The last one to go ( a big female) left this morning, watched by everyone at the Watch Point.
Wendy Bartter's video is here.
Here are some photos taken by Joyce Sawford, one of our trusty band of volunteers:
 |
| Landed in a sycamore tree |
 |
| Mobbed by a mistle thrush....no peace for the wicked! |
 |
| A bit less hassle here on another church near the cathedral |
 |
| Now this is better and higher....but I certainly need a lie down after all that! |
There are more great photos (by Cliff P and Ian B) on the flickr site here.
Just a further little plea for donations before you all disappear and start watching football (ha ha)....
Just a further little plea for donations before you all disappear and start watching football (ha ha)....
Big thanks to everyone who has donated this week....
The Project team
60 comments:
Just wanted to say a massive thank you to all .. for making these last few months really enjoyable.
I have loved watching the cams,reading this blog and watching Wendy's vids.
All the Volunteers and project team should be proud of yourselves for your hard work and dedication to these wonderful raptors.
Last but not least thankyou to Mr and Mrs P for being totally brilliant parents and bringing up four more beautiful Peregrine Falcons to be watched and admired.
Here's to next year, take care all.
Karen.
One fledgling back on the scrape at 23.00 when I looked, looking quite chilled out having a good scratch!
Hi yes, I just had a look in.. is it juvenile?? I keep trying to get a good look but only see it on cam2 thought it looked like an adult ?? Difficult to tell in dark, Would make more sense to be one of the four fledglings
Thanks to all who contributed in any way to this wonderful family. I have enjoyed many visits to the cams to see these funny birds. I did see the 3rd one get jumped by its sister. Not fair but that is siblings for you. Was it the little guy who went first? Thanks Wendy for the videos. Till next spring, take care all.
Vicky
Been great meeting all you lovely peeps on here & sharing posts & vids ... my thanks to 'Team Derby Peregrines' for their efforts in providing us with the privileged views we have enjoyed & will continue to do, at least, I will as I watch this site all year round!
Noticed Peregrine on scrape a couple of hours ago & just switched recorder on as it is still there now!
Morning all
Absolutely concur with all your comments, have missed 'Phoebes'input this year, though I know she is looking in.
Still on the scrape this morning, so whoever appears to be enjoying the safety and peace of surveying his world.
One still on scrape at 07.30.
Seems to be having trouble with right leg?
Sunday morning; The bird on the platform was the adult male.
Only one of the four juveniles was visible this morning (and that one was flying well) and all was very calm - so we are confident that they are all up on roofs somewhere.
Further checks will be made but we are hopeful that there will be no more problems.
Nick B (DWT)
Hi Nick, thought it was the adult, it has been there all night. Probably getting some R&R now most of the hard work is over and reclaiming his box!!!
Will they contiune to feed youngest for a couple of days now??
Just watched him fly away at 10.19!
Hi Karen, just checked Peregrine facrs again & youngsters are dependent on parents for about four weeks post fledge until they can hunt proficiently for themselves!
Saw parent, think it was tiercel,back in scrape looking around and flew off 10.45. Have been checking on the Loch Lowes and Rutland webcams and all is well, former having good feed. They commented that when feeding the youngsters the parent will make sure one is full before moving onto the next and so on. This is to ensure that if there isn't enough food to go round then at least one chick will survive. Wondered if this is the case with peregrines which would explain why the little one was usually last to be fed.
I also wondered how the juveniles fledged when over water and apparently they take off vertically like a helicopter (they wouldn't stand much chance if they launched themselves off the nest like our back flippers this year, but could be fatal if they're pushed out). Beautiful shot of our last fledgling in sycamore tree. Any chance of possibly printing a calendar with some of the many marvellous photos taken this year for 2017 to raise funds if it's financially viable.
Well the last fledgling turned out to be a female so sorry Tim from the ISS we couldn't honour your return from space after all!
There is a very clever American lady working in virtual reality design called Timoni, we could 'borrow' that name!
I also forgot to thank JOYCE for those wonderful captures in the sycamore tree, truly lovely.
Thank you nick for posting them for us to see.
Great to see all fledged okay. Another good year so far.
I notice a juvenile sitting on the scrape ledge at the moment.
Interesting to see that the juvenile sitting on the platform is still doing a lot of wing flapping. One of the adults has just brought it some food.
Karen, the juveniles will still be dependent on the adult birds for a good few weeks, as they are not able to hunt for themselves yet. The adult birds often bring food in and drop it so that the young can fly below and catch it. Or they will pass it to them in mid air. This helps them to develop the skills they need to start hunting independently. The adult birds will also sometimes go in to a mock stoop to show them how it's done! It can be a really exciting time to come down to the watch points as there is often a lot of aerial action above the Green once the birds have fledged. The juveniles usually remain around the Cathedral until the autumn before drifting of to find their own territories.
