Our peregrines - the first 20 years

 

We set up the Derby Cathedral Peregrine Project back in 2006 when we realised a pair of peregrine falcons were attempting to breed on the tower of the cathedral, but could find no suitable ledge amongst the ornate stonework large or flat enough to accommodate them.

We have watched over them ever since, noted the key events in their lives and tried to share these moments with everyone, be it via this blog our out on the street below their nest site.

And, of course, we have also fretted along with so many webcam watchers over the problems they encounter in the natural course of their lives.   

As we look back over those last twenty years and forwards -  we hope - to the next twenty, we thought we would bring up to date all our key data into one huge table. It shows how many eggs, chicks and fledglings there have been, and the numbers of all those we have ringed.

• Eggs laid: 75
• Chicks hatched: 60
• Birds fledged: 57
• Webcam views: 5.9 million 
• Blog posts: 847 separate blog posts
• Comments left:  25,900 comments

We are still adding to the 'Key Events' section of this table, which is where we thought you might wish to help us. Feel free to tell us of the key moments you've witnessed, or read about on this blog. It may be the time we watched a rat being fed to the chicks, or the snowy week during the egg laying season when we lowered a hot water bottle on a rope in a futile attempt to clear the nest platform of snow!

Leave a comment and a link to the relevant blog post and we'll select the most appropriate ones to add to the table below. 

EVENT	2026	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006
Mating Observed?	15 March	no reports	no reports	11 March	no reports	no reports	no reports	no reports	22, 24 March	no reports	no reports	no reports	no reports	no reports	1, 10 March	16, 24 March	15 March	8,15,16, 22 March	12,13 March	21 March	no reports
1st Egg Laid	no breeding in 2026	10 March ?pm	17 March c11pm	18 March 07:30am	9 March	c.15 March	no breeding in 2020	1 April 01:00am	31 March	5 April 06:30am	28 March 13:00pm	29 March 14:15pm	29 March	4 April	29 March	2 April	24 March 5am	23 March	28 March	3 April	no cams
2nd Egg Laid	no breeding in 2026	13 March	20 March early am	20 March	12 March	17 March	no breeding in 2020	4 April	2 April 18:20pm	7 April 13:15pm	30 March 19:00pm	31 March 19:30pm	31 March	6 April	31 March	4 April	26 March 2pm	26 March	31 March	?	no cams
3rd Egg Laid	no breeding in 2026	15 March	23 March 4am	c23 March	14 March	21 March	no breeding in 2020	uncertain	6 April 07:00am	9 April 22:30pm	2 April 08:00am	3 April 04:20am	2 April	9 April	2 April	6 April	28 March 11am	28 March	2 April	?	no cams
Last Egg Laid	no breeding in 2026	18 March	25 March 7am	26 March	17 March	24 March	no breeding in 2020	uncertain	9 April 12:30am	11 April 08:15am	4 April 08:15am	5 April 13:30am	05 April	11 April	5 April	9 April	31 March 7am	31 March 3am	04 April	09 April	no cams
First Egg Hatches	no breeding in 2026	19 April 11pm	27 April	27 April	18 April	22 April 10am	no breeding in 2020	13 May	8 May 12:30pm	13 May	3 May	5 May	3 May	10 May	5 May	9 May	1 May	29 April	4 May	8 May	no cams
Ringing Date	no breeding in 2026	8 May	14 May	NOT RINGED	6 May	18 May	n/a	10 June	30 May	no ringing in 2017	n/a	24 May	23 May	29 May	25 May	30 May	no ringing in 2010	20 May	26 May	1 June	not ringed
First Fledging	no breeding in 2026	29 May	4 June (fell!)	12 June	27 - 29 May	4 June (?)	no breeding in 2020	28 June	16 June	?	16 June	17 June	11-22 June	19-22 June	14-17 June	18-22 June	14-16 June	9-11 June	11 June	23 June	7 July
No of Eggs (Laid - Hatched - Fledged)	no breeding in 2026	4 - 2 - 2	4 - 3 - 3	4 - 1 - 1	4 - 3 - 3	4 - 3 - 3	0 - 0 - 0	4 - 2 - 2	4 - 3 - 3	4 - 3 - 3	4 - 4 - 4	4 - 3 - 3	4 - 4 - 3	4 - 4 - 4	4 - 4 - 4	4 - 4 - 4	4 - 4 - 2	4 - 4 - 4	4 - 4 - 4	4 - 2 - 2	3? - 3 - 3
Ring 1	no breeding in 2026	Orange XLN (Female)	Orange XRL (Male)	no ringing in 2023	Orange XJ (Male)	Orange 042 (F)	no breeding in 2020	Orange 040 (Female)	Orange 033 (Female)	no ringing in 2017	no ringing in 2016	Orange 030 (Female)	Orange 026 (Female?)	Orange 021 (Male)	Orange 016 (Male)	Orange 012 (Female)	no ringing in 2010	Orange 008 (Male)	Orange 003 (Female)	Orange 001 (Female)	Male not ringed
Ring 2	no breeding in 2026	Orange XNN (Male)	Orange XSL (Female)	n/a	Orange XK (Female)	Orange 043 (M)	no breeding in 2020	Orange 041 (Male)	Orange 034 (Female)	no ringing in 2017	no ringing in 2016	Orange 031 (Female)	Orange 027 (Female?)	Orange 022 (Male)	Orange 018 (Male)	Orange 013 (Female)	no ringing in 2010	Orange 009 (Female)	Orange 004 (Male)	Orange 002 (Female)	Female not ringed
Ring 3	no breeding in 2026	n/a	Orange XTL (Female)	n/a	Orange XL (Male)	Orange 044 (F)	no breeding in 2020	n/a	Orange 035 (Male)	no ringing in 2017	no ringing in 2016	Orange 032 (Male)	Orange 028 (Male?)	Orange 023 (Female)	Orange 019 (Female)	Orange 014 (Female)	no ringing in 2010	Orange 010 (Female)	Orange 005 (Male)	n/a	Female not ringed
Ring 4	no breeding in 2026	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	no breeding in 2020	n/a	n/a	no ringing in 2017	no ringing in 2016	n/a	n/a	Orange 024 (Male)	Orange 020 (Male)	Orange 015 (Male)	no ringing in 2010	Orange 011 (Male)	Orange 007 (Male)	n/a	n/a
Sex ratio Male:Female	n/a	1M 1F	1M 2F	1M	2M 1F	1M 2F	n/a	1M 1F	1M 2F	2 M 1F?	3F 1M	1M 2F	1M? 2F?	3M 1F	3M 1F	1M 3F	2F	2M 2F	3M 2F	2F	1M 2F
Rescues Required	n/a	0	0	1 (Male)	2 (XJ & XL)	1	no breeding in 2020	2	1	2	0	1 (031)	0	0	0	1 (012)	0	0	3 (003,005,007)	0	1
Key Events:	New nest box sited on tower roof Feb '26.	Adult Female dies of bird flu in December. New female arrives within 2 weeks.		New male takes over (with no silver leg ring) New female takes over. Only 1 egg hatches: Male		Pure white egg laid (did not hatch)	No breeding. No internet connection due to Covid. Adult male with silver ring bonds with sub-adult female. Dried up adult male corpse found on roof.	No webcams due to loss of internet connectivity. Same male rescued twice.	Blog discrepancy suggesting male died, but the only male is 035 who paired up in Belper in 2020-2022!	No ringing; nave roof being repaired. New adult male takes over (with silver ring on left leg.)	No chicks ringed. New nest platform installed 20 December.	Female 030 subsequently overwintering at Rutland Water 2015/2016.	A young chick dies in nest before ringing.	New IP camera installed.	More video evidence of night-time hunting. 3year HLF grant to support public engagement.	Male 015 subsequently seen at Doncaster Minster in 2016	none ringed. 2 chicks die in nest. A 'world first' video capturing night-time hunting of live prey.	009 later found dead in Derby. Sent for taxidermy. 010 injured and kept by local falconer who named her 'Cathy	Four fledged	Webcams installed. Video of a rat being fed to the chicks. Two fledged.	Nest platform erected on 5th April 2006. No chicks were ringed.

