The flight fantastic - Hinkley B rescued Peregrine starts anew
A peregrine falcon which fell from a nest, was mobbed by gulls and then rescued by Hinkley Point B workers, has flown to freedom.
The bird was released by a charity earlier this week and marks only the second year in which the rare falcons have successfully fledged at the power station.
“Seeing the video of this bird flying off is such a wonderful sight,” said Hannah Dyer, Environmental Safety Group Head at Hinkley Point B.
“It has not had the easiest start in life so seeing it take off with such renewed confidence is a lovely thing for us at the station to see.”
More than 20 years ago workers at the power station erected a platform for birds of prey on the side of the main reactor hall building. The birds famously nest in hard-to-reach, for humans, high spots meaning the side of the reactor building is a great spot for them.
Unfortunately, none of the pairs of falcons that set up home on the platform successfully reared young, until last summer. Then this summer a pair of falcons once again set up home at Hinkley B and had two youngsters. Over recent weeks the young birds tried their wings several times with one trying, failing and falling to an area beneath the platform where it was then attacked by seagulls which also live on the site.
Staff from Apple Technical Solutions saw the drama unfold and shooed the gulls away and then recovered the youngster, sending it to wildlife charity Secret World to help the bird recover.
Then last week the charity released the bird into the wild.
“Watching that video was quite inspiring to see,” said Hannah.
“Those of us on station have seen the platform so many times we sort of forget it’s there. To know that this year, for the second year in a row, it’s hosted these threatened birds and provided a sanctuary for them to further increase the national population is great. Putting up that nesting station all those years ago was a small thing – yet it has paid off once again and helped bolster the nation’s biodiversity.”
For more information
Matthew Pardo
External Communications Manager (South)
(T) 01452 654545
(M) 07384 529006
matthew.pardo@edf-energy.com
About EDF
EDF is driving the transition towards An Electric Britain – a secure, affordable, low-carbon future for everyone. As Britain’s biggest generator of zero carbon electricity, we are investing more than £100 million weekly in Britain’s electricity infrastructure. We supply millions of customers with electricity and help homes and businesses switch to electricity for heating, transport and industrial processes.
We operate five nuclear power stations and more than 35 onshore wind farms and three offshore wind farms. Since 2009, EDF has invested almost £9 billion in the nuclear fleet to improve reliability and extend station lifetimes. The five generating stations currently supply about 12% of the UK’s electricity demand.
EDF is building the UK's nuclear renaissance with the construction of a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C. We are a minority investor (12.5%) in and major supplier to a replica plant at Sizewell C in Suffolk. Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C will provide low carbon electricity to meet 14% of UK demand and power around 12 million homes. EDF Group companies Framatome and Arabelle Solutions have a presence in the UK and manufacture critical equipment such as reactor pressure vessels and turbines.
EDF is enabling its 5 million customers, both in business and at home, to choose electric solutions that save cash and carbon, whether it is buying an electric car, generating and storing electricity, selling energy back to the grid or installing solar panels or a heat pump. In 2025, EDF’s Customers business was ranked as one of the Sunday Times’s Best Place to Work.
It is also one of the UK’s leading developers of renewable energy through EDF power solutions UK and Ireland. We have more than 2GW of renewable generation in operation and over 10GW in construction, planning and development across a range of technologies including onshore and offshore wind, solar and battery storage.
We are one of the largest suppliers to British business and a leading supplier of innovative energy solutions that are helping businesses become more energy independent. In addition, the company’s energy services business, Dalkia, is one of the UK and Ireland’s largest technical service providers.
Related articles
£1.2billion investment across 2026-28 to help boost reliability and output
Milestone moment at Somerset powerhouse
