Up the tower

Two trainees from Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, Peter Eley and Steph Woodhead, visited the project and the cathedral today (26th September). I took them up the top of the tower to admire the views and see the set up in general. Fortunately it was a lovely autumn afternoon!
I think they were impressed by what has been achieved.

Steph and Peter pose on the top of the world
(well, nearly.......)

There were no peregrines to be seen but we did find the remains of a common tern, a species we've found before once or twice over the many years the project has been running.
The roof work will be completely finished by Friday with just a few scaffold poles to be taken down and some clearing up to be carried out.
I had a brief chat to Bruce, the project manager and thanked him for his helpful cooperation throughout the whole period. He and his team have had close-up views of the birds through the summer and have been interested to watch and learn about them.
The new roof looks great and should last many years - though the peregrines are already doing their best to cover it in prey remains apparently.....

Nick B
Project Team member

Getting back to normal

The renewal of the Cathedral nave roof is now complete and the workmen have been busy removing the plastic sheeting and now the scaffolding which supported it.
Wendy Bartter captured this video today (14th) of the men who (speeded up) appear to be scurrying about like ants:



Hopefully next year, everything will be a lot simpler and less fraught.
Occasional sightings of bird at the nest platform are still being made.....but not that often. Perhaps when the workers have gone we'll see a bit more of our adults.....

Old wild peregrine
People at watch points and on the blog often ask "how old do peregrines get in the wild?"
We usually reply that we are not sure but we know many are persecuted (especially on grouse moors) and will be lucky to survive long. Away from game shooting enterprises, wild peregrines should be able to live many years and proof of this has recently come from a tagged bird (though not a Derbyshire one) that was at least 21 years old!

The Project Team