application for its enabling Act.

Close by, the Hanwell Flight of Locks steps the Grand Union Canal down beside the brick boundary wall of St Bernard’s Hospital. The six locks date from 1794 and lift the canal about 16 meters (53 feet), the largest flight in London, and the locks and the wall are a scheduled monument together. About 800 meters (half a mile) south lies Warren Farm Nature Reserve, a rewilded meadow of 61 acres (25 hectares) in Brent River Park that became a Local Nature Reserve in 2026. Its skylarks are the closest breeding population to central London, so visitors are asked to keep to the main paths and keep dogs under control from 1 March to 15 September.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

Two more peregrine nests in southern England and a London cam a short drive west:

• Aylesbury Peregrine Webcam
• High Wycombe Peregrines Webcam
• Heathrow Airport Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the Ealing Peregrine Webcam located?

The camera is on Ealing Hospital, on the Uxbridge Road in Southall in the London Borough of Ealing, between Southall and Hanwell. That is about 15 kilometers (9 miles) west of Charing Cross in central London. The nest tray sits on a ledge on the north-eastern side of the building.

What can you see on the Ealing Peregrine Webcam?

A close view of the gravel nest tray on its concrete ledge, with trees, a house, a wide road and a grassy slope beyond. In spring it shows eggs, chicks, feeds and the adults coming and going.

Why is the Ealing Peregrine Webcam nest empty?

The tray is only busy in the breeding season. Eggs are laid in early spring, chicks hatch toward the end of April and the young fledge in early June. After that the family moves off the tray, so from summer until the next spring it often shows only gravel, although the adults can still drop in.

When do the Ealing Hospital peregrines lay eggs?

In 2025 the pair had four eggs in the tray by early April, with hatching expected by the end of the month. Ealing Wildlife Group holds a fledge watch in early June, when the chicks make their first flights from the hospital.

What are the names of the Ealing peregrine falcons?

The pair are Dusty and Freddie, named by Ealing Wildlife Group after Dusty Springfield and Freddie Mercury. They settled on the hospital roof in the summer of 2020.

Who runs the Ealing Hospital peregrine camera?

Ealing Wildlife Group, a volunteer community group, runs the stream on its YouTube channel. Wildlife Windows Ltd installed the camera and Ealing Council sponsored it under its Biodiversity Action Plan. The stream has a 12-hour rewind.

What is the weather like in Ealing?

Mild and changeable. January averages around 8°C (46°F) by day and July about 23.5°C (74°F), with rain spread through the year and snow rare.

Source: Ealing Wildlife Group