The Derbyshire Wildlife Trust (one of the three project partners) is a registered charity and a 'not for profit' organisation. It is the best recipient of funds. The Trust holds your donations, then pays the bills on behalf of all three partners. Rest assured that any money given to the Wildlife Trust will be used only to support this project provided you clearly state it is for the Peregrine Project. All donations, however small or large, are acknowledged either by email or letter.
You can donate in one of the following ways:
UK donors:
1) Post a cheque made payable to DWT to the Trust at East Mill, Belper, DE56 1XH including a covering note stating that your donation is only for the peregrine project and your address so we can thank you.
1) Post a cheque made payable to DWT to the Trust at East Mill, Belper, DE56 1XH including a covering note stating that your donation is only for the peregrine project and your address so we can thank you.
2) Ring the Trust office in office hours (01773 881188) and make a payment over the phone by debit/credit card (office hours are 9am to 5pm, weekdays).
UK Taxpayers only: you can greatly increase your donation by filling out a Gift Aid form whereby the tax people give the Trust a further 25% of the value of your donation. The form can be sent by email or through the post…just ask.
Overseas donors:
1) Please email enquiries@derbyshirewt.co.uk asking for the codes you need so your bank can transfer money to the DWT account. (Unfortunately Gift Aid does not apply unless you are a tax payer in the UK.)
2) Donors from most overseas countries can also ring the Trust (weekdays on 011 44 1773 881188 ) to pay by credit card......as long as you can work out when the office is open of course (check the webcam timestamp!)
Payments should only be made to one of the three Project Partners. Derbyshire Wildlife Trust is best placed for this. No other organisation or website is authorised to collect funds on our behalf.
It helps if you clearly mark on your payment that it is for use by the Peregrine Project for use in either the current or next financial year.1) Please email enquiries@derbyshirewt.co.uk asking for the codes you need so your bank can transfer money to the DWT account. (Unfortunately Gift Aid does not apply unless you are a tax payer in the UK.)
2) Donors from most overseas countries can also ring the Trust (weekdays on 011 44 1773 881188 ) to pay by credit card......as long as you can work out when the office is open of course (check the webcam timestamp!)
Payments should only be made to one of the three Project Partners. Derbyshire Wildlife Trust is best placed for this. No other organisation or website is authorised to collect funds on our behalf.
Thank you in advance,
The Derby Cathedral Peregrine Project Team.
(Derby Museums and Art Gallery, Derby Cathedral, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust)
89 comments:
@Project Team
Please could you put details of Watch Point Days on the home page to save having to search back in the Blog to find them.
Keep up the good work!
Contribution on its way.
The tiercel's doing his best to shelter his youngsters from the sun, but together, they're bigger than him!
Late last night, I tuned in to see the chicks on their own, with no sign of an adult, and as I write now at 12.00 pm, the chicks are on their own, sheltering in the shade. Is it usual for them to be left for long periods at this age?
Pay day on Tuesday, will be making a donation then!
Thanks Helen & Celia. Cheque on its way.
This weather must be torture for our chicks. I'm melting and I'm not covered in feathers!
Just saw one of the youngsters stretching its wings several times - quite a span already, and its feet are huge! They seem more lively now they've got some shade.
An adult (tiercel?) was on the scrape ledge by them for a while, then flew to the tower.
Mum's brought lunch, but it doesn't look much.
As far as I could tell, they each got a couple of morsels. I think it might have been Dad doing the honours because I believe it's the falcon preening on the tower, while the tiercel has remained on the shady side of the nestbox. The youngsters have retired to their favourite corner.
Both youngsters fast asleep, heads side by side, legs splayed out - like Midge said, teenagers! Dad's still on the ledge the other side.
No, my mistake - one had its head on the other's leg. They've moved apart a bit now. It's so difficult to make out the various parts of their anatomy at this age, they're all lumps, bumps and down!
Update on Beleef de Lente site. Barn owl has 4 chicks so far, Little Owl has 2. Both struggling to keep control of unruly broods! Nuthatches fledged yesterday. Some very amusing videos on all de Lente webcams, especially Eagle owls.
supper time, they are getting so bid, soon we will see their feathers :-)
Dad's brought tea - quite a substantial meal but I can't identify it. Both youngsters hungry and getting plenty. Mum's on the tower ledge.
