A COUPLE feel “blessed” to have seen a rare bird of prey feasting in their garden.

Gary and Lucy Weston were about to have breakfast when they noticed a large bird through their kitchen window in Phyllis Avenue, Peacehaven.

Gary, 68, said: “I’m a keen bird watcher and after I looked through my binoculars I realised it was a peregrine falcon.

“The falcon was eating a pigeon it had killed on our lawn and had taken up on to a bush to feast on.

“The peregrine falcon is one of the fastest and most dangerous birds in the world.

“It’s also quite rare around here, so we felt blessed that it chose our garden to breakfast – although I suppose the pigeon felt differently.”

Gary believes the bird of prey had seized the opportunity to catch a pigeon which had been eating at the bird station Gary and Lucy have in their garden.

He said: “I found a large amount of feathers and some blood on the lawn.

“Presumably the falcon dropped out of the sky to kill the pigeon on the lawn close to the feeding station and then took it up to the bush to pluck it and eat it.

“The falcon was in our garden for about 20 minutes and could see us as we were taking pictures and videos.

“It was wary of us but didn’t seem too concerned and we kept a respectable distance.”

According to the RSPB, the numbers of peregrine falcons in the UK dramatically declined in the 1950s due to the widespread use of pesticides.

Toxic agricultural chemicals built up in the food chain and increased the mortality rate in adult peregrines and by the early 1960s, 80 per cent of the UK population had been lost.

After pesticides were banned peregrine numbers slowly recovered, but the birds are still rare in the South East, although their population is slowly increasing in the region.

There are more dense populations in upland areas of Wales, southern Scotland and north west England.

Peregrines tend to prey on other birds, which range in size from goldcrests to woodpigeons.

But Gary said he will not be leaving any of his three small terriers alone in his garden from now on,

He said: “It was a bit of an alert to us, as peregrines are probably strong enough and deadly enough to jump on our small dogs.

“It’s actually quite a small bird in comparison to other hawks, which aids its speed, and is one of those species where the female is bigger than the male. I think this one was a female.

“But it is a beautiful bird with beautiful markings.”