Friday 10 April 2009

Potter's Wheel

Our webcam feed is temporarily suspended over Easter.
Despite being advised this wouldn't happen, I'm afraid we have temporarily lost our pictures along with all other content and public servcies on Derby City Council's website. This is due to essential maintenance work to move our network servers from Derby to Birmingham - a very rare event indeed. Things should be back to normal by Tuesday 14th April at the latest.

Meanwhile, in the famous tradition of the BBC during the 1950s, we are pleased to be able to bring you the Potters Wheel Interlude. It was broadcast whenever there were breaks in television transmission.


(Thanks to YouTube user JFBridge for this clip.)

Whilst the cameras are down we are open to any questions or requests for information you may have about our peregrine falcons. Just post a comment and someone here will probably be able to answer them. We may use your questions to update an FAQ page that we're planning.

And here is a compilation of all our video clips published so far this season.

3rd Feb 2009 Adult peregrine arrives on sunrise (07:30am) to reinforce its claim to its nest site during one of the coldest winters in Britain for 15 years.



4th Feb 2009 An adult peregrine pulls prey item out from the snow on the nest platform, with its mate on the ledge below.



19th February 2009 Platform maintenance work to give juvenile birds a better grip on the nest ledge whilst exercising their wings prior to fledging.



27th February 2009 Courtship activity (Food exchange and ee-chupping)




8 March 2009. Mating Sequence (1 )


16 March 2009 Mating Sequences (2)


16 March 2009 Mating Sequences (3)



23 March 2008 Changeover during incubation. The male is on the nest and is encouraged to leave by the large female who calls and waddles over to take charge.


Follow this link to view all our YouTube video clips from past seasons too.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

pax Canada 9.45am
I am having serious falcon web cam withdrawal!!will keep checking in case it comes back earlier than tues.
Happy Easter

Roger (Austria) said...

Once upon a time, a Techie saw a cable bearing the legend "Peregrine Internet Feed: Do not disconnect - not even to see what happens". . . . . .
Irresistable to the enquiring mind.
Happy Easter!

Anonymous said...

pax Canada 12.35am
LOL Roger, something like" Do I cut the blue wire or the red one?"

Anonymous said...

I'm suffering so much from withdrawal symptoms that I'm seriously considering trying to convince my husband that we should visit Derby this Easter. Alternatively, I really should crack on with my law degree coursework!

Anonymous said...

pax Canada 10.29
Sue, I hear you, a trip to Derby sounds better then cracking books, If I could get there thats what I would do :-)
Happy Easter.

Terri said...

Also missing the webcams terribly. But most of all missing the chance to check that mum (& dad & eggs) are still there and doing OK. Can someone on the project team please post a comment here just to reassure us that our peregrines are still fine, as we can't keep an eye on them for a few days? Thanks :)

jo said...

i agree is there any way of letting us know if our birds are all ok
i am also missing checking up on our little family
happy easter to all
jo alfreton

Nick Brown (DWT) said...

Once peregrines have settled into incubation mode there's very little that will deter them from completing this stage of the breeding cycle so, althougfh without the web cams, no one can see into the nest platform, you can rest assured that the birds will be sitting tight right through to hatching.
On a natural cliff ledge, about the only things that might interupt incubation are a rock fall or the nest getting flooded out.
Neither of these are likely on our platform so I'm quite sure the birds will be there come Tuesday.
Nick B (DWT)

Anonymous said...

I getting bored with the potters wheel - but actually it's been a great opportunity to see the shots of the nest platform in the snow. As Nick says, it was a really hard winter which we've not had for ages. I've been forced to go out and look at local wildlife and I've checked on our local swan. Now, there's a bird you have to feel sorry for, she sits for the longest time so you think nothing could possibly happen. Can anyone tell me how female swans cope with feeding - will she nip off quickly and feed herself? Also, saw my first ducking - dead, really sad. I'm told the whole brood of 9 has perished. Anyone have any idea why this would happen? Maybe because they were way too early and couldn't cope with the change in the weather? I also watched a pair of mandarin ducks - I think the male is mentally defective, he didn't seem to have a clue that the female was trying to seduce him.

Anonymous said...

I've been housebound due to a sick husband and anyway the weather's turned nasty. So, I've been reading - and a fine book it's been too. I recommend "One Dog at a Time" by Pen Farthing.

Roger said...

To reassure everyone, especially jo and Terri, we were watching the monitor in the tower this morning and could see one of the adults sitting on the eggs as normal.

Terri said...

Thanks Roger. Much appreciated. Roll on Tuesday!

Karen Anne said...

Sue, there was a male mourning dove making advances to a female a couple of times in my deck a day or so ago. She was so not interested :-)

Karen Anne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.