Today (28th) Nick Moyes abseiled down to clean the nest platform, add new gravel and clean and reposition the cameras and to Nick Evans who assisted. A BIG THANKS to them both.
Wendy Bartter's much speeded up video shows Nick M cleaning the gravel and cameras. It actually took him 45 minutes!
Nick Evans built the first platform and when it eventually showed signs of rot, he kindly build us a second one, the one which is in place now.
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| Nick Moyes and Nick Evans, during a previous abseil Here's Wendy Bartter's very speeded up video showing Nick M at work on the platform/scrape. What took 45 minutes now takes only a few! Now we hope to see plenty of mutual display between the male and female peregrines as we approach egg laying. The Project Team This project is managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust in conjunction and with the excellent support of Derby Cathedral, Derby City Council's IT team and Cathedral Quarter. |
60 comments:
Nick hanging around in derby! It hardly seems any time since the chicks fledged Chris m
We had a visitor just before the clean up started, wonder if it heard unusual noises?
https://youtu.be/JAFbjdKaHts
Just remembering back to 2022 when Nick cleaned up the scrapes and soon as he'd finished our female flew in and laid an egg ... close run thing!!
Nick M brilliant job as always and also Thanks also to Nick E, for his craftsmanship and support.
and of course the other sterling Nick B.
You ARE all appreciated.
Thank you.
Our female thought it safe to return, some quiet calling then a scrape of the fresh gravel, still can't do it as well as she used to, flies off then returns a bit later for a preen and some sleep ... https://youtu.be/4TGnW5ExpEI?si=gSugI9NiIqk5qvsy
Very much appreciated the cleaning up of the scrape & cams especially having the cams left running .... many thanks to Nick M and Nick E!
Reminder that first egg last year was overnight 17th/18th March ... not long to go!
Yay! Thank you chaps for your excellent hard work. Mr. and Mrs. P look pleased with the renovations. :)
Bonding today ...
https://youtu.be/XpCOA8Za16M
Our female is in the scrape more and more ... broody, hopefully?
https://youtu.be/WK_NM1Wlad0
A couple of years ago the camera on scrape 2 used to point down so we could see, why is it not like this anymore? As cant really see scrape 2 much
Wish they had a little cover aswell 😔
Our pair get their act together eventually ...
https://youtu.be/e_Qc4LfyhlQ
Later bonding session, male looks petrified plus female shows awkwardness in balancing ...
https://youtu.be/j3kBCaUeBuQ
Brilliant!
Bonding today was so brief ... fizzled out before it could actually get going, male reluctant to stay ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWIfUOncHIk
Thank you for the excellent clean up. It looks much better and more welcoming for a new family. Can anyone advise me on how I can view the second camera on my iPad please? I have read the information about Safari and have downloaded Chrome and Edge and tried both but no joy on either. Thanks
Hi Emma, I have a samsung tablet using Chrome and can view cam #2 OK ... have you tried Puffin browser?
Our male chickened out again today but female looked quite comfy in the scrape ...
https://youtu.be/iXb9DIulwBo
Thank you Wendy it must be something to do with Apple. I will try Puffin. I'm on my ancient lap top at the moment and can view both cameras no problem but I hardly ever use it as I can't put up with the snail pace and wheel of doom! Also sometimes when they're nesting it's fun to sit below the cathedral and watch the chicks on my phone and the parents coming and going live.
Female's telling actions on the scrape this afternoon look very similar to the approach to egg laying IMO ... 'practice makes perfect!'
https://youtu.be/vHbyAUIkcWE
Female's comings and goings this afternoon ...
https://youtu.be/Bx0ftVkzQGo?si=HZ6gJEBiZdB1vkYb
Just seeing our female laying down asleep in the scrape!!
A quick clip ... https://youtu.be/AksOKfkICZI?si=dVZRCQSwXkJHPa_p
Another two 'nearly bonding sessions' today ...
https://youtu.be/ABZ2wxxNQ0g?si=zD1EzVWTZVCv0a7a
FaB Peregrines have won the egg race ... first egg laid this morning at 04.43/4 that we know of ...
https://youtu.be/dMlub3-iANY?si=Li6ld0FR2DU63PI-
Our female paid a long visit to the scrape today, perching, scraping and sleeping ...
https://youtu.be/teMUx1bFxuw?si=SQQvVUdHq9Fdx4Pq
Oooh, lucky you Emma to be near enough to watch the peregrine pair toing & froing live! Am envious as I'm miles away down south!
More bonding and later male brings prey, if it was intended as a gift he never gave it to her, flew of with it!!
https://youtu.be/3IFjsBhKBr8?si=FC2RKgkqHJCKvIuX
A sad loss at Winchester Cathedral ...
