Hobby ringing

On local TV last night they showed a hobby chick being ringed. What was unusual for a bird that usually breeds in old crow nests in trees was that this chick had been hatched 12 metres up on a high voltage pylon close to a power station.

A nest basket had been placed up there for the hobbies but I would guess the birds originally adopted a crow nest on the pylon. Peregrines also occasionally nest in such locations, similarly taking over old crow nests.

As with the New Forest hobby's (see previous post for web cam link), there was only one chick reared.

To see the clip go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/eastmidlandstoday/index.shtml and click on watch again / last night's programme on the right side of the screen.

The photo, courtesy of Ed Drewitt, shows peregrine chicks in Poland somewhere reared in an artificial 'basket' though on what type of structure I can't recall exactly.

Nick (DWT)

Fears for other birds

While our peregrines successfully reared their young despite the awful weather we have been having recently here in the UK, there are fears for many other birds this summer. The frequent floods have wiped out nests of water birds such as grebes, kingfishers and ground nesting waders and duck. And the lack of insects due to prolonged periods of rain, threatens the survival of the young of small, insectivorous birds such as warblers and flycatchers. In our own garden and to our great delight, a pair of spotted flycatchers recently adopted a purpose-built nest box on the house right outside the kitchen window. Judging by the late laying date, this pair must have nested elsewhere in May/June and now be trying again, perhaps having failed first time round. My photos show the nest box tucked under the gutter....a tad smaller and easier to construct than the peregrine platform - and somewhat easier to put up as well....plus one of an adult spotted flycatcher (photographer unknown). The lowest photo, taken through the window, shows an adult peering out of the box while brooding its chick. The two eggs hatched some ten days ago but the availability of flying insects since has been severely restricted by days of rain and cool temperatures and we fear for the one surviving chick which is still quite un-feathered even now. Spotted flycatchers spend the winter in Sub-Saharan Africa. Their numbers in the UK have fallen drastically in the last decade, possibly due to less favourable conditions in their wintering quarters. So, for that reason alone, we are particularly keen that this pair rear their single chick. However, today's poor wet weather following on from yesterday's doesn't bode well I'm afraid. Our fingers are firmly crossed....... Incidentally, spotted flycatchers have a charisma all their own, obviously quite different from that of falcons. Dull brown in plumage and with a monosyllabic 'song', what they lack in these respects they more than make up for by their graceful flycatching behaviour and their very confiding habits. Succeed or fail, they'll soon be gone and I for one will sorely miss them, just as we all miss seeing our young peregrines..... Nick B

Even more eggs-sighted! - video clips

We now have two eggs! The Cathedral's Head Verger rang this evening to announce that a second egg had been laid. We'll know exactly when once we review our 24hr video recording after Easter.
Meanwhile after the excitement of our first egg, here are some key video moments captured on Tuesday morning. Double-click the image to play this YouTube video.

At 5:46am the egg is laid, and we get our first glimpse of it just moments later. Just before dawn the male arrives to take his first look at the new arrival in the nest before flying off again. Under our infra-red light the egg looks white, but then we see the egg in daylight for the first time. The male does his bit at keeping the egg warm, although we've already seen periods of many hours this week when the egg is left exposed. This is normal. Incubation of peregrine eggs only starts in earnest when the last egg in the clutch is ready to be laid.

But we've included one final surprise. We were stunned to see one of last year's juveniles turn up on the nest platform to inspect and touch the egg. Note the amazing moment when (she?) lays over the egg and does some nest scraping actions before the adult male arrives and, rather timidly, takes back the egg and sits down on it. We were really surprised to capture these moments, but we#ve since learnt that it is not an unknown occurrence for juveniles from a previous year to get involved in a nest, even to the point of feeding a chick. (If you can't see the video when you double-click the image, there are some stills in the blog entry below. )

Thanks to Philip for updating our peregrine information leaflet. You can download this by going to "Key Links" on the left side of this page.

Finally, we have now been assured by Capita that they will get us connected to the internet by Monday 16th April, if not before. So watch this space for news.

So, egg-sighted!

A delightful surprise awaited us this morning when we turned on the monitor in the cathedral tower - we have our first egg! It was laid at 5.46am on Tuesday 3rd April, and was captured on film under infrared illumination. We will be working hard over the next couple of evenings to try and bring you some video clips. Meanwhile the moment of egg laying was shown on Wednesday evening on BBC TV's "East Midlands Today", and you can watch the news clip here.

Obviously everyone involved in the project is really excited, and we're hoping it won't be the only one. (No further egg was seen when we check again on Thursday)

Just before laying, she stood absolutely still in the nest scrape for a full 40 minutes, before slowly turning round just once, after which we got our first glimpse of the egg. By daybreak we saw the egg in its full colour, a beautiful dark, rich red/brown. They both seemed so proud - as are we! The most usual clutch size in peregrines is four. The eggs are reddish-brown and are laid at intervals of about two days. Only when the clutch is complete will the female (the falcon) begin incubation. The male will then do all the hunting, providing her with food. She will leave the eggs to feed and the male will take over incubation while she does. However, when she's ready, she soon returns and ousts the male from the eggs.

We're really sorry (and not a little frustrated) that we still can't bring you live webcam pictures, but this doesn't seem too far away now. We're assured by Capita, who are Derby Council's IT consultants, that they can get our first image stream out to you by Monday 16th April, if not before. The wireless internet connection is nearly complete, and it's then just the job of configuring our video server to send out the pictures. Whether the first images you get to see are static pictures or a video stream depends on how easily Capita find it to send stuff out from behind our firewall.

Second peregrine pictures

Derby Cathedral received its first complaint today - an irate birdwatcher came in to complain that since the cameras went up he'd not seen the peregrines, and that we'd frightened them away for at least a year. He was going to write a strongly-worded letter to someone.

Of course he was right to be concerned about undue disturbance, just as we have been ourselves, although wrong in his conclusions as our first video clip in the previous blog entry shows. Nevertheless, a hastily written leaflet was produced with all the necessary photographic evidence to allay anyone's concerns, and copies sent to the Museum & Art Gallery, the Tourist Office, and the Cathedral.

A visit to Derby Cathedral also provided an opportunity to pick up the second video tape left running last Tuesday night just before and after dusk, so that we could test out the infra-red illuminators. What a delight - the out of-sight-bird from the first video is now clearly shown, and very active, with lots of ee-chupp calls and picking up of stones. We are still reluctant to say which bird is which at this stage as the cameras are so different in their performance, so here it is for you to enjoy without interpretation. Don't miss the falling feather! Double click icon to play YouTube video.

First peregrine pictures

This short video sequence was captured yesterday whilst we were testing the new cameras put up last week. The jury is still out as to whether it's our male or the female landing on the tray, and your comments are welcome. Either way it shows that both birds have accepted the changes made to their ledge and are spending more time together near the nest site. (Click the central icon to play video)

What's also clear when watching the master VHS video tape is that the calls you hear are not being made by the bird that lands. Yes, it appears to open and close its beak, but it is not the one calling. The seagull-like mewing comes from the other bird, heard off camera, and this starts before the peregrine lands, and continues for some time after it has flown off. Here's a good link to courtship behaviour in American peregrines.


Please don't prejudge the image quality - it was hurriedly captured by playing the video tape on a TV and then filming the screen! We do plan to get a little more high-tech once specialised recordering equipment is supplied by the BBC, but in the mean time if anyone is willing to loan us a spare DVD recorder for a few weeks - please get in touch!