Not sure I got it right - it could have been the falcon feeding them. Anyway, both youngsters had so much that they couldn't eat any more & went into their corner with their backs to the adult. Now the adult is having some of the carcass. I still can't make out what it is, but it seems too downy to be a pigeon.
One of them has come back for a second helping!
one came back for a second helping, must have a hollow leg!
Good long feed by the tiercel until both chicks were sated.
Mrs P visible up on the tower cam.
The chicks look great, have good appetites and some feathers are starting to show through.
That youngster ate almost as much the second time as it had before, then waddled over to the favourite corner, which had just been vacated by the other one. This one wasn't very interested in any food, but was pretty keen to see what was beyond the scrape ledge.
The parent flew off to the tower and deposited the carcass in the guttering that sticks out from the wall.
It's a fabulous sunset over Derby and it's been a hot day for the chicks. They look to be doing very well and what a relief that is to us all! They're really growing so fast now - it's amazing what difference a few days makes with them.
@ Tom Stephenson. Had a feeling you would have lots of replies to your post so apologies for not answering your question this morning!
It is perfectly normal for the chicks to be left to their own devices most of the time at this stage. They do not need brooding, indeed rarely want brooding, preferring their own company, as shown by the amount of time they spend at opposite ends of the platform to each other. At least one of the parent birds will be on watch somewhere close by in case of trouble.
@ AnnieF. So pleased there is someone as daft about these falcons as I am........Utterly compulsive aren't they? Our little bookends are looking great but even though I know they are programmed not to fall off the 'ledge' they still give me heart stopping moments. Were you watching last year when the young female flapped herself off the ledge accidentally?
Thanks Midge.
Just on the donation thing – I went to the DWT website and they had a facility to donate online, so I did. It says it takes a while to reach you, but I presume you get the whole lot? It also has the ability to add ‘Gift Aid’ for UK taxpayers – which adds quite a bit. I made sure I added a comment requesting it go to the ‘Peregrine Project’.
RJ
Logged in at 1am and the chicks are on left camera huddled in corner. They are growing well. Great news sx
2 chicks on lh side, but falcon rhs what is tht beneath it??
Is something out of sync? chicks showing on both sides of nest
ok now I get it one chick on either side duh! looked like there was two on one side, just ignore me, must be time for bed 12.05pm here
They're looking a bit lively this morning! Another hot day in store for us in Derby.
is there anyway i can take a pic off my pc of my two favourite birds i watch peregrine and other birds of prey all over the world and there times watching these four id like a pic please help if you can
There is now a link added within the desciption of our Flickr Group Pool. This link takes you back into our blog where we describe exactly how to save screenshots on a PC and then how to post them to Flickr if you wish.
So, just follow the link to our Flickr PHOTOPOOL under KEY LINKS at the top left of this page. Sorry if this wasn't clear before.
(Alternatively, find the blog archive for 29 April 2009.)
The tiercel's on guard duty on one side of the nestbox, while the youngsters are flopping about at the other end. One's too close to the edge for the good of my blood-pressure.
@ Midge: No, I didn't see the fall last year (just as well, I'd have had a seizure) but read about it on the blog. I've a horror of it happening this year perhaps you can tell ...?!
I forgot to mention that the falcon's on the tower.
@Project members - sorry I couldn't visit Derby while I was in the UK but time and family commitments (elderly parents) would not allow it.
I was sorry to read of the loss of 2 of the chicks but the other 2 look healthy and growing well.
As I could not visit I have called in a donation to the DWT - spoke to a very nice lady - I'm sure the money will be out to good use!!
Oh, and if anyone is interested there are 4 chicks at the Hamilton, Ontario nest - they are due to be banded on 31st May.
http://falcons.hamiltonnature.org/
And Happy Victoria Day to the Canadians reading the blog!!!
Dad's brought a mid-afternoon snack & the youngsters are ready for it.
Both youngsters asleep, one at each end of the nestbox.
Both parents on the tower - one perched on the guttering where they store food, the other on the ledge. It looks breezy up there.
Had a picnic on the "Cathedral Green" at 14.00 and watched the chicks through my bino's which were very lively with mom and dad keeping vigil from above. Many tourists in town including a large French party who enjoyed the spectacle too.
