Long standing project volunteer, Helen, provided this summary of today's (final) Watch Point:
Today was very busy with a lot of visitors coming to look at the birds through our telescopes.
Both adult birds were on the tower at the beginning of the morning, which made us think that the juvenile was probably on the nave roof below. After a short while he was spotted in flight, before landing high up on one of the pinnacles on the tower.
The youngster was quite active for a lot of the time, making several flights over the watch point and around the tower. He was seen flying strongly and landed well after each flight. It was wonderful to see him looking so confident already. Towards the end of the morning the adult male bird brought some freshly caught prey back to one of the grotesques on the tower, which he plucked and ate. The youngster who had been perched lower down out of sight, flew up to join the adult male and was rewarded with a feed.
A Red Kite drifted overhead a couple of times during the watch point. On both occasions one of the adult birds was very quick to see it off, giving the visitors below some exciting aerial views. The adult peregrines looked quite small in comparison to the kite, but the peregrines definitely had the upper hand!
In addition, a swarm of honey bees was spotted and up to six swifts also.
The consensus seems to be that the juvenile is a male given his small size but we can't be 100% sure.
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Please go to the 'donations' tab on the blog home page to find out how to donate. If you need help email us at peregrines@derbyshirewt.co.uk .
Dave Farmer took these photos today (2nd June) which show how well advanced the chick is now....though it is some way off fledging as yet.
Many thanks to Dave for his super images!
The Project Team
The Project is managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, brilliantly supported by Derby Cathedral, the City Council's IT team and Cathedral Quarter.