Mating on the Gutter

Watch this amazing video of our two birds mating earlier this morning. It was 8am and our female was perched in the sunshine on the projecting lead gutter which drains water away from the top of Derby's Cathedral. Our male was nearest the camera. Just as the bells started tolling he seemed to be stirred into action, and moved off to briefly mate with her before landing on the platform way below, where we hear him chirping gently off camera.

Last year we saw them mating the same day as the first egg was laid, and we are expecting this year's first egg any day now. The previous blog post shows another amazing clip of them mating on the tower back in 2008.

It's getting egg-sighting!

Egg laying is upon us. We're at that time when it's anyone's guess when the first egg will be laid. It'll probably be within the next 48 hours, possibly much sooner. We now know that Nottingham's peregrines have already laid their first egg, and ours can't be far behind.

I suspect one of my abiding positive memories of this year will be the happy grins of Craig and others out on Cathedral Green on 16th March when we were lucky enough to see our falcons mating briefly on the very topmost pinnacle of the Cathedral's tower. I think this is only the second time I've witnessed this for real, though the best video we ever captured is repeated below. I just love the way the male soars in from the right and then lands right in front of the camera.

From comments left on the blog, it's clear that a number of readers are now returning after a year's absence. If so, welcome back. Our web camera addresses had to change last year. So if your favourite links are no longer working, simply follow the links provided on the top left of this blog to reach our live cameras and other resources.



Technical problems.
Both our Philips DVD/HDD 3460H recorders have been exhibiting identical faults over the last year, with both disc trays being immensely reluctant to open. Maybe it's the dusty atmosphere inside the bell-ringing chamber. I've been forced to use project funds to purchase two identical replacement machines on the second-hand market as there seems to be no modern players available at a sensible price that allow continuous recording from external video sources. This is far from ideal as I've lost confidence in Philips equipment in recent years. Nevertheless, I'll be popping one up into the cathedral tower to swap over our equipment in one of my forthcoming lunch-hours, so hopefully I'll be able to pull off a few more videos than have otherwise been possible recently.

Mating Peregrines!

Wading through the last four days of tower-top camera footage in five minute intervals, I was delighted to come across proof that our birds have been actively mating. The short sequence below was filmed on Sunday 8th March at 6pm, but only retrieved from Derby Cathedral this lunchtime.


Just as last year the male swoops in with an amazing flying approach, and in this low resolutoin clip it's just possible to see him at the very start of the clip on the extreme right side against the sky. After mating, we see him fly off, but she remained on the top of the tower, roosting there with her head seemingly tucked into her wing until just after first light the next morning. (6.30am)

The mating sequence of most birds is so quick that's it's hard to be certain we haven't missed anything, though we've checked up until this lunchtime and seen nothing. There are almost certain to be a few more such intimate moments, so it's worth keeping a watch on the tower camera over the next few days, or on the tower itself if you live in our city. Do please leave a comment if you see any special moments by leaving the date and our local time (from the header in the webcam image) so we can go and retrieve footage of interest.

Judging by the timetable shown in a previous blog entry this month, it does seem likely that we will now have the first egg laid before the end of March.

Egg No 4

We have confirmed that we now have four eggs! Well done to "Mum". From comments left it seems to have been first seen around 19:40 local time on Friday evening.

Thanks to everyone who emailed pictures. This one is from Martyn Williamson in South Yorkshire. Please, please don't send any more for now as there's now a danger my work "Inbox" will overflow over the weekend! It's great proof of how many of you are keeping a close eye on Derbys birds.


Shown below is yet another amazing peregrine mating sequence we managed to record a few days ago. It was taken on 29th March, a day after the first egg was laid on the Derby Cathedral nest. It was 05:30 in the morning, and only just getting light. The sound is faint, as our microphone is located on the nest camera, some 20metres lower down - but you can hear it also picking up a bit of the dawn chorus over Derby city centre.




(New visitors to this blog may wish to read an overview of the peregrine project, or have their names added to our mailing list for major news items.)

Intimate Moments - and now a Competition!

Our new webcam proved its worth today, as did peregrine watcher, Kath P. She emailed us to report she had seen the birds mating on top of the tower via the net at 08:47 local time. So a swift trip up the 450 year old spiral staircase this lunchtime managed to capture the magic moment, which was quickly burnt and passed to our local Radio/TV station. This isn't a one-off: we'll see repeated short matings. Indeed they were at it again when returned from lunch at 2pm today. (see second video further below. You may spot the male flying in from the extreme right hand corner)

So, when will we seen eggs?? Why don't you try to guess?
A chance remark in the comments below our last entry led to a surprise offer from a viewer. We jokingly suggested we should run a sweepstake to guess when our first egg is laid – closest date and time wins. The prize? Well, I suggested an abseil down to clean out the platform in winter. Clearly, not really possible. But we’ve already had one offer!!

So, just for fun, here's our Easter competition. We had considered asking for an entry fee to raise funds for the Peregrine Project, but as we're not yet able take payment from outside the UK, we didn't want to exclude non-UK viewers from entering.

Here are the rules:

1) Place your “Guess” in a comment below this blog entry (Just click the red word “Comments”)
2) State your estimate of date and local time that the first egg will be seen. (eg 03 JUN 08:35 Please spell the month rather than give it as a number)
3) State a name or pseudonym and the town/country you're in.

We will watch our cameras and any video footage and report back on the first sighting. But perhaps some of you will be able to tell us first! Leave a comment here, or email: peregrines@derby.gov.uk

Competetive people can use the "Archive" facility on this blog to look back at last year's entries and make their best, informed guess for 2008.

There will be no winners or losers this time around. We can’t offer you a tower tour or an abseil as this excludes everyone outside Derby. Maybe we might run this again for real - perhaps based on the first fledging in the summer.

Good luck

(Of course, if you did want to make a donation to our project you are always welcome to email the Wildlife Trust on enquiries@derbyshirewt.co.uk , ring them to make a credit card payment on 01773 881188, or send to Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, East Mill, Bridgefoot, Belper, Derbyshire, DE56 1XH, England)