@ AnnieF
Last years tumble was totally accidental. Female chick ready to fledge being a bit over enthusiastic flapping on the ledge. She was fine but caused a panic at the time. A bit like me being pushed into the deep end of a swimming pool and suddenly discovering how to swim!
It happened.....
heres another site, 4 chicks at great river energy.
http://www.greatriverenergy.com/aboutus/environmental/birdcam.html
Thanks for the tip off Steph (Canada). Can't get enough of these beautiful birds. We've had a traumatic time here but delighted the Ontario birds have done so well and will be watching from now on.
Steph (Canada): thanks for your donation today - excellent and very kind of you.
Thanks also to Jean B and Carol from Notts for your kind donations....we are almost a third of the way to where we need to be in terms of donations for the year - so do keep 'em coming please!
Nick B (DWT)
It looks like both adults near each other up on the tower.
re. a question earlier about the number of birds fed to the chicks each day: the chicks are fed maybe 3 times a day but if a large prey item has been caught, eg a duck, the carcase will be cached and fed at several feeds so it isn't possible, certainly with the very limited time and resources at our disposal, to be sure how many birds are taken while the chicks are in the nest. A simple and very rough calculation would be somewhere in the region of 3 feeds/day x 40 days = 120. Although pigeons of all forms (wood, collared, feral, domestic etc) make up a proportion of this number, we know that in the last 10 days or so, a lapwing, whimbrel, black tailed godwit, moorhen and little grebe have been taken by the adults - and these are substantially sized birds which would probably constitute more than one feeding session each. The whole lapwing, seen when an unsuccessful search was made last week for the corpse of the second dead chick, was clearly cached and being kept on one side so to speak to be fed to the chicks later on.
Similarly with adult birds - the number of kills per day depends very much on size of prey and energy demands of the birds. And in poor weather the birds may not hunt at all, relying on either fat reserves or cached food such as that lapwing.
Nick B (DWT)
one on the tower cam one on rhs nest, chicks sleeping in the corner lhs nest
The falcon's on the tower with prey - a pigeon-sized bird I think.
Now she's feeding the youngsters, and the tiercel has arrived on the tower.
In the absence of banding this year, I’ve been pondering the gender of the two chicks. For what it’s worth here’s my prediction. One seems to be a day, maybe two ahead in feather development, so at the moment it appears to have more dark patches. It’s the one whose favourite position appears to be ‘standing in the naughty corner’ – facing the corner on the left hand side of the scrape. The other appears whiter at the moment, but is, it appears to me, bigger. So although the first chick is older, it’s smaller, so is male. The younger therefore female. Anyone agree?
Dad's doing the lunch. Two very attentive beaks to feed but there looks to be more than enough to go round.
@PAX Canada I agree with you the River Energy website is superb, just had a look at it and the photos from previous years.
18:46
Dinner is served!
I've just posted a screen capture on flickr showing a third peregrine, I think it was a peregrine, looked like it was about to land and then backed off -- the tiercel was sat on the stonework and the falcon was feeding the chicks. It could be the juvenile from last year again. The tiercel took off (in chase?).
The adult doesn't seem to be feeding the youngsters so is he/she protecting them from something? The other adult's on the tower.
@Phoebe @20.16
I made a post about a pigeon sitting under the scrape while parents were on the scrape and the tower. Suicidal. But I didn't do it right
Anyway in the middle of the sequence there was a flurry of wings from a large bird on the scrape, there for the 6 second lapse and then gone. Maybe the same bird?
The adult has been with the youngsters all evening & is now asleep on the nestbox ledge behind them, with its head tucked back into its wing.
feed time, Dads on the tower cam
The falcon's on the tower with quite a sizeable item of prey.
The chicks do not seem so lively today. One is just laying there. Has anything happened?
@ Demelza, New York : Both of them look very keen on the food the falcon's brought. I don't think there's anything much to worry about. It's been much cooler over here so maybe they were a bit chilly & snuggling up together.
19.50. A pigeon has just landed on the nest platform whilst the chicks were resting and Mum and Dad were awol. The look on the chicks' faces was briliant! Mum or Dad returned a few seconds after the pigeon departed - a close shave!
