Still around

It was all cracking off at the cathedral earlier this afternoon just before 2 pm. With what looked like the female on the nest platform, the other adult repeatedly flew around the tower, not calling, but often veering off to range far out across the River Derwent to the east before returning again. It looked like he was carrying food but seemed reluctant to land with it.

Suddenly, a third peregrine arrived on the scene and pretty soon all three were in the air. It was hard to see which was which, but pretty soon the interloper disappeared. Interestingly, one adult then flew back to the tower, landing in a very small alcove on the top left-hand side above the bell tower louvres. This tiny space was precisely where, back in 2006, our peregrines first made a futile attempt to nest and which resulted in the Cathedral permitting us to install the tower ledge platform for them.
Soon after that both birds left the cathedral and headed out eastwards, rapidly disappearing out of sight.
It's encouraging that they can still both easily be seen from below even when it may appear that one, or indeed none, are visible in our web cameras.

Since mating was observed on 15th March, our pair of peregrine falcons, with its new female, seem to have been constantly teasing us all. It seems that on many nights, one or other of the adults has often spent at least a few hours roosting on the frame of the old nest platform. As yet we've no evidence that either bird has visited the new nest box that we finished installing in early March. Obviously this is quite frustrating, although it's still fairly early on the their breeding cycle, and it's heartening how many of you have been monitoring our webcams closely in the hope of spotting or hearing a visiting bird. And many of you have left a wide and really interesting range of comments, questions and observations.

We're slowly getting used to the new sounds heard over the camera's inbuilt microphone. Most noticeably, we hear the constant slapping of the flagpole cord against the tall fibreglass flagpole. Then there's the wind noise and the banging of the framework against the stone parapet which sometimes sounds like the scrabbling of claws over the woodwork. But, as yet, this hasn't proven to be so. 

Earlier this week, Andrew Brooks sent us the photo below of a peregrine perched on the stone parapet near our new box, which is certainly a positive sign!

Addendum: We have made a few small changes which have been mentioned in recent comments, and are repeated here for clarity. 

Firstly, a few weighty lumps of slate have been scattered across the front ‘landing stage’ area. Why? Well, why not? Peregrine ledges are rarely flat and level, so we wondered if this might help.

Secondly, we’ve masked off the peregrine head in our logo on the back of the new nest box. Will this make a difference? Who knows, but a few commenters have wondered if it might. So we acted on that.

Thirdly, some foam padding (= pipe insulation) has been stapled on where the side panels meet against the stonework in a bid to reduce the clattering heard over the microphone on windy days. You can decide for yourself whether it works! Finally, on or two of you have commented on the constantly flagpole cord on the tower roof, and suggested it is off-putting to the birds. We very much doubt that as we have seen them ignore both bells and people once they know they pose no threat. But we will be working up an idea and a design to present to the Cathedral which might theoretically reduce the wear on the flagpole ropes caused by the wind and which would also reduce the flapping sounds.

The Project Team

This project is managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust staff and volunteers with great support from the Cathedral staff and the city council's IT team.