THE arrival of two peregrine chicks caught the team at Salisbury Cathedral by surprise.

The chicks hatched in relatively quick succession on Tuesday with a third arriving this morning (Wednesday 27) at around 8.10am

The first was spotted after footage was reviewed and was seen breaking through the egg at around 8.59am.

The footage showed the peregrine chipping at its shell with its special egg tooth. It emerged fully at around 10.03 – only to be followed a few hours later, at 1.22pm, by its sibling.

The first peregrine egg of the year was laid on the evening of March 19.

The third arrived on March 24 at 2.20pm - just 56 hours after the second egg - with the final one being laid on March 27.

A competition was also held to name the adult peregrines. The winning names - Daisy and Oxeye - were announced earlier this month on the cathedral’s social media channels by Michael Bowyer, National President of National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies and creative director of flowers at Salisbury Cathedral.

In celebration of Salisbury Cathedral’s Flower Festival, which takes place next month, people were asked to submit nature-inspired names.

Nearly 140 people took part in the competition and the names were chosen at random.

A live webcam is streaming the latest from the cathedral’s tower so people can watch the peregrines. To view the peregrine webcam visit the cathedral’s website.