Wednesday 8 May 2013

LIVE! LIVE! LIVE! - and now even more LIVE!

Grotesque - but wonderful!
Today we installed a window display in the Cathedral Centre Cafe. Financed by our Heritage Lottery Fund grant, it showcases the numerous faces and figures on the medieval tower of Derby Cathedral. Most figures were carved in stone nearly 500 years ago, but a few faces are newcomers that flew in much more recently.
New display and window graphics installed by the Peregrine Project 

It's quite possible that our peregrines are better known than the equally amazing stone carvings, so we wanted to redress that balance. There are 26 faces and figures dotted around the four faces of Derby Cathedral, including seven 'Green Men' on the west face, and a number of carved beasts - called 'grotesques' at the very top of the tower. (They're not gargoyles, because only gargoyles have water spouts running through their mouths to drain water like a gutter, and ours do not have this.)

If you're visiting or shopping in Derby, do come down and try and see how many carvings you can spot for yourself. The side of our window display shows the locations of all the stone figures, should you get want help. A changing photo-display shows many of these carvings, and we are grateful to a number of local photographers who contributed photos, following a recent appeal on our Facebook and Twitter accounts.

We also installed a monitor showing the live webcam from the peregrine nest platform, so passers-by on Irongate can now watch them any time, day or night. Our display is mounted within a full-size mock-up of the peregrine nest platform installed on the side of the Cathedral tower. So, if you want to get an idea of scale, do pop down, if you can, and take a look.
Peregrine webcam and photo display.

Four life-size dummy peregrine eggs are included in the display.
Our display will remain in place until late June when, with luck, our birds will have fledged. Though for now, of course, we still await hatching-day with ever-growing excitement (due this weekend).

Credits:
Our thanks to Katapult for designing the graphics and window vinyls, and to MK Display Solutions, both of Derby, for delivering the printed graphics panels ahead of time.
Photography: Patrick Aherne, Joyce Sawford, Mick Futers all responded to our appeal for pictures of the carvings for the digital display frame.
And thanks to my family for coping with a full size peregrine platform on our living room floor for the last three or four weeks!
Nick M.

16 comments:

Kate said...

Morning all
Thank you Nick for all the Diary info,let us hope the next few days/weeks will be rewarding for everyone.
How wonderful that even more Locals and visitors to Derby, can become aware of the wonderful work being done for the Cathedral and the Peregrines.
Kate
P.S love the extra cam CHOL:):)

Craig said...

Morning all,
long time no see, sorry, been busy. But have been checking from time to time.

07.50 Nice little handover Falcon to Tiercel.

Peregrine Project Member (Nick M.) said...

Hi Craig - welcome back into the falcon fold.

And just a reminder to everyone that if you see really interesting activity on our new nest camera for which you think we might want to retrieve video records, then do please report the exact timestamp, including seconds, shown on the camera. We do have automatic movement detection and recording in place, but finding, downloading and viewing the right 20 second clip amongst dozens can sometimes be nigh on impossible without help.

This will be really important in the days ahead. #notlongtogo

Many thanks
Nick M.

Sally LS6 said...

The cafe and displays look great - hope to visit soon.

The stock dove I photographed on the nest a couple of days ago was ringed - presumably raised on the cathedral.

Sally LS6 said...

The screenshot I put on FB of the dove and peregrine beak to beak was at 14.58 (58 seconds) on 7 May.

Anonymous said...

Oak class, Holmesdale Infant school, Dronfield:

We have looked at the new video camera... outstandingly amazing.
We saw the female incubating her eggs, and the male having a wash on the edge of the box.
We were surprised to hear the bells ringing!

Roger said...

...and there will be special extra ringing this evening, between 6.45 and 7.30, for the Ascension Day service.

Nick B (DWT) said...

Sally LS6: the ringed 'dove' is a racing pigeon and not a stock dove as I think I suggested some time before when I had seen stock doves close to the nest. The body of the bird is too pale and the black bars on the wings too big for a stock dove.
Also, it would be very unlikely that a wild stock dove would have a ring whereas all racers do (usually more than one ring).
Failed racers like this which don't fly back to their lofts are of no value or use to the fanciers and they will not make any effort to retrieve such birds, eg if you find one in your garden and report it to the fanciers association. If they do eventually get back to their lofts I'm afraid they just get dispatched.
Nick B (DWT)

Pax1 Canada said...

four eggs

Anonymous said...

Morning all
Change over with a clear view of all 4 eggs still intact.06030.

NickB how I agree with your comments re the fanciers.Here on Dartmoor we regularly see a pigeon snapped on its flight across the moor, in my early days I stupidly collected the rings/numbers,thinking the fancier would want to know,and wish I had not bothered,doh!!

Kate said...

Sorry forgot to sign name 06.38 comment.
Kate (devon)

christine said...

I think we may Have a chick 2day! One of them is pipping! Just had a change over from the parents! From christine

Nikkidev said...

Think I've just seen a bit of white fluff;)

Anonymous said...

egg shell moved from under mum
Chris M

Anonymous said...

Katie B: has seen one egg has hatch. I'm amazed to see the egg hatch.

Anonymous said...

We love watching the peregrines, so excited for the other eggs to hatch, we're also watching the peregrines in London for our school project it is so fun to watch them from Maddie and Abbie 2R gorsefield