And then there were three....and now four!

Update Monday 25th: four eggs were spotted by Jean at 7am this morning with a photo of them on flickr.
Here's a video by Wendy which shows all four about 50 seconds in (and please see our note about making a donation at the foot of this post):

The third egg, with more colour, was laid during Friday/Saturday night around 4am. as observed by Mrs. Lee.
This screengrab showing the smaller male looking at the eggs is by Helen Naylor:

A video by Wendy Barrter shows the three eggs this morning:

With luck egg number 4 will appear perhaps on Monday and then the serious task of incubation will start in earnest.

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.

The project relies on donations from web cam watchers for much of its funding so if you have been enjoying watching our birds, please consider making a donation. There's a yellow tab on the blog linking you to several ways you can donate. 

Thanks in advance!

Egg Number two on 20th March

 A second egg had arrived by early morning (20th) as expected.
It looks to be the same pale colour as the first. Thanks to Kate (for the screenshot) and Jean for the heads up!

And another screenshot from Kate in Devon:

Meanwhile if this is your first visit to the blog, scroll down to read about the first egg and also check out the comments!

Here's some local media coverage of the first egg:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-68594839


We have had over 5000 hits since last week making over 33,000 since January 1st.
Scroll down the blog right hand side to see the ClustrMap of the world showing where folk have been watching.
Over the life of the project there have been over 4 million hits from over 70 countries, an indication of just how popular our birds are!

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.

How long before we have an egg? No time at all!

Two hours after writing the post below, the female laid her first egg (at about noon on 17th), a day earlier than last year!
Thanks to Vic P and Jean for spotting it so quickly!
We expect her to lay three more at roughly two day intervals to complete her clutch.
Note that it is normal for the egg to be left on its own. Full incubation won't begin until the third or fourth egg is laid.
See some media coverage here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-68594839

Screengrab by Helen Naylor

And here's a video of egg laying made by Wendy Barrter. The egg appears at 1 min 40 seconds in:

And a later one made at 17.27 showing the egg very clearly:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Last year the first egg was laid on 18th March and that's tomorrow.

Wendy's video's (see the links in the comments to the previous blog post below) suggest the female is showing all the signs of being ready to lay.
Mating will have been taking place though this doesn't occur within sight of the web cam but usually higher up on the tower, often on the 'bottoms' of the grotesques, the 16th century animals carved by the stone masons in the shape of a dog, a lion, a pig etc.

2023 photo of mating by Dave Farmer (easyphotography.co.uk 

And below is a old photo of a lion grotesque.

BTW, a grotesque is a carving of an (often mythical) animal but with no actual function. A gargoyle is a grotesque with a hole running through it and out of the mouth which drains water off a roof above.

A lion grotesque by Gareth Walker

Who will spot the first egg and when will it be laid?
We should soon find out!

Talk worth attending!

There's a talk about The Peregrine this Friday (22nd, 7.30pm) in Derby for the county bird club by the authors of a brilliant new book on this falcon.
£2.50 entry. Details: Meetings and Trips (derbyshireos.org.uk)

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.

Ps. This spring, two trainees at the wildlife trust, Emma Harpham and Chloe Davenport-Kelly will be delivering assemblies and sessions about our peregrines in a few selected primary schools in the Derby area. If you are a teacher at one and would like a visit, do get in touch. (peregrines@derbyshirewt.co.uk)