Last Two Watch Points, new photo & an Update

Wednesday Watch Point Update: first a big thanks to Margaret and Brian Hobby who have run every Wednesday's WP since 25th May! They were assisted today by Margaret, one of the Cathedral Quarter rangers who has taken a special interest in the birds.
All four juvs were in view plus both parents. Several of the juveniles flew about and they seem to be ever more confident - it was good to see that.

People came from Stoke and Lichfield especially to the WP and it was good to see them. Mo & Pete came down from Belper (sorry to miss you) and a Dutch couple came to Derby from Whaley Bridge where they are staying to visit the Silk Museum only to find it closed!

They ended up at the WP and we had a good chat as well as showing them the birds. They reported that the first pair of white tailed eagles to nest in Holland have one chick.

Today (Friday 1st July) sees another Watch Point taking place, with the last

one tomorrow, Saturday 2nd July. The young have been flying about today, following their parents and noisily begging for food - so there should be plenty to see.
Saturday's Watch Point: please see the comments for an update. It was good to see many old friends & supporters - Jane and John from Belper and Joanne from Mickleover among them.

The photo to the left was taken by Jon Salloway last week and it shows the falcon with a headless moorhen. Teal feathers

have also been found under the tower recently, showing yet again the variety of the prey they take.

The second photo, also by Jon, shows a juvenile trying to catch a bumble bee (or maybe a big fly)...its first faltering step towards catching prey. Peregrines will catch very small birds but, as far as I am aware, have never been seen taking an insect.

The peregrine's smaller cousin, the hobby, regularly takes insects such as dragonflies and cockchafers in the air - more on hobbies in later post perhaps.....

Donations for the project are still trickling in but we are still well off our target so if you've enjoyed watching the breeding season unfold here in Derby, do please consider sending a donation. Details of how to do so can be obtained by scrolling down a few posts....

Nick B (DWT)

Watch Points to continue plus donations feedback

News Update Friday 9pm: all four juveniles plus the falcon on the tower top, the tiercel on JI.

All rather wet looking....

Tomorrow's Watch Point should be OK - do come down, see the birds and say hello.

News Update: Friday 24th June 4:00pm
All four peregrines have now successfully left the nest. The last to leave flew out at 3:30pm today. We believe her maiden flight was OK, though are awaiting news of all six birds being seen at once - which isn't always easy!


With superb help from our volunteers, it will now be possible to continue the watch point 'season' through until, and including, Saturday July 2nd.

So do get down to Derby, see the youngsters learning to fly and do say 'hello' - if you possibly can.

Just to remind you: we run them from 11am to 1.30pm on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

So far we have received donations on The Green of over £300 - so a big thank you to everyone who has put something in the donations box or in the plastic peregrine with the hole in its head!

We have had some lovely comments from visitors and it is just great to see how thrilled people are when they set eyes on our birds for the first time through the telescopes.

Last Saturday, this family came to Derby from Blackwell, some 20 miles away, just to see the peregrines.

All four children (Olivia, Lewis, Erin and Daisy) had a look through the telescopes and went away very well pleased with their visit - as did their parents.

We know that many other people are still making special visits to Derby just to see these magnificent birds - and that is very heartening.
Meanwhile, a big thanks to the cathedral for sharing 50/50 the proceeds from the tower tours run on the peregrine event day (30th May) - that brought us in another £112.

So far from personal donations made as a result of our appeal on the blog we have received over £1,200. Add in the other income (eg from 5 DVDs sold at watch points and the donations there) and our new total for income since April now amounts to £1652 - so we are getting close to our target of £2000! This is sufficient to meet our hardware costs and webhosting fees, but unfortunately doesn't meet costs of people's time to maintain or develop the project. We are lucky that so many people are still willing to commit some or all of their time to Derby's peregrines for free. Do please keep it coming (we may well need more next year!).
The project team extends a big thank you to everyone who has contributed so far - and there are over twenty of you (plus the class from Gorsefield Primary School in Bury, near Manchester, who sent £20 - a really marvellous effort!).