Thanks Ladies really interesting. . Did not realise that the juveniles stayed around that long.
Yes Wendy -Timoni is a great name , the little male can still be Tim just a tad early in his touch down.
just had a quick check in ,one juvenile on scrape could it be Timoni?? Ha.
I think a calendar is a wonderful idea. Maybe the Falcons Cricket Club could help with the printing cost of the calendar. In exchange they could advertise on the bottom of a few pages of the calendars. Other Businesses could also advertise for helping with the printing cost. The printing company could be asked to give a discount if you let him advertise in the calendar. Anyway I think it is a great idea.
Mr P is sitting in his usual spot surveying his kingdom.
Just had a moment to check through overnight footage of our juvenile who spent last night on the ledge & discovered that after she? woke at 04.07 it seemed obvious that something had caught her attention above, flew up out of sight & quite quickly returned with food ... parent doing a grand job of still looking after youngster ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwVwHv-wxgA
Didn't get footage of flyaway that I was fortunate to witness at 10.19 as recording from stream 2 & youngster had moved across to other scrape for take-off!
Hi , on scrape now cam 2 is a good view, it is quiet vocal.
Two on scrape now. One looks wet through!
Yep, both of those on the platform are juveniles. Great to know that they must be flying quite well now as the platform is a relatively small target for them to land on.
One on the nesting platform
ALL 4 JUVENILES PRESENT AT 120CLOCK 2 ON CATHEDRAL 1 IN PLATFORM 1 BELOW AND THE OTHER 2 ARE ON THE INDUSTRIAL MILL APEX TOWER PARENTS BIRDS ARE AROUND AS WELL (CLIFF
Two are now on the scrape feeding - I think they are juveniles.
Hi Ann, just tuned in and sounds as if it's expecting lunch to be delivered, much wing flapping as well. Hope Tim and Timoni are doing ok (not sure Nick would approve of this anthropomorphism but as they weren't ringed this year perhaps we can be forgiven!). Feel sorry for parents having to hunt in this awful weather and having to distribute it to different locations.
Like this year I also suggested a calendar in 2015 for raising funds and think Vicky's suggestion to involve local businesses an excellent way of getting it off the ground (or fledging so to speak!) I also mentioned possibility of Christmas cards - there was a lovely photo of Derby Cathedral in the snow, suitable for December. Another thought was for volunteers to go round with peregrine marked buckets in the Cricket Club's tea break, with their permission of course, you can collect an awful lot of small change that way.
13.25
3 peregrines on the scrape at the moment
Three young ones on scrape and parent feeding them 2.10 Garry
Thanks all for the heads up, got some footage of the noisy 'oiks' & the bells! Lol
And Yes to the calendar idea, would love one on my wall!
3 now on the nesting platform so good to see they are all doing well would love to see the four
My husband found this site just after they hatched and we are completely hooked can't stay away. Roll on next year it's terrific watching them housework gets put aside. Keep up the excellent work.
That's good news that you've seen all the young ones, Cliff. Thanks for letting us know
Just checked in 2 on the nesting platform
2 on the scrape right now. One on the ledge and one trying very hard to get something to eat. Looks like a whole black coloured prey was left and the juvenile is trying its best to clean it. First it had it in the corner, then dragged it out and is pulling feathers off. I guess the parents want them to learn to do it themselves.
Christmas cards sound great too Heather!
Wonder which are the 2 on the scrape tonight?
They are really lovey-dovey with each other!
Well there were just threei in scrape then one flew off with partially plucked prey.
Thanks for all your updates folks, not been able to watch since I got the footage earlier this afternoon ... very disappointingly the sounds weren't picked up so no screeching & no bells...
but very lively & lovely, great to have these bonus views
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1up-0K5pkG0
Calendar & C Cards & what about a mouse mat ... have one with a Kestrel pic incorporated & it's great, was a present from my lovely Niece!
Just checked in 2 on nesting platform, have all 4 been spotted today?
One juvenile in corner attempting to de feather prey. Parent (I think from markings) arrived to see if youngster was doing it correctly. After successfully eating a few pieces indignant juvenile chased off parent. But I may have been wrong and the new arrival might have been another juvenile.
Think mouse mat is great idea Wendy - the list is endless, how about tea towels? What do the Team think of any of these suggestions or are they too complicated a d not economically viable?
