Fledging begins - plus some updates

Report on Watch Point 23 June:
The big female juvenile was on the silk mill chimney all day. Didn't seem to want to move although at one point it was wandering around up there and did some wing flapping when the adult flew about with food. Almost looked like it couldn't get enough lift to take off. The food was left for it and the male juvenile also flew on there to have a feed. The male juv is flying confidently. The female on the platform was doing some wing flapping and keeps sitting higher up on the middle point of the box where goes around the stone work. We had 174 visitors! Helen Naylor.

Update 25 June: it seems the final female chick has fledged.
Reports yesterday suggested the male had flown and was sitting up on a roof nearby.

Males rarely come to ground so now he's made one good flight he should be OK.

The Watch Point today (16th) will look for him and report back if they find him.

the two much heavier females may not fledge for a few days yet.....we'll see!

This morning is damp and cloudy with the prospect of showers - not the sort of weather that chicks usually fledge under.

UPDATE mid morning Saturday 16th: the news from the Watch Point is that the juvenile male
(a 'chick' no longer!) is on the roof of the tall hotel nearby with its mother standing guard....so we don't need to worry about him! His sisters are unlikely to fledge today given the weather and their remaining fluff!UPDATE Saturday pm: Antony and Helen at the WP report that the young male flew back to the tower landing a bit lower than they would have liked (and it would have liked too I suspect!).
It's a windy day and flying isn't easy round buildings because of the turbulence. He should be OK though.
The WP was fairly quiet both of people and 'bird action' but it was good to see a grey wagtail collecting insects on the grass nearby and flying off to a building to feed its young.
And in Swift Awareness Week  (see below)- it was also great to see a few swifts zooming past the tower!

And we apologise about the problems with the cams.....beyond our control over the weekend certainly though it seems that at least some are now working again.

The Project Team

Ps If you are in Derby or can get to today's Watch Point do please go and help the team to find the male....

Pps. On another subject, today marks the start of Swift Awareness Week (16-23 June) with 90 local events running around the UK. Swifts have declined by over 50% in the last 25 years so they need our help and a raised profile!
To find out if there is an event near you go to this map, enlarge it and click on a 'swift' near you.
The full details will appear on the left of your screen. Do support events near you if you can.
tinyurl.com/SLNSAW2018map .

UKSAW - there are five events in Derbyshire (in Chaddesden (Derby) and Bakewell on Tuesday (19th), Hathersage (20th), Chesterfield (22nd ) and Melbourne 23rd.
Please support them if you can,,,full details are on the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust website:https://www.derbyshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/events .

Swifts are fascinating birds which only touch the earth when they need to lay eggs. They nest inside our roofs and under our tiles but when buildings are renovated  the tiny holes they need to access their nests get blocked up and the birds are suddenly homeless.

Two swifts looking for a non-existent hole to nest in. Photo David Naylor

And there's a fab web cam in Poland which is inside a swift's nest. The birds have four eggs soon to hatch - well worth a look - you might even get hooked!

http://jerzyki-webcam.pl/Webcam