@ Delmetza, New York.
How lovely to know that you are following our peregrines. We have had a tumultuous year as you will know if you have been reading our posts. These two are healthy, happy and well fed chicks but they can be lazy little so and so's. My teenage grandchildren are just the same.
The parent birds have exhibited the most unusual behaviour regarding the second chick to die. None of us have seen anything like it. (Mum didn't seem to notice the first one had died for 2 days due, probably, to the fact that she was still brooding and she and the other chicks were keeping it warm). To continue to nurture and put enormous amounts of effort into rearing a sickly chick is almost unprecedented in the wild bird population. Normally the effort is directed towards healthy offspring.
I am sure these two will fledge. What happens after that is in the hands of the Gods as we will not know due to the fact that they could not be ringed within the 'safe' period. But we have an exceptional pair of parents here in Derby and I hope you will join us again next year for the future saga of the Cathedral peregrines.
@ RJ
Been doing my best to configure these two chicks but I think we are going to have to wait until they are considerably bigger to figure the sex. We know that it was the last two of the four chicks that hatched that died but the surviving two have only a day or two between them. They are both sprutting feathers at the same rate and I just think it's too close to call at this stage.
If you are proved right in a couple of weeks time I'll buy you a drink!
The scrape is beginning to resemble a feather bed!
Just had a look at chicks 11.40a.m. it looks as though they aren't speaking to each other.
I do think this website is one of the best for watching and CERTAINLY for comments. Looking at some of the others, people do talk a lot of twaddle and nothing to do with the relevant nest site. Keep it up Derby you're the best.
I cannot believe how big the chicks are getting. I've been watching since they hatched. They are getting their big bird feathers...Too cute....
Please can you post some more video?!?! How about the kamikaze pigeon sequence described by Anonymous 19.50. I wish I'd seen that!
@Joy, that made me laugh - people do talk a lot of twaddle but it keeps us smiling :) Here's my irrelevant twaddle: We have a pair of starlings nesting on our soffits (not ideal but they have to nest somewhere) and the babies have just fledged, but it looks as if the adults are back for a second round. Ain't spring brill.
I can confirm Anon's comments re the pigeon which perched on the LHS of the ledge for a short while. The parents were absent and the chicks looked very bemused.
I giggled as I imagined them thinking, "OMG, the food is now being delivered alive!?!".
The tiercel was swiftly back so he can't have been far away and the pigeon disappeared.
These chicks have not been obliging today. Smack on the verge of both cameras but clearlly visible to neither. Little monkeys. AnnieF where are you? I rely on you for the events of the day since I returned to work! I can only glimpse occasionally now when the boss is not looking (that's me)....
@ Midge: Sorry, I was out all morning & too busy all afternoon for more than the occasional glance - I'll try to oblige tomorrow!!! :)
And where's Craig got to? (Maybe he's actually doing some work ...)
I've been watching the cams for a while and have to say that both parents are doing really well, also DWT thank you for having the cams setup in the first place.
off topic
BBC Springwatch cams have gone live today you can watch them online.
@sef
Thanks Sef. As an active supporter of Derbyshire Wildlife Trust (DWT)myself, it's great to hear your appreciation. It's certainly an organisation that anyone who cares about the conservation of wildlife in our beautiful county ought to join. Through membership of your local Wildlife Trust you can have a local voice which can influence local decision-makers and local MPs. Collectively, the Wildlife Trusts across the UK thus have a great way of engaging with local politicians and so can directly influence UK Government policy towards the environment.
It's great that so many of you support this peregrine project directly - but some may also wish to consider membership of the DWT, too, as a way of showing your support for biodiversity.
Were I no nit-pic, credit probably ought more correctly go to Nick B. of the DWT for all the hard work he does, especially in organising and "manning" the Watchpoints, and we're grateful to the fantastic volunteers he gets to turn out on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays to talk to visitors to Cathedral Green. But credit for the webcams themselves probably ought to go to my own employer, Derby City Council, who through Derby Museums & Art Gallery did most of the work in installing the webcams. My colleague Nick Evans - a freelance joiner and fellow mountaineer - constructed the nest platform and abseiled down with me to install both the ledge and the cameras.