Now let's hope our four youngsters all survive their early days in the air without any further mishaps. It should be fun watching them get their aerial confidence!

Fingers well-crossed please......and keep your eyes on the comments to get the latest brief updates from the project team.

Nick Moyes, Tony Grantham and Nick Brown

Watch Points 2011 and Updates

News Update 25th May: the first Watch Point went well with a constant stream of people coming to see the birds. We caught very brief views of one of the chick's head poking above the platform edge.Both parents were present much of the time though late on, they both flew off, leaving the chicks on their own - they are certainly big enough to cope - how they've grown! The forecast for Friday and Saturday's WPs isn't brilliant but unless it is actually raining we'll be there. The peregrine event on Bank Holiday Monday (25th) promises to be exciting with a star appearance from Cathy, the injured youngster from 2009......she's now nearly two years old. More on this soon.

News Update 24th May: A power failure right across Derby's Cathedral Quarter this morning has knocked out our cameras and recording equipment. Although the cameras should come back on automatically, it is unlikely we will be able to reset the two video recorders for some time.

Watch Points this year will take place every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday (weather permitting) starting on Wednesday 25th May and going on until early July, depending on when the chicks fledge and whether they remain visible (last year they left the tower soon after fledging).

The Watch Points will be set up on Cathedral Green on Full Street behind the Cathedral itself. They are free (though donations are always welcome). So if you are able to come to Derby on one of those days, do come along and say hello to our trusty band of DWT volunteers....and see the birds for real!

The DWT volunteers will have telescopes at the ready between about 11 am and 1.30 pm. Staying any later and the light goes off the nest, making viewing difficult.
On Bank Holiday Monday (30th May), Tony Grantham (the head verger) has planned a special event which will include a Watch Point, tours up the cathedral tower, web cam viewing and a display inside the cathedral. More on that nearer the time.

On Saturday 28th May, there's a duck race event on the Green (well on the river actually!) as well as our Watch Point.....so extra stalls and things will be happening that day!

It would be good to see some of you web cammers there....if you can get along (Jennie made it from Hong Kong so anything is possible!). Do introduce yourselves to our volunteers and leave a comment in the book, saying where you have come from. We need to gather evidence about our ability to bring people to the city!
Nick Brown (DWT)

Ps Children are also very welcome....as you can see!

Pps. Go to the previous post to find about about how many chicks we have this year...if this is your first visit to the blog.

Five years of magic!

Derby Cathedral viewed from Amen Alley

It is just over five years since we installed a nest platform for peregrine falcons on Derby Cathedral. So we thought we'd take celebratory look back at what our Derby Cathedral Peregrine Project has achieved in that time.

First, it's worth reminding ourselves just how scarce peregrines had become due to pesticide poisoning in the 1950s and 60s. In the 1970s, there were several years when not a single peregrine was seen in the whole of Derbyshire. The first returning breeding pair was reported in 1983 in the Peak District. By 1990, there were three pairs including a very visible pair at Willington Power Station, five miles south of Derby.

The first signs that peregrines might be using Derby Cathedral came in 2004 when prey remains were found under the tower. However, the birds themselves remained unnoticed. An article in the local paper even suggested that Satanists were throwing dismembered bird corpses at the cathedral!

Then early in 2005 the cathedral architect took the first ever photo of our male bird when he leaned over the top of the tower and spotted a "strange looking pigeon"! Soon after, a couple of us went to the top, found prey remains and saw the birds too. In spring, we observed display but, with nowhere suitably flat to nest, the female bird disappeared around mid-March, only to return again in the autumn.
In the winter of 2005 a partnership between Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, Derby Museum and The Cathedral was formed. Our plan was to take our time and work out how and where we might fix a metal nest platform, should that ever be allowed. But then in March 2006 our birds showed really serious signs of courtship and nest scraping. They had chosen the largest alcove available, but to still clearly far too small to be successful. So we hurriedly agreed to build and fix a wooden nest platform to the tower. We were encouraged with help and advice from urban peregrine expert, Nick Dixon, and the support of Tony Grantham, the Cathedral's Head Verger, and an anonymous donation of £5000.
Having gained the Cathedral's full support and necessary permissions, a nest platform was built by Nick Evans and installed by him and the museum’s Nick Moyes. Amazingly, within a fortnight the female was incubating her first clutch of eggs on the gravel bed set down inside the platform.

