About (or before) 7.00 am this morning (Wednesday 17th), one of the females (colour ring number 031) flew from the platform but failed to make it back to the tower. She was found by Colin Brailsford, one of the workmen from the cathedral, who cleverly managed to get her into a box until I arrived - great job Colin!
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| 031 on the ground - photo Colin Brailsford |
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| Looking none the worse..... |
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| How did I get back up here then? |
2 pm 17th Update: it seems that two juveniles (031 the grounded female and the male -032) have now fledged - there being just one (with colour ring No. 030, a female) left in the nest platform. A look around the local roofs failed to find either youngster but the parents seem very calm so probably they can see where they are from their elevated vantage point and are happy they are OK.
The Watch Point had a steady flow of visitors (including Linda and MaryT, two of our blog commentators). The weather was overcast and quite blustery...not ideal conditions for making your first flight!
Update 18th June 8 am: 030 still on the platform with the male 032 on a ledge just below (at one point face to face with the incubating wood pigeon nesting there!). No sign of 031. the female that came to ground yesterday but the parent birds seem very calm so she'll be up there somewhere. Four swifts flying about round the tower.
032, the little male, was sitting very close to the nesting wood pigeon below the platform.
Anyone suggest a good picture caption?
UPDATE Friday 19th June: the last chick fledged this morning, sometime after 5.30 am. Certainly by 8 am when I arrived at the cathedral, the platform/scrape was empty. Two males (the adult and the youngster) were sitting on the grotesques above the nest - a favoured sitting place. The adult female peregrine was on the highest point of Jurys Inn looking down, suggesting that one or even both her young female offspring may be up on that flat roof somewhere, out of sight. Certainly there was an air of calm, with neither adult flying about or calling, so with luck all three young birds are safely 'up on high'. Further checks will be made but do come down to the Watch Point tomorrow (Saturday) to meet our volunteers. For sure some of the birds will be visible, if not all.
Ps. Some great captions for the pigeon/peregrine photo above are among recent blog comments but do keep 'em coming!
Nick B (Derbyshire Wildlife Trust)
Ps. Some great captions for the pigeon/peregrine photo above are among recent blog comments but do keep 'em coming!
Nick B (Derbyshire Wildlife Trust)
42 comments:
Thank you Nick and to all for making me so welcome it was lovely to meet you- Put a face to a name you know! Was watching the last remaining unfledged chick flapping her wings- don't think she'll be long in fledging. Mum- I think flew over crying out whilst I was there, Dad too (I think) and at one stage think it was him on the Jury's sign Good luck to all the chicks I hope all goes well for them. Can see the problem for the webcams- hope the guys there today can do something to help. if you happen to be near do come and see a watch - its fascinating.
I really enjoyed the Watch Point this morning and meeting everyone. Nice talking to Joyce and have to say how impressed I was with everyone from Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, all very informative and interesting to talk to. Was great to see the sole juvenile having a good flap and testing its wings out. Well done to Colin for finding the fledger and also well done Nick too. Even though I am moving to Bridlington very soon I will still be able to keep an eye via the blog. Best wishes from Mary
Cam 1 is moving along today but in bits then freezes again. Good luck to all the fledglings. One to go. It is lying down close to the edge and lonely I'm sure.
So Heather and I were not wrong in our thinking they may have fledged,Pleased that Two are up and away, when will the third go????I wonder .Still on the tray 16.54.
Thanks Colin and Nick and also for updating ....
Kate
17.34 female juvie joined by parent with prey on scrape. I don't think it'll be long before she too fledges as this year's chicks, as we've mentioned before, seem to be a hardy and feisty group. Well done Colin and Nick for the rescue (especially with those talons!). Perhaps taking the"plunge" was the correct description after all.
I just saw the feed too. It would have been nice to see more movement but nice anyway. Last year the 3rd one took a couple days or more to fledge after the first 2. I hope the first one is ok.
I'm really going to miss these birds. I would have loved to have seen the big girls reaction when she landed on the floor probably thinking to herself, maybe I should have gone easy on the food intake ! It's such a mixed bag, happy feelings because they survived and have got this far but so sad as we may not see them again..still there's always next year..it's been absolutely briliant.
Thank you.
Just tuned in to the excitement - was worried to see only one occupant in the scrape, before reading the update, which soothed any fears. What a great rescue and release - and what eager beavers this years bunch have turned out to be!
You gotta admit, the 2015 chicks DO seem to have evolved much faster all round this year, both in form AND attitude, which prompted many of us cam viewers to comment on ..........spooky! - (it was that bloomin' eclipse I'm tellin' ya!)
Anyway, wherever the super-chicks have settled tonight, I feel sure the parents are keeping a beady eye on them. The remaining chick has now settled down into the scrape corner after a spell sat on the edge. Nice calm night to lead us into tomorrows events.
The 2 girls were much more aggressive than the ones last year and even the little guy tried to take the prey away from mom. It was funny, sometimes mom would let it go and sometimes she held back till the female gave in. Hopefully we will see them a few more times. Last year they did come back to sleep on the scrape a few times.
