Thursday 21 May 2015

Extending our 'Reach'.....

The ringing of the three chicks took place last night (Sunday 24th May) and everything went very smoothly. Big thanks to Martin our abseiler and Ant our licenced ringer and also to Roger who gave us access to the various rooms in the tower and took photos for us.
The chicks now have a uniquely numbered BTO ring on their right legs and an orange/red ring with a short three digit number on their left legs (030, 031 and 032). The falcon was screaming at them as she flew overhead but, once the chicks were put back in the nest, she soon came back and everything returned to normal. Fuller details and photos to follow, hopefully sometime tomorrow. The egg was recovered and will be sent for analysis. It looked as if the chick had formed inside the egg but had been unable to break out from the shell. 
There seem to be some issues with the web cams and these may not be resolved until council IT staff are back at work tomorrow Tuesday. We apologise for this. NB._
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If you are new to this blog and want to see the videos showing our three chicks and read about them, then please scroll down this blog to the previous blog posts.
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Extending our 'reach'......
As part of the grant we have received from the Heritage Lottery Fund, we are employing Ian Layton again this summer both to run the Watch Points for us and to try to extend awareness and appreciation of the peregrines to people who we might not normally reach.
These include people from ethnic minority groups in Derby city and people with disabilities.
As part of this work, Ian organised a session about Derbyshire's wildlife at the Derby Refugee Centre earlier this week, aided by a small group of volunteers. A wide ranging discussion followed.
Ian wrote:
"On Tuesday a group of five of our volunteers and I went along to the Bosnia-Herzegovina Community Centre in Derby to talk to the local Refugee Community.
Hannah who supports the group had done a great job of publicising our visit and we had a good crowd of 25 people from many parts of the world including Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Eritrea, Albania, Libya, Pakistan and Ethiopia. Talks like this are always interesting as we never quite know what to expect – will the group be confident enough in English to chat with us? – will they have had any schooling before finding themselves in the UK? – what are their cultural views on wildlife let alone conservation? Well this group was a peach! There were at least two surgeons in the group – and perhaps most interestingly a young Eritrean man with a background in fishery stock conservation in the Red Sea – and enough folks were confident enough to chat with us and ask a whole range of questions.
Ian gives his presentation. Photo Joyce Sawford
We began by introducing people to the idea that Derbyshire is more than simply the city of Derby – and explained that there are many and varied landscapes and habitats across the county. We then looked at the different species to be seen – both the commonplace and the beautiful, rare and precious. The Cathedral peregrines certainly featured in the presentation!
Folks seemed to really warm to our badgers, to be highly amused that our most venomous snake tends to kill one person every century, and loved the critically endangered hazel dormouse that has been reintroduced to a secret site in the county.
We then went on to explain the threats our wildlife face from people – through persecution, changes in farming and through the introduction of invasive species – before explaining what Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, the Derby Cathedral Peregrine Project and others do help wildlife overcome these dangers – and perhaps most crucially – explained how the Refugee Community could really help us in our work.
It is really heart-warming that the refugee group are now piloting the Derby Wildlife Spotters Sheet that we plan to use at this year's Watch Points in an effort to get people to follow up the “wow factor” of the peregrines into real action to support our wildlife – AND – that we have seven people coming along to the  events at Sinfin and Peartree Libraries next week to help us better engage with the language and culture of Derby’s ethnic minority communities. A huge thanks to – Yahya, Malik, Michele, Abthalek, Saeed, Omar and Jourda – and we look forward to working alongside you all next week! – and of course an equally huge thanks to the five Project volunteers (Sue, Joe, Hilary, Paul and Joyce) who came along on the day and who are putting in the extra efforts needed to include the Refugee Community in our Project".
The seven volunteers assemble. Photo Joyce Sawford


29 comments:

Phoebe said...

Thanks for the new thread. Very nice to read.

The chicks are on the other side of the scrape being fed at the moment.

Abby-Lynn said...

I was wondering what happened to the chicks. I thought maybe they were being ringed. How did they get to the other side?

Phoebe said...

They walk about at this stage or should I say wobble lol

Phoebe said...

Yet another feed for the chicks.

Anonymous said...

Brilliant to hear how Derby's peregrines are engaging with the refugee community - and vice versa.
A good news story for once - Mr Farage take note!

Phoebe said...

Thanks for the camera view of the chicks.

Abby-Lynn said...

Thanks for moving cam 2. The chicks are fast asleep.

Abby-Lynn said...

Cam 4 is stop, start & freeze.

Abby-Lynn said...

Cam 4 fine again.

Heather said...

Does anyone know how old chicks are now and if they are due to be ringed soon? (if, as Nick said,it's possible this year).

MrsP seems to be leaving them to their own devices, even during the night, and sits on ledge as far away as possible - perhaps she thinks she's getting too old for this game every year!!

Some wing flapping from chicks earlier, before we know it this feisty bunch will be giving us heart stopping moments tottering on edge of scrape etc.

Nick Brown (DWT) said...