Colin Pass's photo shows one web camera plus adult
and juvenile on the edge of the platform.

It caused considerable interest, and thousands of people flocked to Cathedral Green over that summer to see them. A series of Watch Points with telescopes was quickly organised by Nick B to meet the interest. By July three young had fledged, although one youngster had to be rescued from the road below. Spurred on by the huge interest shown (and by our frustrations at not being able to see into the nest from below) Nick M decided to try and set up two web cams in 2007 and started blogging about his attempts.  This went rather well so in 2008 he wired up a further web cam to give a view out along the top ledges above the nest. We were approached by local entrepreneur, Ashley Sims, who wanted to make a DVD about our birds. That went rather well, too.

Since 2007 the total number of visits to our webcam and blog is now a remarkable 1.7 million. Collectively, we know you are watching or reading this from more than 70 countries around the world - though most of you are from the UK.

The project team post regular updates on this blog to keep everyone informed about what’s happening and give links to YouTube video clips of the ‘highlights’. These were extracted by Nick M. from two video recorders installed high up inside the Cathedral. In total these 50 YouTube clips have been viewed over 290,000 times!

Our blog also give us the chance to ask for donations to the project – £2500 came in last year, mostly from you - our amazing band of addicted webcam watchers.

In 2010, the blog alone was viewed over 193,000 times (that's double the number taken by all of Derby Museum's webpages combined!). We wrote 50 blog posts last year, and you made 2,535 comments, all pre-moderated by the team. Wildlife Trust volunteers have run 138 Watch Points on Cathedral Green since 2006, and our specially-made location map has been viewed over half a million times! The remains of over 50 species of prey have been collected and identified, with expert assistance from Ed Drewitt in Bristol.

The project has generated remarkable publicity with many news stories on TV, radio and in the press, as well as many feature articles in local and national magazines.
In 2007 Alan Titchmarsh's Nature of Britain series featured our brand new webcams in its regional broadcasts, as did BBC TV’s Springwatch. Then last year Autumnwatch 2010 showed our ‘world first’ video clip showing the birds bringing back live prey at night. Recently, the project gave advice to BBC Radio 4’s writers for an ongoing but exciting storyline about peregrines in The Archers (we're sworn to secrecy, but listen here at 8 mins 15 seconds). 

We've had our ups and downs, of course. Last year two chicks died in front of the cameras, which upset many people, especially as we were legally barred from intervening. Other fledged birds have had accidents resulting in death or injury. But this is nature - not everything survives. Cathy, the young female injured in 2009 is still being cared for by a local supporter of our project, whilst another that killed itself has just been 'set up' by a taxidermist.

It goes without saying that the project would never have got underway had it not been for the very close partnership between the Wildlife Trust and Derby Museum. The key technical elements of platform fixing, web cam and blog management and the use of YouTube, Flickr and Twitter have all been achieved by the tireless work of Nick Moyes , mostly in his evenings and weekends.
So, a big celebratory thank you to absolutely everyone who has supported this project over these five great years - to webcam watchers, blog commentators, corporate and private donors, Watch Point volunteers, tourists and visitors, superb local photographers and the many supportive people in Derby City Council, at DWT and at the Cathedral. Although we've attracted people from right around the world, ours really has been a local project that has mostly captured the interest and imagination of many local people. . .

Whether you are reading this in Derby or in Darjeeling, thanks for your interest, comments and for your generous donations. Here's to the next five years!