Of course, all we all contribute to the running of the Peregrine Project, both in work and in our own time. The three partners working together are far more effective than any one on its own could be. It's a pleasure to do so, knowing that so much enjoyment has been had by so many people.
But I must apologies to those of you who wished for more videos of the chicks - it has been a rather busy and rather challenging few weeks for me, and I've had very little opportunity to go and retrieve, edit and post the footage that I know you'd all like to see. For that I take sole responsibility.
Nick M.
@AnnieF - Yes work has been taking up so much of my time during weekdays and weekends. We're in the process of moving offices due to a merger and this means a lot of work (x10) to be done before the month end.
07:02 Is the Derby CC net down? I can't get onto them (The connection has timed out). It's certainly not my internet as I can watch the Kestrals.
(Blame the Council time?)
@Sef - many thanks for the Spring Watch info; I watch them every year.
Cannot access web cam this morning 28.5.10 - 07.42. Is there a problem?
Tww
I had some trouble getting the pictures this morning, though this blog was fine. Anyway, in the bright sunshine one chick is in the lhs back corner pondering whether to explore or lie down, and the other is flopped out near the middle strap of the scrape.
10:46 Am
Both parents are about, the chicks are in the corner with one of them having a rest, while the other is awake and mostly in the sun.
Camera 1 is stuck on 11:45 and multiview is stuck on 11:58:27.
Nice shot on camera 1 though of the changing of downs to feathers. Someone recently called them ungainly but I just can't help but think it's cute; the state they look like is very amusing.
12:08 Given in watching, going back to work.
The multi-view cam seems to be stuck at 12.04.
Left cam stuck at 11.45 - sorry I didn't notice earlier.
Lunch! I think it's the falcon feeding them, and their meal looks like a small-to-medium pale-breasted bird.
The Feed 1 cam's stuck at 12.58 - sorry, I forgot to check it against my watch again.
Yes there is a problem with the city council server today I gather - so we are entirely in their hands.
Apologies
nick B (DWT)
Only one chick on view (cam trouble again - thanks for the explanation, Nick) but that chick has an impressive array of new feathers & looks really quite beautiful. That's the back view, I should add; I haven't checked out its face yet but I do love those "spectacles" they get!
@ Annie F. Bless you! You are my eyes and ears when I am at work. Still, 3 days now to indulge myself with our little family. The remaining chicks look so well that I am sure we will be celebrating a successful fledge soon.
Thankyou so much for your posts. You paint the picture beautifully girl!
@ Craig - and you're not half bad either.....
Watch Points:
There should be a watch point today Saturday (10.30 - 1.30) but since the weather is wet it is likely that the volunteers who are due to run it will decide not to turn up - which is entirely their choice. Few visitors turn up if it's wet and we don't have a marquee to shelter under since it so rarely IS wet, going by previous years.
Watchpoints are generally run on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Obviously if you have your own binoculars or (much better) telescope you can go along at any time. Also, it is often the case that there are people with optics down there watching the birds (especially in the mornings) and usually they are only too willing to let you have a look if you ask nicely!
Nick B (DWT)
Ps.
Please watch for a comment about today's watch point (ie whether it is happening or not) sometime before 10.30, depending if the rain gets worse or eases off.
TODAY'S WATCH POINT HAS BEEN CANCELLED...it's pouring cats and dogs in Derby.
Nick B
What a shame that the weather has turned so miserable today - I was hoping to come along to the Watchpoint and bring my donation. Hopefully next weekend will bring back the nicer weather and I will see you all then. Good to see the cameras are back working again.
Pity about the Watchpoint but we do need the rain - our water-butt was almost empty!
Delighted to see the cams up & running again The chicks seem to have developed loads more of their darker feathers, almost overnight! Unless it's the rain making them look darker?
@ Midge: After promising you more info. for yesterday I was so cross with the cameras for stopping! But I did manage to se odd bits, & am glad you enjoyed my descriptive flourishes!
@ Sef : Thanks for the info. on the BBC Springwatch webcams. Now I definitely won't get anything done!
There's been an adult -tiercel I think -on sentry duty for quite a while as the chicks sleep huddled together in the rhs corner near the middle strap. I don't envy him in this horrible weather.
19:05
one chick just showed off it's wings, there starting to get their adult colours.
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