It Can't Be Long Now, Can It?

When will the first egg be laid? And when will Derby's peregrines go online?
I wish we knew both answers - everyone is asking us!
(BUT HERE'S A NEWSFLASH: Mating has just been reported on top of the gargoyles this afternoon at 2pm! )
Already there are peregrines in Holland that have laid eggs around March 8th. Ours are still regularly nest-scraping and bowing to each other, as shown in our video clip posted below on March 14th. But one of last year's juveniles is still around, and shows little sign of being kicked out. It (she?) seems quite bossy, and seems able to take food from the smaller male quite aggressively, but is ignored more by the female as we see here from this recent YouTube video clip.

We heard yesterday that the Cisco wireless access equipment being given to us by the Council's Highways Department is about to be dismantled and made available. This will give us the internet connection we so desperately need to the City Council's servers, but frustratingly we've still not been given a date for its installation inside Derby Cathedral as yet. So it's "watch this space", I'm afraid, though you can always watch the birds for yourself if you come into Derby and visit the cathedral. See link to our main peregrine page for details and a cathedral site map. Rest assured- every four days we review all the recordings made inside the tower, and note down key events in a log-book. We'll bring you news as soon as it happens.

Oh, and here are some amazing photos of peregrines in flight near their nest site in Columbus, Ohio. Just look at those wings! (make sure you click on each image to enlarge them.)