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:

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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)