Gruesome Remains

Lots more gruesome bird remains are being found below the tower, showing that the peregrines are still here and active. Just three peregrines are now being seen around the Derby Cathedral Tower and Cathedral Green, rather than the two parents and three young from last summer. Pretty soon the last chick will probably move off to seek its fortune elsewhere. All the same, it’s not pleasant to see how many rare birds they do seem to like eating. It’s a shame they can’t stick to the feral pigeons which are still present in Derby in large numbers. Over the last few weeks we’ve found the heads and other remains of knot (shown here), dunlin, snipe, water rail, fieldfare and redwing whilst down south we've just heard that a peregrine has just taken a Leach’s Petrel! We have to remember that peregrines are just returning to somewhere like their old numbers, and that it was man who persecuted them to near extinction in England, or who poisoned their food chain with DDT so that their eggs cracked when incubated. The impact on our wild bird populations is really to be welcomed if we are to take delight in seeing peregrines return to central England once again. (posted on behalf of Derbyshire Wildlife Trust)