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Saturday, 26 May 2007

Gone Walkabout

A visit to the webcams this morning might have alarmed some viewers. Where is the second chick? Thanks to our other camera, it was easy to see that our chicks are now starting to wander about more freely than ever. Click image to enlarge One walked over on its own to the other half of the nest ledge on derby cathedral's tower before Mum came to collect it. Of course, the other chick then felt abandoned and began calling loudly!

We received some interesting comments on Friday from a viewer, saying that around 7pm local time they had witness one of the parents consuming one of the old eggs. Certainly, one does seem to have disappeared, and we may be able to check our film footage and capture exactly how this happened.
A couple of dozen video clips have just been posted off to Devon, at the request of the BBC, where Bill Oddie, Kate Humble and a huge team of technicians are preparing for this years TV extravaganza - "Springwatch". Broadcast each night on prime-time UK television, it uses live cameras and specialist photographers to capture and broadcast the marvels of British wildlife. Whether they will want to use our footage is another matter. But time will tell.
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4 comments:

  1. Anonymous26 May 2007 at 09:39

    Well the cotton ball looks are fading fast! Could you give me an idea what size the chicks and the adults are? its difficult to get a true size from the pictures. I hope the chicks stay away from the edge now they are starting to walk about.

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  2. Project Member (DWT)26 May 2007 at 16:48

    Peregrines stand between 36-48cms tall, have wingspans between 95-110cms and tails between 10-13cms long. Females average 15% bigger than males.
    The chicks are obviously considerably smaller at the present. As with the adults, female chicks are bigger (and have bigger feet) than their male siblings.
    You need not worry about them falling out of the nest platform. The front is about 15cms tall, so they are only just able to poke their heads above the top at present. Eventually they will stand on the edge - but not yet awhile!
    Hope that answers your questions.

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  3. Anonymous30 May 2007 at 17:35

    Any news on what happened to the egg yet?

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  4. Peregrine Project Member (Nick M.)2 June 2007 at 23:19

    I'm afraid we have missed the chance to capture the actual moment of the egg being consumed, as a much-needed holiday intervened. Without anyone to review and save the clips, the footage would have been over-written.
    On ringing day (1st June) The second egg was found to be crushed and broken in the tray, so it was left in situ.

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