Morning all
Two on the scrape this morning with prey.Only one eating and then flew off leaving the other looking out standing on the edge. (pics on Flkr)
Kate
The last female is all alone and probably feeling lonely. She will be gone soon too. Hope they keep coming back. I love what Jane had to say about the "big girls" food thoughts.
0901. Think she's fledged. Looked in a little while ago, and she was sitting on the edge of the scrape. I looked just now and the scrape looks empty. If she has good luck little (!) girl, I hope to see all 3 of them around and visiting the scrape
Been down to Cathedral Green this morning. The solitary female on the ledge was still there. The little male was still below near the pigeon. Also one of the adults was sitting above the left hand louvre above the tower
We have heard that two of the falcons have fleged and we think the uver pergan will flege soon. We like looking at the picturs of the juvenile on the grouned. We hope that they get better at fling and come back. It is good because they can
flie.
Lone female having a snooze in the corner right now.
I thought I saw movement below the scrape last night, but it was murky and hard to fathom. Could see the dove moving but also movement very close to her and wondered if it was one of her chicks. It must have been that same fledgling in Nicks great update photo.
My caption would therefore be....
" But I promise you Mrs.D, when I baby sat last night, there was definitely only TWO chicks in the nest, honest......slurp!"
Got a live feed plus sound on Cam4 for a few moments just now, showing the remaining juvie still happily perched on the ledge, head bobbing the view below. Cam4 now froze again, but was a nice treat.
camera 4 working intermitent 1 juvie trying to bed down in far end of scrape,Maybe camera will continue for a while, Wil watch for a little longer but really time to turn in myself.
juvie now perched on edge of scrape enjoying view,. Caption for picture,: Gotcha :
Nice one Anon !
5.23 am live on Cam 1 parent on edge of scrape then moved around to corner before flying off. No sign of the last female juvie so perhaps she's finally fledged. Parent looked like Falcon so wonder if she was checking where the last of her brood was. Hopefully she's made a good maiden (literally!) flight and isn't somewhere on the ground.
Perhaps the wood pigeon can breathe a sigh of relief for the time being.
Caption:- Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer! Hope 'Anon's'comment doesn't prove correct:)
I do think the last juvie has fledged. It was great watching them from egg to flight. I will miss watching them and look forward to next year. But will keep an eye on the scrape.
I've got the 'empty nest' feeling...
You could try this
http://www.ospreys.org.uk/webcam/
:)
Or this
http://www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/osprey-cam
http://www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/raptorcam.html
More familiar for us!
http://www.library.umass.edu/falcons/
Hi Green Class - you were right - the last young bird flew away from the nest this morning. We think it may be sitting on a stone church not far away called St. Michael's.
All three chicks have now gone...so the nest is empty. One or more may decide to fly back, especially if the parents leave food there.....they get hungry as you can imagine!
Thanks for your comment.
The project team
One of the birds is sitting on the edge right now. Can't tell whether it is a juvenile or not.
I have cam 4 working. It looks like it is the falcon as she was scraping the scrape as tho getting it ready for nesting.
She just left.
Cam 4 still working nicely. Too bad it wasn't when the juveniles fledged. But we saw the eggs when they were laid, we watched them grow from little white bits of fluff to large juveniles. We were lucky. Better Luck next year. Plus we can still watch this year.
Hi Heather and Abby-Lynn: thanks for your ideas - much appreciated!
We have had several goes at the cricket club and even had their chief executive over a few years ago but so far with no great success.
Renewed efforts will be made when we get the chance...
And putting boxes in local cafes etc is another great idea which we hadn't thought of. They do occasionally 'disappear' when the Wildlife Trust has had them elsewhere but overall they can bring in some useful money.
As you say Heather re. the cameras, most of ours are now 8 or 9 years old and there are better models available there days (some even with automatic lens wipers to clear off the rain and muck!
Shortly we will be sitting down to discuss all this - so do keep the ideas coming.
Many thanks
Nick B (DWT)
Cam 2 - nice shot of juvie overlooking Jury's Inn, looks fit and healthy. Pigeon still in residence.
Re: donations and the cricket club, words fail me.......! No doubt some of us will continue to scratch our heads for more ideas.
I mentioned a 2016 calendar at beginning of the year with the photo of the Cathedral surrounded by snow (for December) and shots of 'our birds' for the other months, but not sure if printing etc would be cost effective?
Cam 2 shows Mr P on the scrape and one other up top right up close to the camera.
Perry on cam2 having a gd clean
Monday morning and camera 2 shows two of the Juve's on the ledge below the scrape. Hope the pigeon has some good camouflage !!!
What is the link to the new blog? I missed it.
Hi Abby-Lynn I'm not quite sure what you mean, except that whenever a new blog post is published, comments tend to be posted there, not in the previous post (like this one).
Just go to: http://www.derbyperegrines.blogspot.co.uk to see the latest blog post, and comments will be seen by most people on the last post to be published. Forgive me if I've missed your point - I hope this explanation makes sense, though. PLease let me know if not.
NickM
Yes, it does make sense it is just that usually someone is posting something everyday and the last post there was the 25th. I just thought there was a new link. Thanks Nick.
Trio on the tower at sunset.....awww
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