In Pictures: London's falcons

Earlier in June a family of peregrine falcons, including three chicks, were discovered on a tower block in Marylebone, central London.

Now the breeding site of another family of peregrines has been located near the Millennium Dome in Greenwich, south-east London.

Window cleaners have also discovered a pair of kestrels nesting in the area but the eggs have not hatched.

There are now eight chicks in the Greater London area and all are being closely monitored.

Corporate sponsorship

For more than five years a pair of peregrine falcons have been seen near the Millennium Dome but nobody knew where they were breeding.

But this year volunteers from the Environment Trust and London Wildlife Trust located the nest on the Tower Hamlets side of the river.

The Environment Trust and London Wildlife Trust are seeking corporate sponsorship to install a camera at the nest site so that workers at Canary Wharf and local residents can enjoy the spectacle next year.

It's fantastic to see these birds thriving on their own but we can and should do more to help them Volunteer Dusty Gedge

Peregrine Falcons are usually seen in coastal regions with high sea cliffs and wild, upland crags but the birds are adapting to city life.

Many were culled during the two World Wars to protect carrier pigeons and by the 1980s the breed almost vanished from the UK - but now there are about 1,500 pairs.

Kestrels are not considered to be globally threatened and are the commonest bird of prey in Europe, but British populations have fallen in recent years.