Thursday 20 November 2014

Top Ten award and another 2009 youngster comes a cropper

Our Project's web cams have been placed in the TOP TEN BIRD WEB CAMS IN THE UK by the magazine of BBC TV's Countryfile programme.
Considering how many bird cams there are now this is a great accolade and of course, it is all down to Nick Moyes who set them up and has managed them ever since.
The two cameras looking down on the nest platform went up in 2007, with the so called pudding-cam on the ledge above a year later.
Then, in February 2013, Nick fixed a new wide angled camera to the back of the platform. This is the one that gives a view out over Derby:

Another one comes to ground
In 2009, our Derby peregrines raised four young, two males and two females.
One of the females, colour ring 009, was found dead on the roof of a block of flats nearby soon after she had fledged. She'd flown into a smoked glass screen which ran around the edge of the roof and had broken her neck. She was set up by a taxidermist and we use her for educational purposes - see the previous post.
The other female, 010, injured her shoulder beyong repair and has been in the care of Colin Pass and now Dave and Lesley Robinson. Colin called her Cathy.
Last week, one of the two males of the 2009 brood, with colour ring 011, was taken to Lesley and Dave with a slightly drooping wing.
This male was found in Nottingham city in a school playground, unable to fly. Mark Speck from the Notts Wildlife Trust collected him and took him to Lesley and Dave.
He was taken to the vets who decided that, with a bit of luck, the bird might recover after some recuperation.
So, what happened to this male? He's in full adult plumage as you can see from Lesley's photo:
011, a male from 2009, injured last week in Nottingham
There are two possibilities, foul play having been discounted:
First he was chasing prey and flew into some obstacle - a wall or fence perhaps.
Second, he had an aerial battle with another peregrine. This is a real possibility since not so far from where he was found there is a pair on a church. Perhaps he tried to take over?
If he did, he didn't succeed because it now seems that the male at this site, seen this week, also has an orange ring on his left leg!
So, the plot thickens.....how many of our youngsters are trying to get paired up in Nottingham we wonder?
Nick Brown (DWT)

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's really interesting about the male with the orange leg ring in Nottingham! Any idea what the ID was? Norwich's chicks are also ringed with orange rings on their left leg so I'd be fascinated to see if it's one of our Norwich birds too! Didn't realise there was a 2nd pair in Notts, I usually follow the NTU pair. Any info would be great. I hope 011 recovers quickly :)

Nick Brown (DWT) said...

Hi Anon: we have the BTO ring number as well as the colour ring number so we are sure the bird is one of ours and not one from Norwich. Sorry to disappoint you!
Nottingham is a much bigger city than Derby and there is room for more than one pair. The locations of the other two pairs are not widely known and both have had problems of one sort or another so we are not at liberty to say more than that I'm afraid.
Nick (DWT)

Linda said...

Hope this Lad is better soon, and it's nice to know that the chicks in general seem to be thriving. Looking forward to when it all starts again. They say there is going to be a lot of snow in Derby this year- is there anything that could be done to protect the scrape a bit- or would it upset the birds? Linda

Hilary, B.ham said...

Wow! How great to be able to learn about our Derby birds after they have fledged. What has Nottingham got that is so special. Maybe birds fledged and reared in city centres seek out similar sites for themselves. Fledged in 2009 this fella is obviously on the look out for his own des res and a mate.Let's hope he can get back up and flying soon. Thanks for the update Nick and I hope Nick M. feels very proud that, quite rightly his efforts are being recognised nationally.

Anonymous said...

Hi Nick thanks for the reply! I know you know 011 is a Derby bird but when you say you have the BTO/Colour ring numbers, is that of the tiercel of the Notts pair on the church? That's the ID I was curious about :) Wouldn't want to know their location, the fewer who know the better! Thanks!

Jodie

Lorraine said...

Two birds in view tonight - not sure yet who is who - but so nice to see more than one.

Nick Moyes said...

Hi Lorraine. I've just put a screenshot up on our Facebook page. It looks like the male on the towertop, with the bulkier female on the nest ledge - but I'm not 100% confident myself.

Linda said...

Both still around at 11 am too. Think it is Dad on the scrape and Mum on the corbel or whatever it is!

Hilary, B'ham said...

Hi, can anyone tell me what all the bits of red, plastic looking bits are on the scrape please? Fluffed up preening Peregrine in shot right now.

christine said...

Webcam 2 has frozen again.

Wendy Bartter said...

Lucky enough to get a couple of captures of Peregrine feeding on 2nd December from the only remaining working stream & now I find they are all either frozen or not available owing to technical difficulties"
Will they be restored or is that it until next breeding season?

Nick B (DWT) said...

Hi Wendy: Nick M tells me that there seem to be several problems with the webcams all at once and that it may take a week or more to sort them out. The 'connectivity' between the nest and the internet is very complicated and at the moment it is not clear what has happened.
At least it has failed OUT of the breeding season!
Our apologies but we will try to get back to normal service asap.
Nick B (DWT)

Lorraine said...

Thanks for techno update Nick.
Always good to glimpse the birds out of breeding season, just to keep an eye on 'em and report any notable incidents etc.,

They both look free of ailments and in good condition, so more than able to cope with the coming winter months.

It's amazing how the cams still function in the damp and cold, albeit needing the odd tweak here and there, but when they do, they always capture the two brightest "stars" in the Derby sky! - so well worth any small hitches in between.




Wendy Bartter said...

Stream 1 cam froze again but at an opportune moment with one of the Perrys right in front!

Lorraine said...

Cams 1, 2 and 4 all up and running again ( thanks Nick M if your wizardry! ) and can see just now one of the birds cuddled warmly into a crevice on the tower ledge - brrrrrrr !!

Helen said...

Both peregrines visible on the tower camera this evening, with prey. Good to see them both together.

Helen said...

During a brief visit to Derby this morning both peregrines were enjoying the sunshine on the Cathedral tower. Prey remains below the Cathedral included teal.

Wendy Bartter said...

Must be good to be able to visit Derby Cathedral & see Peregrines, unfortunately I live too far away to pop in!
Here's where I post my captures of these beauties so that members of RSPB Community Forum can share
http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/wildlife/f/2543/p/109817/915600.aspx#915600
We do so enjoy following the nesting & day to day activities!

Nick B (DWT) said...

Hi Wendy: glad you like our web cams and our birds too!
All the best
Nick B (Derbyshire Wildlife Trust)

Lorraine said...

One of the birds ( female I think )just returned to the scrape with a live catch ( cam 4 )

Lorraine said...

BP image : Despatched quickly via back of neck so thankfully no unpleasant struggle - now de-feathering.