Unexpected early fledging and an Update

Update 21st June 3 pm.
A hot Watch Point today. One juvenile was in the nest platform all the time and one, perhaps two flying about but at no time did we see all three at once. So we are still unsure about the two that have left and whether both are OK. The parent birds were sitting high up on the tower during the mid-day heat, the male in the shade by the lead gutter and the female right up near the top of the NE pinnacle, keeping her beady eye on everything below. A juv was seen walking on the top of Jurys Inn mid morning and we've had a report of one on the Silk Mill roof. These may be the same or different birds, time will tell.
Thanks to Paul, Hilary and Nick M for running the Watch Point. There were plenty of people who had come to see the poppies but nothing like the weekend crowds. Those who came to see our birds were interested and pleased to have seen them....which is good!
Nick B

Update Wednesday 21st early morning:
Two juveniles were in view at 7.30 am. One in the platform which it now seems hasn't fledged yet!) and another right at the very top of the tower on a pinnacle. No sign of the third but the parents were very relaxed so probably they can see it somewhere on the building or on another roof or even in a tree.....
We'll have a further scout round during the Watch Point this morning which starts at 11 am.
Looks like being a hot day ahead.....

Tuesday June 20th: quite a day at the cathedral!
Early this morning web cam watcher Janet saw one of the chicks being accidentally pushed off the nest platform.
The two Nicks went down to try to find it. Nick M saw it on a gutter at the base of the plastic roof on the north side of the nave roof. It seemed OK and after a while was reported to have climbed up to the apiex of the plastic roof but out of sight of the web cams. All good so far.
Then at 5 pm Nick B had a phone call from Alex Rock who works for the cathedral. A young peregrine had come to ground and was being watched by a growing crowd of admirers. Alex rang us up and kept an eye on the bird (and the crowd!) while we drove down to town.
Without too much difficulty the bird was caught and put in a cardboard box and taken up to the top of the tower where it could be fed by its parents and from which it should make a second successful attempt at flying once it is ready.

Fallen male safely in hand. Photo Alex Rock

Notice how pale its legs and feet are and the absence of any yellow round the eye or on the cere at the base of the beak.

Male fledgling put out on the tower roof  looking slightly bewildered. Photo: Nick Brown

Close up of the male on the tower roof. Photo Nick Brown

The suspicion is that this individual was the second one to fledge not the first as we originally thought.
Attempts to see the missing bird proved unsuccessful but the parent birds seemed really calm so the chances are that it is somewhere up high and not on the ground. An anonymous web cam viewer reported seeing the second one fledge at about 8 pm and fly to a tree on Cathedral Green.....let's hope it stays up in the branches at least until tomorrow morning.

The male hitches a ride on a boot......Photo: Alex Rock

Tomorrow Wednesday there is a Watch Point so further attempts will be made to locate all three chicks wherever they have got themselves to by the morning....

A big thanks to Alex Rock who speedily alerted us to the fallen bird.


The Project Team