A quick note to thank recent donors who have contributed over £400 to the project. We are on track to get the income we need...but not there yet...so if you've been entranced by the birds but not donated yet, please consider doing so. The Trust office is open weekdays, 9-5pm. For details of how to donate please scroll down to the post below dated May 23rd.
As these two chicks are developing so quickly, it will only be a matter of a couple of weeks before they take their first flights. Ever since the project began five years ago, we have been aware that this is a very dangerous period for them. Unlike natural cliffs, the tower is narrow so when these youngsters make their first tentative flights, they circle round but often fail to make it back to the tower. Instead they crash into nearby trees, land on surrounding roofs or, failing that, come to ground.
In 2006, the first year the adults bred on the tower, one of the three chicks came crashing down to the ground - in fact, right onto the busy road behind the cathedral. Fortunately several people were watching and had the presence of mind to shepherd the bird off the road and into a nearby business carpark. It was a Saturday and the car park was empty.
Someone rang me up and I rushed down to town to see if I could capture the bird. Armed with thick gardening gloves and a net, I soon arrived to find a small crowd gathered, intensely watching the fledgling which ended up on top of a wheelie bin in the far corner of the car park.
I was able to catch the bird, a large female, and soon we had her safely in a cardboard box. We then trudged up the 189 steps to the top of the tower with the box calsped firmly in our hands. Opening the box, the fledgling soon took off across the roof, eventually hopping up onto the stonework and down onto a ledge. After some hours she made a second and more successful flight, ending up lower down on the tower.
In each subseq
uent year we have had to make rescues of at least one chick. In 2008, three of the four chicks came down to ground. One, a male and noticeably smaller in the hand than the 2006 female, was spotted outside a nearby pub early one morning. Again, I was alerted and managed to capture the bird - quite easily this time...
In each subseq
uent year we have had to make rescues of at least one chick. In 2008, three of the four chicks came down to ground. One, a male and noticeably smaller in the hand than the 2006 female, was spotted outside a nearby pub early one morning. Again, I was alerted and managed to capture the bird - quite easily this time...After the press photographers had taken their shots, we took him up to the top of the tower and released him directly onto the stonework. While the female flew round the tower screaming her disapproval, he sat there looking a bit non-plussed! Eventually, he too took to the air.
So, we can expect one if not both of this year's chicks to require rescuing.....time will tell!
Ever since the web cams were set up, several schools in the county have discovered that they make an excellent teaching resource. In particular, schools in Mickleover, South Normanton and Stretton Handley have made very good use of this free and accessible resource.
It's great that several Derbyshire schools have now set up thier own nest boxes with cameras inside them. The pictures from those cameras are brought together in one website (see below for the link).
Nikki Mahadevan, who teaches at one of the schools I mentioned above, writes:
Great Tits, House Sparrows, Blue Tits and Kestrels all feature in the
Derbyshire Schools Birdcam Project this year. Following on from a hard
winter and late spring, the nest box birds have had their fair share of
dramas. Some of the early broods failed and the young hatchlings have also had to contend with unseasonably high t
emperatures.
Nikki Mahadevan, who teaches at one of the schools I mentioned above, writes:
Great Tits, House Sparrows, Blue Tits and Kestrels all feature in the
Derbyshire Schools Birdcam Project this year. Following on from a hard
winter and late spring, the nest box birds have had their fair share of
dramas. Some of the early broods failed and the young hatchlings have also had to contend with unseasonably high t
emperatures. We've seen predation by great spotted woodpeckers and possibly starlings too.
In one box, House Sparrows are raising a brood having previously destroyed some
Great Tit eggs!
In one box, House Sparrows are raising a brood having previously destroyed some
Great Tit eggs!
Although many of our chicks are expected to fledge by the end of this month, we are looking forward to the Kestrel eggs hatching early in June.
Main website: http://www.lea.derbyshire.sch.uk/birdcam/index.php
Gallery: http://www.lea.derbyshire.sch.uk/birdcam/gallery/
Gallery: http://www.lea.derbyshire.sch.uk/birdcam/gallery/
We wish these schools, both teachers and children, good luck with 
their endeavours!
their endeavours!Nick B (DWT)
Photo from Flickr - this one was taken on 31st May by Twwitcher to whom many thanks.
