A fortnight ago, QUAD, the new arts centre in Derby city, ran a well dressing event in the city and the photo shows the finished article which they decided should feature our peregrines centre stage. Not an amazingly good representation of a peregrine it has to be said, but better than none and remember that the well dressing is composed of tiny petals, bits of lichen etc.....so it is very difficult to do! For those of you who don't know, the dressing of wells in Derbyshire is an ancient custom said to lie in pagan tradition or in giving thanks for the purity of the water drawn from certain wells during the period of the Black Death. Whatever its origins, it was historically a custom exclusive to the Peak District of Derbyshire. The custom had almost died out by the early years of the 20th century but it was revived in the 1920s and 1930s and has now spread more widely.
Try Wikipedia for more information about well dressings.
Thanks to Jan Reynolds of QUAD for sending us the photo and for directing folk across to Cathedral Green on the day.
23 comments:
Cool :-)
has anyone noticed how close that white 4x4 has parked to the black saloon in front of it.??? maybe we're a bit too far away to see but it looks awfully tight to me, lets hope the guy in the saloon doesnt accidentally put it in reverse when leaving.
oh my god how sad am i ??
it must be withdrawel symptoms
what a lovely reminder of "our family" by depicting them in the well dressing. Congratulations to QUAD for choosing such a worth while subject!!
and in reply to the above blog i must also be having with drawal symptons cos i am the sad git who sat up most of the night seeing how many different languages i could find pereguin falcon in!!
10.21am B.C. Canada one of the falcons is on the nest,so nice to see.
18.45 She's on the nest box again - so lovely to keep seeing her. Wish the the rest of the family would join her!
Anna, Ripley
1905 and there is still our feathered visitor !!
Nice to have a 'close up' of Mum!
Anna, Ripley
That's so cool! The peregrines have had such a massive impact on so many people - hurrah! There is still plenty to see on the peregrine web cam - the birds love that nest box and keep returning. But in case anyone is getting severe withdrawal symptoms, the BBC "Springwatch" still has stuff on offer - see http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/springwatch/webcams/
(Although I do hope those Heligan barn owls have stopped playing at cannibals!)
Sue Hetherington, Wendover
"the 'chick chicks' are on mummys 'tomtuter' again yay!!!"
my little boys face has just lit up like a beacon to see the peregrine on the nestbox, 19.25 local time
20.12 Have just taken another look at the webcam - can't resist it. Even closer still - she's such a beauty. Thanks for such a privilege!
Anna, Ripley
A falcon video someone posted on youtube, I have broken the url so it doesn't get clipped off.
Hang in there until the end to see the maneuvers, amazing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Z7MeIeqJYXc&NR=1
Thanks Karen Anne - I have just watched the You Tube video and it was brilliant. Gives you real insight into the Peregrine hunting skills.
Anna, Ripley
2195 and she is still there. You cant help but be awe struck at her beautiful plumage. I never realised how different her breast is to the lower part of her front. just gorgeous
brilliant close up on the web cam of i believe the mummy bird, she almost does'nt seem real shes so close, wonderful to see her shes a real beautiful bird thanks.
Is the web cam being moved closer, or is it slipping?
Now I might have this wrong, but I think one of the experts said that the chick's markings were vertical stripes and the parent birds had horizontal markings...
John
Hi Karen,
I think it is just the enlargement focus on the camera that is 'slipping'. I think Nick can reset it.
John
0618 and one of the family has popped into the nest to say good morning!!
11.32pm B.C. Canada, one of the parents is still at the nest
0816...and it's still there. Jennie, HK.
In reply to John's posting last night -
I'm not an expert, but yes I did say that the juveniles have vertical streaks on their undersides whereas the adults have finer horizontal stripes. This is probably the easiest way of separating them via the webcam where the colours tend to get a bit washed out.
All four birds were present on the East face of the cathedral at about 8.00 last evening but just sitting around. A friend of mine saw all four flying around Cathedral Green last Friday afternoon with the juveniles appearing to play tag with the adults.
Andy M.
talking of striped birds i know a cockateal is nothing like a pereguin (though ours probably has a beak as vicious) but you can tell sexes in the cockateal by there stripes. Apparently the male has them while the female is stripeless so this could be the same ruling with the falcons.
Thought this bit of info might confuse the matter even more!!
For telling the adults and juveniles apart in the webcam, I tend to prefer looking at the top of their heads. The adults all have perfect uniform-coloured heads (greyish), whereas the juveniles have slight patches of white in them (and are browning in real life) This trick fails completely if the birds are sodden, as they all then look the same - wet and streaky.
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