Third watch point coming up plus latest photos

 June 2nd Update:

The third Watch Point went well even though the sun didn't oblige.
164 visitors were logged. Helen, one of our long term volunteers wrote:
A lot of people already seemed to have been following the blog and already knew quite a bit about the project. A young girl said she had been watching in school and had come specifically to have a look. Quite a few visitors seemed happy to stick around while one family had been to every watchpoint so far this season! It was good to see some familiar faces from past years including one lady who has also been every week...and there were lots of good questions from people which kept us busy! 
Big thanks to everyone who helped out!

The final Watch Point is on Saturday 8th June between 10 am and    2 pm. As you can see below, the chicks are really advanced  so they should be on the verge of fledging by then!

Dave Farmer took these great photos on Wednesday (28th):

To see Wendy Bartter's many video's of feeding sessions scroll down to the comments at the foot of the previous post.

Hope to see you on Saturday?

The Project Team
The project is managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust with support from its partners Derby Cathedral, Cathedral Quarter and the City Council IT team.

Watch Point well supported and the second was today

Monday 27th: Wendy's YT video of the chicks today shows them getting their feathers:

Saturday 25th May Watch Point report:

There were more than one hundred visitors including some who had been last week and others who came back for more later on!
The birds were less active until late on when both adult birds arrived back so there was more to see. 

               The male looks on as the female feeds the chicks. Photo by Joyce Sawford.

The male retrieved some cached prey from one of the alcoves on the 'window' which he seemed to leave on the scrape. The female was then seen feeding the chicks. From the ground it looked as if all three chicks were getting fed and this was confirmed when checks of the web cams were made on mobiles.

There was also an art group present who were sketching.  One of them, Tom Burley, produced this quick painting of the watchpoint:

The next Watch Point is on Saturday 1st June and the last on 8th June. Do come along if you can.....

Report on the first Watch Point on 18th May:

Over 180 visitors, including many children, visited the first watch point event today (18th).
The weather was great and the birds performed well.
Huge thanks to our volunteers for giving up their time today and to Cathedral Quarter for the use of a gazebo and funding support as well!

The Project Team
This project is managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust with great support from The Cathedral staff, Cathedral Quarter and the city council's IT team.

Come and see the chicks and adults 'for real'

This Saturday (18th) sees the first of four Peregrine Watch Point events take place on the grass of Cathedral Green on Full Street behind the Cathedral.
They are free and everyone is welcome to drop in at any time between 10am and 2pm and to use the telescopes the Wildlife Trust provides and talk to our brilliant and knowledgeable volunteers and staff.
Seeing the birds 'in the flesh' provides a completely different experience from watching them on the web cams.

You'll see the adults flying about and of course be able to marvel at the wonderful grade 1 listed tower built in the 1530s with its strange 'grotesques' in the shape of various real and mythical animals.
Come for five minutes or, if the weather is favourable, bring a chair or a rug and stay much longer!
There will be games for children too...

The other three Watch Points will run at the same times (10am to 2pm) on Saturdays 25th May, 1st June and 8th June (by which time the chicks will be close to flying!)

Please scroll down this blog to read about the ringing of the chicks earlier this week and  even further down to read about the hatching of the eggs.
You can leave comments by clicking on 'comments' at the foot of each blog post.

The Project Team
This 18 year old project is managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust with great support from The Cathedral, Cathedral Quarter and the City Council's IT team.

The three chicks get their bling!

 Rings were put on the legs of the three chicks today (14th May). Abseilers Nick and Jess collected the chicks at the nest platform and lowered them down to be ringed inside the tower by a team of skilled, licenced bird ringers.

Two chicks weighed over 600 grams and were judged to be females.
They have colour rings XSL and XTL.
The third chick, probably the last one to hatch, which also had very little in its crop, was just over 500 grams and so was probably, but not certainly, a male. Its colour ring is XRL.

The photos below are by Chloe, one of the ringers and by Jessica from the Cathedral - thanks to both:

Nick and Jess arrive at the platform and tie themselves off

Bagging the chicks before sending them down to be ringed. Screenshot by Jessica

                                   Close up of colour ring XSL (Jessica Kilmurray)

The three chicks after being ringed. Photo by Chloe

Chick being weighed, siting quietly in a flower pot.....

                       Look closely to see the metal BTO ring which has a unique number on it.
                                                                Photo by Chloe

The first Watch Point event is this Saturday 18th - more on this to follow on Thursday.

The Project Team
This project is managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust with the great support of three partners: Derby Cathedral, Cathedral Quarter and Derby City Council.

Growing fast

The three chicks will grow very fast and do so without getting a drink!
This screenshot by Margaret Cowley shows them very well as they are now:

And here is just one of Wendy Bartter's many YouTube videos showing a feed (at 6pm yesterday, May 3rd). To see others check out the comments at the foot of each post:

The speed of the chick's development is remarkable. In just seven weeks they will be the size of their parents and be ready to fledge. Artwork by crowartist.co.uk :

If you are a first time visitor to this blog, welcome! Please scroll down to read more of the story so far this year.

The Project Team
The project is managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust working in partnership with the Cathedral, Derby City Council's IT team and Cathedral Quarter.