Monday 9 February 2015

Scraping into February

Over the last few weeks we've been seeing our adult peregrines spending more time together, and certainly more time nearer to their nest site half way up the tower of Derby Cathedral.

A view of Jury's Inn from the traffic lights by
Queen Street in Derby. 
On many occasions in recent days I've had to stop at traffic lights by Queen Street on Derby's inner ring road. There it's possible (if not driving!)  to look up and see either one or both peregrine falcons atop the huge blue 'Jury's Inn' lettering advertising the hotel's name. From there the birds have a clear view of their nest site, as well as the ability to bask in the warm sunshine from the south.

With courtship displays and heightened nest activity nearly upon us, the Project Team have turn on 'movement detection' on our wide angle nest camera. This can be set to look at different areas of the field of view and to automatically save a short video to a memory card within the camera. This can then be remotely downloaded and checked for interesting happenings. It can be a slow process to check them all, but sometimes  it yields interesting events, like this one just as the bells were ringing at 4pm this afternoon. This really gives you an idea of how the nest scrape gets its name.

We shall be seeing a lot more of this kind of preparatory action over the next few weeks. If you spot something you think we ought to see, do please help us by noting the exact time stamp on the webcam screen and leaving a comment on this blog. We can then do our best to check whether the moment you saw has been captured, and to share it for all to see.







13 comments:

quarryman said...

very quick prey handover ( feral /racing pigeon ) on platform on 17/01 @ 1610..blink and you'll miss it ! Upland Ps (@ 1000' contour )are at least 2 weeks behind Derby birds..heard first "ee-chip" call a few days ago and have witnessed territorial aggression also

Abby-Lynn said...

Looking forward to another "laying of the eggs" and then watching them grow.

Anonymous said...

Courtship 13:54 12/02/15

AnnieF. said...

Falcon on the scrape ledge again.

Jodie said...

Will the box/camera be cleaned anytime soon or is it too late now? Just wondering because the camera is a little smeary........... :) Can't wait though, not long now!

Nick B (DWT) said...

Hi Jodie: yes the cameras and nest will get their annual clean in the next few weeks, depending on the weather.
We'll try to let you all know nearer the time.
Nick B (DWT)

Lorraine said...

Hi Nick,
Just been reading through the RSPB's Spring copy of Nature's Home magazine and saw the article about the 7.45pm venue at Loughborough University tonight, where it says you're attending to give a talk on the Derby project, in their great lecture theatre.

Wishing you good luck winging your way over there and hope you get a standing ovation !!

Nick Brown (DWT) said...

Hi Lorraine: the talk was last night in fact and yes I think it went well thanks with about 100 people there in a smart university lecture room.
Nick

Lorraine said...


Glad to hear all went well Nick, feel sure everyone present can't wait to tune into the web cams now, to monitor these special birds for themselves over the coming months !

All quiet on the scrape now that the bird that's been sat there for ages has finally flew off.
Laters..........

Phoebe said...

The falcon is sitting on the scrape ledge preening. No sign of the tiercel.

Linda said...

On one scrape and one on Corbel at 0751.

yvonne said...

I am worried that after the man came to to the nest last week the birds have been behaving with anxiety and kept looking around anxiously and I have not seen them settle in the nest like they did a week or so ago.I hope their nesting hasn't been disturbed.I was so shocked when I looked in a saw a man harnessed up at the edge of the nest..... Yvonne

Nick Brown (DWT) said...

Hi Lorraine: not quite sure why you posted your comment to this (now rather old) post but please be reassured that we clean the nest every year at about this time - and have done so since 2007 - and the birds are completely un-phased by the operation. Similarly when we ring the chicks, the parents are back with them within a very short time of us disappearing from the scene.
The weather has been especially cold here in Derby since Thursday with an East wind blowing straight at the nest, so that may have had some effect on the birds, though they have definitely been seen on the nest since Thursday when the cleaning took place.
Cheers
Nick