Just a quick comment, slightly off topic with the Derby Peregrine pair.....just had a flick over to the Nottingham Peregrine pair....both adults were present with the male in the nest....couldn't help but noticing that the Nottingham adult male had an red-ish orange colour ring on its left leg, is there a chance that this might be on of the young from Derby from years gone by....Regards Andy
On a visit to the Cathedral yesterday evening, I saw all 4 young ones, 3 perched on the grotesques with one just above on the castelleations. The falcon was above on one of the parapets, and the tiercel was on his favourite perch tucked in level with the top louvres of the windows.
At the Watchpoint today there was a lot of action, with the family being well fed. All four young ones were in view, perched in various places on the tower, only moving position when food came in. We saw of the adults, keeping watch or hunting, and one of the young ones chased after the female when she returned with a prey item, trying to snatch it from her talons. We also had a Sparrowhawk zoom down on the Green behind us for a blackbird. Almost 80 visitors came between 10:15 and 13:45 when we packed away - including an unscheduled visit from East Midlands Today, who were at Cathedral Green to interview the visiting politicians.
The next Watchpoint is on Saturday from 10am - 2pm. Come on down, it's a very exciting time as the young ones learn to hunt for themselves.
Tony, Joyce and Jane
2 back on the scrape 23.34. Hope I can make it to the watch point again on Saturday.
Thank you all for recent comments,
Joyce thank you for the Watchpoint update,and as I previously mentioned I love the photos (at the start of this thread)
We are so lucky to be able to watch continuing activity.Thank you to you all making this possible.
Kate
I've never seen the juveniles go back to the scrape as much as they have this year. Hope to be at the watch on saturday
Quite agree Julia was only thinking this the other night when usually there have been two juveniles one at each end of the scrape. Once or twice the parent has been there but from the markings it's definitely two juveniles but obviously not sure if it's the same pair. - there's no place like home!
Wish I could get to Watchpoint but sadly too far away, let's hope for good weather and plenty of action from our fantastic raptor family!
Isn't it lovely when some of them go home for the night. Two there at the mo.
Now three, come on number four lets make it a full house. They sound quite hungry.
Oops might have made a mistake the one at far end could be a parent as it's plucking prey very expertly.
Just checking in 2 on the nesting platform
Some footage from when the pair awoke at 04.17 this morning ... still not convinced they were playing?? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Thv_KA2hygg
A little trip down memory lane albeit only TEN days ago when we were watching feeding sessions such as this ... things move on so quickly in our Peregrines' lives ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vPg26e6p0k
Just SEVEN weeks ago we were all excited about this ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L84mnE9mFQ4
Incredible!!!
2 of the young seem to be very close best of pals. I've seen one take the food from the mother go into the corner eat its fill then take it to the other one to have its fill too. Also playing around.
3 on the platform
Just seen 4 on the platform.
25th June Watchpoint
A day when stepping from your door
You wonder what season to dress for.
Dark clouds gathered overhead
Filling all below with dread.
A retreat (fastest ever seen)
Under the trees on Cathedral Green.
But were we down or feeling tearful
Training scopes on cowering tiercels?
Heavens no! Out came the sun
To the delight of everyone!
Folk came again from all around,
One hundred strong came down and found
Six falcons perched way up high
On Jury’s Inn on the letter ‘Y’.
One youngster, in a gutter, on the tower
Avoiding yet another shower.
Practice flights between these perches,
Swivelling scopes making searches.
From the tower over our local
Flew able flyers, often vocal.
Mum gave lessons in the sky
With deft manoeuvres as they fly,
Honing skills in passing prey
Was spectators’ highlight of the day.
Marc W
Brilliant Marc, nice one!! You've really set the bar high with that watch point report!
Despite the rain it was great to see all six birds for most of the time at today's watch point. The juveniles are all flying really strongly now and landing well. They look very confident. What a difference a week makes!
Only one patent on the scrape tonight.
Congratulations Marc on your Watchpoint poetic endeavours, do we have a budding Poet Laureate on our hands? :)
Glad to hear all our juveniles are thriving and now learning the necessary skills for catching prey, but luckily they do have really experienced tutors.This must be a very hard time for the parents, not only do they have to provide food for their growing offspring and themselves but teaching them these skills must be quite exhausting. There's probably a huge sigh of relief when the juveniles eventually leave to claim their own territories!
WOW Marc - what a brilliant Watchpoint Report! It was certainly a very mixed day, weather-wise, but great to see all six birds still around the Cathedral.
Earlier this morning I visited again, and all six birds were to be seen, the adults having brought in two lots of prey which caused a great deal of screaming from the young ones as they tried to get their share. As I left, two of the juvies were on the grotesques, two on the roof of Jury's Inn, and both adults on the lettering, one each on the south and east faces.
Post a Comment