Further to the comment about the lack of new postings recently and as Tony indicated, all three key partners have been taking a bit of (.......we hope you'll agree) well earned holiday last week.
I was in County Clare on the west coast of Eire where I came across peregrines on three occasions during the week, flying and in one case hunting over estuaries and coastal shores. It's always great to see them in such remote settings!
When I was a very novice bird watcher back in the 1960s, when DDT and dieldrin were doing their best to wipe them out completely, there were no peregrines in England at all. To locate one, you had to travel to somewhere like the west coast of Ireland or NW Scotland. I saw my first peregrine on Cape Clear, a remote island off the SW tip of Eire, way back in 1962. (That tells you just how long in the tooth I am!)
When I was a very novice bird watcher back in the 1960s, when DDT and dieldrin were doing their best to wipe them out completely, there were no peregrines in England at all. To locate one, you had to travel to somewhere like the west coast of Ireland or NW Scotland. I saw my first peregrine on Cape Clear, a remote island off the SW tip of Eire, way back in 1962. (That tells you just how long in the tooth I am!)
On getting back home this time, I made a quick trip down to the cathedral last Monday morning to check for prey remains and to see if there were any birds around. The female was on the gargoyle above the nest and I found old remains of lapwing and snipe, two commonly caught species, under the cathedral walls.
I have also caught up with my local hobbies which have now just fledged three youngsters, two months after the young peregrines fledged! I gather from the local hobby enthusiasts that, out of 23 nests visited this summer, seven (ie almost a third) have failed, the highest failure rate ever recorded by them in some 20 years of study...and all down to the awful summer weather.
The wonderful photo of a hobby is by John Miller, to whom many thanks for permission to publish it (and it IS the right way up incidentally!) To see the original post about hobbies (and another brilliant John Miller photo) go back to the blog on 31st July.
Blog fatigue....
Blog fatigue....
We do hope to keep the blog going over the autumn but please be aware that there is less (or maybe nothing) to report now the breeding season is well and truly over, so finding things to write about gets harder without straying too far off topic! A little patience on your parts may therefore be required.
Of course, you could probably encourage us to post more often if you chose to send in some more donations to support the project's future? While we have had 3 - 4 generous donations totalling over £100 from keen (one might even say 'some of our more fanatical') blog and web cam followers , some others who indicated a willingness to donate have yet to do so.....forgive me mentioning it again. Contact the Trust via enquiries@derbyshirewt.co.uk for details of how to donate should you wish to send us some further encouragement!
Nick B
15 comments:
Pax B.C.
12.00am falcon on the nest
that is a truly unusual photograph, it took me some time to work out which end we were looking at, but magnificent all the same.
Bird in the nest box, noontime grooming session, seems to be.
lovely peregrine on the nest at 14.30 how nice to see it still dont know if its a parent or a young one but its always nice to just take a peek and there is one there magic.
17.53 mum just landed on the tray and dad is on the tower as well
8.40a.m possibly 'mum' perched on scrape, lovely sight!!!!
I am sure we all agree that you all deserved a well earned break. Those of us who were lucky enough to be around during fledging will appreciate how hard you worked.
I am sure people are just keen to get the next instalment.
Many thanks
Bird on the nest box, in the far left corner. I can't figure out if s/he is preening or sleeping, as the very top of the bird is out of camera range.
Hello to all from Dayton -
Still checking in to see your lovely birds and the view at the Derby cams. So glad you all have had a nice break. I'm back at school and we're watching the "Frodocam" at this time, so my students now know I'm falcon-addicted. :) It is the "quiet" season for peregrines in the northern hemisphere as we can't see what they are up to, yet comforting to see them when they do pop in to the nest box to preen and gaze around. Our local falcons are not to be seen at the nest, tho I did see someone flying about a week ago, so I have high hopes for next spring. I adore the picture of your parents from the Aug. 19 entry!
Pax. B.C. Canada
Hi Dayton, I am watching the Frodo cam too, your schools must return earlier, here in Canada they return
Tues. after Labor day, cheers
Does anyone know where the young peregrins are?
back off my jollies so thought i would catch up. saw our own bit of lie saving on wild life front in yarmouth. a seagull juvenile had been abandoned by its mum and people had done the right thing and been watching for a good few hours and as day light faded realised it would not make the night on its own so fetched help. the camp staff promptly gently put it in a box and whisked it away to a sanctuary which i thought was really good cos some people vwould have just let it to die!!
07.57 Bird on nest. Could be 'dad' - though in extreme left corner of nest => cannot see all of bird... though 'he' could be dozing as he hasn't moved/changed his pose much in some time (couple of minutes) -though 'he' could be focussing on a prey... Just looked up to Bell tower after 5 mins. Now he is 'awake'. 08.04 - 05 Preening + flapping wings. Camera lense has a couple of spots that need cleaning. 08.20 Still 'looking around'.
John A
In response to an earlier comment, the juveniles don't seem to have been around the cathedral for some time now and I'm not aware of any reports of them except someone saying they saw four birds at the cathedral some few weeks ago.
Very few (if any) folk are going down to check what's on the tower now I suspect. So they could be around but simply not coming within camera range. Last year's young stayed about a lot longer as I recall.
News of any sightings of them is very welcome of course.
NB
Handsome/beautiful bird on the nest box!
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