Nick B on behalf of the project team (Nick Moyes, Tony Grantham and Nick Brown)
__________________________________________________________________
As a sad postscript to this story, Nick Moyes was recently and very suddenly made redundant after more than 25 years in his natural history post at Derby Museum. You can read more on that story here.
I am hopeful that both Nick M and the museum will wish to continue their close and invaluable association with the project, and that a way can be found for this to happen. If it does not, it is likely that this blog will not continue in as active a way as it has to date. We'll keep you posted.

For the latest news about what's happened this year, please see the previous blog post below.

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Easter holiday family/child event organised by Derby Museum education & outreach team:

This Thursday 28th April 2011, 10am to 3pm at

Derby Museum and Art Gallery.
Free of charge but advance booking is essential. For more information and to book, ring 01332 641901.

"Imagine if you could see your dinner from a mile away or dive at 200mph! Discover Derby’s resident peregrines and make your own winged warrior mask".

Watch Points begin this weekend

WatchPoints
You'll be pleased to know that we've been planning our summer Watch Points on the Green behind the Cathedral.
These will give visitors to Derby the chance to see our birds close up through telescopes which we provide. There is no charge but donations are always welcome, of course.
Watch Points have so far been arranged for every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from this Saturday (15th May) until at least mid-June and probably later, depending on how the chicks fare and exactly when they fledge.
Watch Points start about 10.30 a.m. and end at 1.30 p.m. when the sun moves off the east face of the tower.and starts getting in our eyes! If the weather is very wet on any one morning, then our volunteers may decide not to set up at all. They have no shelter there - so please bear with them.

We hope to see many of you over the next few weeks - do make yourselves known to our volunteers who will be only too keen to provide information about the birds and the project itself.


Other Things to Do in Cathedral Quarter
After watching the birds, why not drop into the Cathedral Centre on Irongate for a warming drink and food and perhaps also visit either or both The Silk Mill Museum by the river or the City's main Museum & Art Gallery on The Strand. You can purchase a DVD about the project from either venue (and sometimes also from the Watch Point).
The Watch Points are organised and run by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and its volunteers.

The Project Team

PS Check out the Big Screen in Derby's Market Place from now onwards - our falcons will be live there every weekday from 1.15-1.45pm. and 3:15 to 3:45pm. More times will be added later we're told.
The live webcam in Derby Museum & Art Gallery is currently out of order whilst we await a replacement monitor, but the webcams are often available to watch on request at the reception desk of The Silk Mill.

Report on the first Watch Point - Saturday, 15th May:
The watchpoint went well today and the weather remained dry.
We were busy to begin with and had visitors from the local area, Leicester, Northampton and from Italy!
During the first one and a half hours the male was present- mostly perched on one of the gargoyles and seen eating prey. The female stayed on the nest platform for a lot of the time and had a couple short flights but kept the chicks in her sight.The heads of some of the chicks were visible on occasions. The tiercel left at about noon and didn't return before we closed. After the male left, there was less activity and there were few sightings of the chicks or the female who lay low on the platform.She appeared to be slightly disturbed by the people on the tower tour and made an appearance soon after 1 pm, circling the tower before settling back on the platform.
Celia & Helen.

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.

Royal Visit to Derby

Updated (Watchpoint Report now added)

There were smiles all round when the Queen came to present Maundy money inside Derby Cathedral earlier today. The Royal Standard fluttered in the chill morning air as crowds gathered to watch her arrival.

Outside, the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust ran a special Peregrine Watchpoint, which was still going on at the time of posting this! So a full account of today's events will be provided later.

Above: The Yeomen of the Guard. Below: The Royal Standard.

It's unlikely we'll be offered jobs as Royal Photographers as the picture below was the best we could manage of Her Royal Highness and Prince Philip arriving! Nice hat, though.

