Peregrine Special Event this Monday (plus Updates)

Update Monday 8am: despite the rain, the event below will still take place so do come along - when did a bit of rain deter us Brits?
On this Monday, the Bank Holiday (30th), Tony Grantham, Head Verger and great supporter of the project, has organised a special peregrine day at the cathedral. It will include cathedral tower tours (£5 adults, £2,50 children, first come , first served, first one 10.15, last one 3.15pm), games and quizzes for children, a display on bell ringing and on the peregrines and a Watch Point too.

Colin Pass's photo show's Cathy in late 2009

A star appearance from 'Cathy', the injured peregrine from 2009, will be a great attraction in the morning. Colin Pass, who looks after her, has kindly agreed to bring her down between 11 am and 1 pm. - probably as long as we should subject the poor bird to close scrutiny!

Bank Holidays are rather busy in the countryside - but quiet in Derby - so do come down and meet Cathy and our volunteers if you can drag yourselves away from your computers!

Report from the Peregrine Watch Friday 27th May

Four of us were there to set up but we had to abandon the banner as it was way too windy!. We weighed everything down on the information table, and got the telescopes set up.The female was on the nest ledge for quite a while, but not many people came by for the first half hour.Then suddenly, lots of people started to come to look. We were treated to several 'fly-past' displays from both the male and the female and we were able to spot them in the telescopes when they landed on various parts of the cathedral, so our interested public were able to see them at close quarters. More than 35 people came to visit during the sesssion, some local, but some from much further afield too. One young lad came because his teacher had been telling their class about the peregrines. He was very knowledgeable, spotting the male in flight before we did!!Although it was windy and a bit cold, it was well worth being there. Joyce Sawford, Jane Whitaker, Margaret Keep, DWT WP volunteers.

Saturday 28th's Watch Point: very windy again but at least it was dry. Lots of people coming to see the (plastic) duck race on the river. Some diverted to see the peregrines. Took over £30 in donations and sold a DVD! We hope to see many of you on Monday - Cathy's presence should be a big draw!

Note that the regular Watch Points started on May 25th on Cathedral Green and if you scroll down one post you'll find the details of when they are happening (basically every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 11am to 1.30pm).

Nick Brown (DWT)

Derby Festé - this weekend

If you live around Derby, you're probably already aware that our city's ever-popular annual street event, Derby Festé, hits town this weekend.

There will be three days of spectacular world-class events, all of which are free. The event kicks off on Friday evening with a mix of Bollywood dance, music and animatronic sculptures winding their way through the streets from St Peter's Street to the Market Place. (I'll be there - but probably not dancing!)
Cathedral Green itself is host to a number of amazing events during the Feste weekend, which ends with a Festé Wrap Party at Deda at 9pm. There are free workshops for the kids, lots to see and do, but don't forget to keep an eye out for Derby's peregrines, up there on the Cathedral tower, watching everything that goes on below. And if it all gets too much, don't forget our three city museums are a great place to unwind and relax.

You can download the whole amazing programme of events here or follow this link to visit the Festé website.

Webcam note: On Monday 27th September many of Derby City Council's internet services are being given new addresses. This could potentially affect our webcam availability at that time, and so we'll keep you informed of any changes or problems via this blog.

Easter Eggcitement

Updated (Correct date for Wild Weave on Cathedral Green is Friday 16th April, not 16th May as originally stated. See end.)

The kids are off from school this week, and many parents' thoughts turn to how to keep the young ones occupied.
Well, Derbys Museums are offering two free family activities tomorrow and Saturday with a Peregrine theme which might well fit the bill!

Friday 9th April 2010, 10am to 4pm.
Saturday 10th April 2010, 10am to 4pm.

Venue: The Silk Mill.- Derby's Museum of Industry and History

Suitable for all the family, "Peregrine Watch" is free of charge, and there's no need to book. Just drop in. Kids can make their own winged warrior mask to take home. There's a "Peregrine Trail" around the varied items on display in The Silk Mill, plus a chance to meet one of Derby Museums' very old mounted specimens from early last century. We've always shied away from naming our wild birds, but just for a bit of fun with the children, we're running a little competition for the day to name our female specimen. We know very little about how she got into our museums' collections, but she must be well over 70 years old by now, despite looking a youngster. She's the second photo down in this information page.



I'm not sure what else my colleagues in Education and Outreach are planning, but The Silk Mill is a great place to visit on any day, so this'll undoubtedly add to the fun. There will be telescopes out on the Green for a chance to see Derby's peregrines around their nest site, providing the rain holds off.

The Silk Mill is right next to Cathedral Green and the River Derwent, as well as being close to the city's shopping centre.

If you don't fancy this activity, there are plenty of other Museum Events during the year, and a wide range of changing Temporary Exhibitions, too. My current favourite is "Into The Weave" and even if you miss it there'll be a chance to see the creator of this room-sized woven willow installation at work again in a big public event called Wild Weave by The Silk Mill on Cathedral Green on Friday April 16th from 11am to 3pm. It's free and everyone who wants to can help create a huge woven artwork out of ribbons which should be taking on a magical "web-like" form.

Thanks Marski2009 and Clare for their Flickr images used here.

Sunday Event: Springwatch Festival, Osmaston Park

The BBC Springwatch Festival will be held at Osmaston Park, Derby on Sunday 24th June from 11am-4pm. (Click here to download a programme 425kB) There will be lots and lots of things to see and do: Stands, making things, talks, BBC Bus, live birds of prey and owls, Jelly from Cbeebies (thanks to BBC Birmingham for permission to reproduce the pictures from their Festival earlier this month). What else? Try your hand at willow sculpture, bird and bat box making, parachute games, face painting, henna painting, juggling, pebble painting and much, much more.

Hope to see some of you there as one of us will be giving a short talk on the peregrine project .

To Jenni in Hong Kong: - sorry if you won't be able to make it at such short notice!