Heather: the chicks will be about the right age to be ringed tomorrow Sunday - circa 19/20 days old. Any older and they start to get a bit feisty and difficult to handle, any younger and the rings might just slip off their legs.
We hope to do the ringing in the evening but only if the weather is reasonable. Seems as if the rain they forecast should have passed through by then.
Because of the major works and dangerous conditions inside the cathedral and also in the room through which we have to pass to get access to the nave roof, we are not allowed to have more than the bare minimum of people attend this year - so it will be just the ringer, abseiler, one of the bell ringers who has kindly agreed to let us in and out following the early evening bell ringing practice session - and myself.
The job should be done in about 60-90 minutes we hope.
Further information will follow tomorrow including what you may see (and hear) via the cameras.....so you don't think anything is amiss when you see a pair of feet arrive on the nest platform!
Nick B (DWT)

Heather said...

Hi Nick, Thanks for update re: ringing of chicks, lets hope the weather is kind (shame it wasn't tonight as weather is ideal). I thought they must be getting near to the time they are due to be ringed and wish you all the best, take care we don't want you falling through the floorboards! If you manage to retrieve the egg hope it doesn't break - could prove rather smelly.

I'm sure I speak for all us "peregriners" that we appreciate all the team's efforts bringing your expert knowledge to the local community - good luck with this year's feisty youngsters.

Don't know if you have any info as to why camera 4 keeps playing up, seemed to work ok for awhile when you played with the aerial/ethernet cable but unfortunately didn't solve problem permanently. Nice to be able to see them at the other end of scrape though.

Heather said...

Nick, when I said "good luck with this year's feisty youngsters" I,of course, was referring to the chicks and not the local community!

Abby-Lynn said...

cam 4 off line it says. Cam 2 shows the chicks all sleeping with mom on the edge of the scrape. She must feel good being able to stretch and be free.

Unknown said...

Camera 4 is working, it's lunch for the chicks & they're very hungry & noisy.

MaryT said...

Good luck with the ringing, just watching you now on camera. Lots of squawking going on!

MEL said...

In all years I've been watching the peregrine it's the first time I've watched the ringing.it's been so very interesting and quite an emotional experience. Thank you to everyone involved.

Julia said...

No gloves...... Very brave

Lorraine said...

That was great viewing, a real highlight of the year for cam viewers and lots of samples taken along with the egg I see. The whole thing went like clockwork ( during which the very bells themselves confirmed!) Many thanks team and look forward to reading the next update.

Heather said...

Can't believe I've missed the big event this evening(just got home), after all those hours of watching. Hopefully there might be some photos or video. Congratulations to the intrepid team and glad to see the chicks are happily back in the scrape with the parent keeping watch.

Will be interesting to see results of any "autopsy" on the egg if it arrived in one piece. Glad the team also avoided any mishaps due to the dangerous conditions in the Cathedral!

Nick Brown (DWT) said...

Ringing went very smoothly and pretty fast too! Photos not available yet but full blog post will follow within a day or so.
Female back on her nest quite soon after we left the tower.
Nick B (DWT)

Linda said...

Glad it all went ok. The chicks seem fine now. Sorry I missed seeing it so hope there will be some pictures or video.

Abby-Lynn said...

Just went to check on the chicks, cams 1, 2, show a picture but frozen. 3 not coming in and neither is 4. Just thought I'd let you know.

Heather said...

Hi Abby, - another sleepless night for me! Yes agree cameras seem to be all over the place. At present camera 1 is on time, 2 froze at 1.31.39, 3 looks as if the Cathedral is suffering an earthquake! and 4 is same as camera 1 but very slow.

Heather said...

Breakfast is served with all chicks getting a good feed. Looked as if only 2 were being fed then 3rd appeared and as one flopped aside it got the falcon's attention. Have noticed this a few times, perhaps as someone mentioned this is our clever female - will soon know when we get results of the ringing yesterday (thanks to our hero Martin for doing the abseiling).

Camera 4 still stop/starting but viewable, others same as previous post but "earthquake" on 3 seems to have abated for time being.

Sandee from the US said...

Love to the babies and their protective parents!

Abby-Lynn said...

So, we have 2 little girls and a boy. Yay, girls rule! Camera's are still acting a little silly but can still check on the chicks. Glad the ringing got done safe and sound for all. Thanks guys! I missed it this year but saw it last year. For little chicks they sure can squawk & loud!

Heather said...

So perhaps the two greedy chicks were the girls after all and the more timid one was the crafty male who always snuck in at the end - we can only guess!

Hi Sandee, one of my "chicks" lives in N.J. USA!

Looking forward to the next few weeks until they hopefully all fledge safely.

Abby-Lynn said...

I thought the littlest one was the youngest and probably a girl because "she"would sit in back and grab food out of the mouths of the bigger ones. So smarty pants was a boy. Oh well, good for him to be so smart. I will have to remember the bigger ones are the girls. But at this age you just think the littlest is the youngest.