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-68478589
Wendy, Thanks for the post saying that Winnie in Winchester has died. Yes, sad news - I have watched Winnie and her partners raising their young for several years. Winnie and partners have been very successful in raising a good number of young.
I have been looking at their webcams over the last few days and was pleased to see a peregrine perched by the nest tray, although I did think that it did not look like Winnie. Maybe it was the new female. On the cathederal's web site ( https://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/explore/peregrine ) they state that the new female has been seen making a dent in the gravel of the nest tray. So Hopefully Winchester Cathedral will continue to have successful peregrine breeding.
Last year Winnie laid only two (or was it three?) eggs and only one hatched (and the juvenile fledged successfully). I do remember an entry in the cathedral’s 'peregrine diary' to the effect that the reduced clutch size and single hatching could be indicative that Winnie was approaching the end of her reproductive ability.
For those who do not know Winnie was Winchester Cathederal's resident female pergrine for many years.
I remember reading that Winnie raised 27 chicks to fledging, an impressive total ... always sad to lose a resident bird but seemed to be time for new blood, hope the resident male accepts the new female!
Some snippets of our female's two long visits to the scrape, lots of laying down and pecking at gravel, telling actions again ... plus two visits by male with prey although she didn't seem to be around to collect the first time but maybe was in other scrape when he came back ...
https://youtu.be/XerJwBAcpcg?si=jcOtLK7P-3JrO2wS
I still miss the original Derby peregrine female, she was so huge she took up almost the whole gravel section, and she kept it so clean for the chicks. Also the male with striking feathers, can't remember if he was last year or the year before, it was a shame he met an early demise.
Has been a very wet day with not much activity from our pair until around half six when the female flew in and rested in the scrape for a while ... is now on ledge but just lost cam #1 ... getting exciting now as egg laying approaches ...
https://youtu.be/TZS-KNC66Z4?si=qqaK-f_gj40IKdkn
New view from cam#2
https://youtu.be/BORmXEd6N3c
Really good to see that cam 2 now gives a good view of the slate side of the nest platform.
Many, many thanks to the person who made the adjustment.
Longish video of some of the actions from this afternoon...
https://youtu.be/M_0dRlAuJVM?si=0wTb0XvEN7JsfKTP
All looking good..Thank you Nick M. Cam 2
Some encouraging clips in there Wendy .Many thanks.
After being in the scrape for nearly two hours and the male having brought her prey they returned for a longer bonding session but she carried on screeching for a long time after he flew ... she has been extremely vociferous today!!
https://youtu.be/Ph6JtHgoYD8
Three eggs at FaB now ...
https://x.com/FaBPeregrines/status/1767436891387830689?s=20
21.07 Female still perched on gravel scrape ledge, keeping close to home, egg laying must be near??
Bonding session lunchtime today ...
https://youtu.be/NDsBqDdowzs
Female spending time lying down in box picking & poking around like they do when waiting for an egg ... male brings prey and it gets caught up as she tries to fly off with it, soon comes back to retrieve it ...
https://youtu.be/TNax0oKN8Wc
Female now back in scrape looking expectant ... hopefully!!
Looking promising
Photo on
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194949291@N02
First egg at Kingston College Peregrines. link to X(Twitter)
https://x.com/KPeregrines/status/1767815041980502081?s=20
Thanks Wendy...
Thanks for posting pic on flickr Kate, still don't remember how to ... she's just woken up from a doze and back to picking at gravel & woodwork!
Amendment to my prey vid earlier ... see I put 'she flies off with it' should have said 'he'!
23.40 ... checked to see if female still on scrape, she's perched on the near scrape ledge & only visible in the gloom on cam #2 ... 🤞 we get an egg soon!
Cant wait for derby eggs, has our female not got a name? They named the new winchester one Mel
I vote we name her Wendy!
Oooh no, poor bird deserves a better name than that!!
Talking of eggs ... she has just gone into scrape and adopted a hopeful looking position!
Maybe call her Nicky in honour of our three Nicks who work so hard to keep the nest & blog going for us all to enjoy!
Fourth egg at FaB this morning
https://youtu.be/LvI4bp0g8i0?si=yV-y7NIGvzPJTgiH
First egg for Taunton!
Our female is in the scrape, currently sleeping!
this morning we hav seen the feemale on the nest. we are hopeing we see the egg soon. yestrddeday we saw both birds. they wer making a lot ov nois.
Hello Swift Class
Thanks so much for your comment about our falcons!
Last year the first egg was laid on 18th which is this coming Monday but it could be earlier so keep an eye on the web cams over the weekend if you can.
Nick
From the Project Team
At the moment our female is sleeping on the ledge of the slate scrape!
Is that an egg I can see? Can’t do screen shots from my very old PC!!
Indeed it is Jean...please see (and post any new comments to) our latest post.
the Project team
Hopefully I have managed to add 3 photos to Flickr.
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