Andy and Chris, who helped at the Watch Point this morning have sent in this report:
"We had a bright, sunny day in Derby but with a bitingly cold wind.
As we had expected, with the Peregrines now incubating their eggs in
earnest, there wasn’t a lot to see but on our arrival on Cathedral Green
at about 9.45, Nick B. had already spotted one of the adults perched on
Jury’s Inn.
This bird disappeared later in the session to be seen flying low over
the Assembly Rooms before disappearing from view only to return around
the North side of the cathedral carrying a prey item a couple of minutes
later. We were then treated to this bird flying in a complete circle
around us looking as though it would land on the cathedral but
eventually making its way back to Jury’s Inn where the food was cached
out of our view. He (we were pretty sure it was the tiercel) remained in
view there for the next half an hour, landing on the nest platform for a
short while before disappearing from view for the rest of the session.
Other birds noted were a Buzzard which flew low over the Green being
mobbed by a pair of crows and a Sparrowhawk which was glimpsed over
rooftops to the North.
Today’s was the first (and only) Watchpoint with the Royal Standard flying above us
on the Cathedral tower and with a contingent of the Yeomen of the Guard
in attendance across the road as the Queen presented Maundy Money in the
Cathedral. All-in-all an unusual and very colourful day in Derby!"

Last of the Watch Points (updated with video)

Today was a greyer day than we’ve had of late and quite chilly out of the sun but some good views of all the peregrines were had by all who came down to the Cathedral Green.When we set up, only the adult male and the two males juveniles could be seen. Dad was in his usual perch high in the stonework of the “window” above the nest and the two youngsters were up by Pudding Cam finishing off the remains of an earlier meal.


Little changed with these three until Dad flew off and was last seen heading Northeast very high up – presumably on a hunting trip – at about midday. At about 11.00, the adult female flew in from behind us and landed just below the nest platform where she stayed for about twenty minutes before flying off low to the North accompanied by the remaining female juvenile. She was later seen on one of the aerials on top of some nearby flats where she remained for most of the rest of the session. The female juvenile wasn’t seen again until about 1.00 o’clock when she appeared on the aerial which her mother had recently left to return to the Cathedral.


Finally, just as we were starting to pack away at 1.30, she returned to the Cathedral and we were treated to the whole family in front of us, although in true peregrine fashion there was very little activity - until the last of the equipment was put away, at which point the adult female took off and circled around briefly, being joined by one of her offspring with much calling from all the youngsters. This has become a feature of the Saturday watchpoints – as soon as we start to clear away, it all starts to happen!


Today was our last watchpoint for this year, although inevitably we will visit from time to time to check on progress. Thank you to all who visited for taking the time to show an interest in these magnificent creatures and for your kind donations which go towards the cost of running the project and the webcams and thank you especially to Luke’s mum for the cream cakes today – they were much appreciated!


Andy, Chris, Helen 20 June 2009


Postscript: And a huge big thanks to all the volunteers who have helped out this season. You've been great! That's: Steve and Ann, John and Neil, Brian and Margaret, Jane and Paul, Sue, Wayne, Celia, Helen, Andy and Chris and Margaret.
We've been fortunate with the weather, with just one day cancelled because of rain if my memory serves me correctly.
Finally, here's a recent video clip of juvenile on top of Derby Cathedral tower. It's looks like our remaining female pushing the adult male out of the way. (Note: we are aware of a problem with the audio on this clip, but the hum has since been fixed.)

Sunday 14th (with Watch Point update)

There will be a watch point between 10.30 and about 1.30pm on Sunday, then further WPs will operate next week on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, weather permitting.

Herewith further excellent graphics work by the infants in the Red Class at Brigg Infant School for you to enjoy!

The watch point today was quieter than Saturdays in tens of people and - until about 12.30, of peregrines too. The male hadn't been seen all morning, just the female and all four young.
these young sem to be flying really confidently now. Four of us walked over to Irongate on the West side of the cathedral where we watched two or three of them landing on roofs, taking off and circling round. One of the young even flew up and perched close to its mother on the top of one of the corner pinnacles - as you can see.

011 was watched hopping along a ledge quite low on the south side of the tower...they really are getting the hang of things now. Please forgive two poor hand-held digiscoped photos.....until a proper photographer provides us with better shots......at least they give you the idea!