Finally, we should add a note about the future of the Peregrine Project:

Having established and watched over this site for 20 years, we are obviously disappointed that the peregrines did not breed this year. Talking to Ed Drewitt - the UK's expert on urban peregrine falcons - it's evident that this can and does happen at many nest sites from time to time, but he's encouraged that the new female and her longer established mate are evidently still faithful to the tower. It's great that commenters are still saying they're seeing or hearing peregrines from time to time. They clearly haven't abandoned the Cathedral to nest elsewhere, and we stand by the actions we've taken, not only in their best interests, but also for the future longevity of the Derby Cathedral Peregrine Project.

Edge view of the old 18mm OSB platform base,
 showing how moisture had entered and caused it to fail in November 2025.

 

Before too long, we intend to carefully remove the rest of the old, unusable nest platform which had degraded to a pretty parlous condition by the end of last year. This will leave the birds with just the new box on the tower roof for the 2027 breeding season and beyond. Both we and Ed believe that by then they will almost certainly take to it as the only real nesting opportunity on the tower. But, in the unlikely event that they should fail to utilise it, we will then look to return to the old design which involves considerable technical skills and regular commitment by specialists to install and maintain. We hope our new, free-standing  box should ensure the long-term future of these wild peregrines breeding on Derby Cathedral and be far easier and simpler for anyone to manage and look after, long into the future.
 

There will be an opportunity later in the year for you to take part in a sponsored abseil off the top of the tower to raise funds for Rainbows Hospice and get a sense of what dangling off the tower feels like.
But, as always, we have to thank the incredible staff at Derby Cathedral for their support and desire to see - and indeed, hear - peregrine falcons breeding again on the most important and iconic building in  Derby City.

The Project Team
The project is run by Nick Brown and Nick Moyes, and is overseen and managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust with support from The Cathedral and the IT team at Derby City Council.