Nick B (DWT)

Watchpoint Report

To misquote one of our popular daily newspapers – Phew! What a scorcher!!
We had fantastic weather on the Cathedral Green today as the many visitors will no doubt testify!On the Peregrine front, the adult female spent most of the session sat on either of the two nearest pinnacles and didn’t show much inclination to do any other than keep an eye on her offspring. The adult male was seen briefly at about 11.30 hunting off to the Northeast but he didn’t return to the Cathedral before we left at 2.00 pm. Of the youngsters, we had views of a maximum of 3 birds but only two could be identified clearly from their ring numbers (these were 009 and 011). The other bird was regularly flitting between the parapet and the tower roof so it wasn’t totally clear if we had three or four of the juveniles present. Wayne did, however report seeing all four juveniles before we arrived. Unusually, we didn’t see any other raptors during the whole session –usually on a day like this, at least one buzzard drifts over.Thank you to everyone who visited the Watchpoint and thank you for your generous donations to the Peregrine Project.
Andy, Chris, Celia & Helen


The picture above is a computer-generated peregrine drawn by one of the (very) young pupils at Brigg Infants School who, with their teacher, Helen, have been keenly watching the birds since the spring. More images to follow.

Wet and cold (updated)

Today (Saturday) in Derby started very wet and cold with little likelihood of any fledging. With continuous drizzle, the Watchpoint was eventually cancelled, as was announced in our comments.

Just look at those youngsters...bedraggled or what! Thanks to Roger Sharp for the photo capture. At 10.30am one of the adults sat, soaked through, in a stony alcove high above the nest site. It was so wet that it was impossible to see its features, let alone determine its gender!

To try and make up for no Watchpoint, here's a video clip from early yesterday morning before all the rain started. Many of us have seen how both parents and juveniles can turn their backs to eject a stream of waste matter away from the nest site, but this clip shows an interesting variation on the same theme! Note, too, the flurry of white feather from the nest as wings are flapped.




Here are some recent screen-captures of our four, sometimes rather bedraggled, young peregrines taken this weekend 6th/7th June 2009:
Sara6768


by rejsharp


by Marski2009

Watch Point May 30th

Watchpoint Report Saturday 30 May, by Andy and Chris Marshall:

A beautiful sunny day today in Derby. We had a steady stream of visitors, some new (including a German family) and some now well known to us.

There was little activity from either of the adult peregrines throughout with the male sat on the top right “gargoyle” until he flew off just after midday towards the town centre. The female spent most of the session sat just below the nest platform, in the shade, dozing and occasionally preening although she did do a couple of laps of the Cathedral before returning to her perch.

The chicks performed well, putting on regular displays of wing flapping although it wasn’t until we came away that all four were seen at the same time. By next weekend, they should all have lost most of their down and be spending a lot of time perched on the edge of the platform exercising their wings ready for fledging – a sight definitely worth seeing!

Other sightings were 5 Painted Lady butterflies and sparrowhawks – one at midday, a female, flew past us and between the Cathedral and the building to the right carrying a prey item (possibly a Blackbird) but was gone in an instant (are they breeding somewhere nearby?). The other was seen overhead climbing in a thermal before heading off to the south. This didn’t bother our female at all – she just carried on preening as if nothing had happened. Sparrowhawks are obviously considered less of a problem than buzzards!

Thanks again to Celia for coming down to help us.

Watchpoint Report for Saturday 16 May

by A & C Marshall


It was a quiet day in all respects. We had around 60 visitors during the session. The female peregrine spent quite a while perched on the waterspout by the pudding cam or on the pinnacle above, giving good views between rain showers. The male was absent for most of the session, being seen briefly at around 11.00 escorting 2 buzzards off to the Northeast. He returned briefly during a rain shower at around 12.30 before heading off to the North. From about 11.30 the female spent most of her time brooding the chicks to protect them from the inclement weather but at around 13.00 she too flew off purposefully over the Assembly Rooms before returning from the North with a pigeon, followed closely by the male – the assumption being that he had caught the bird and passed it to his mate out of our sight.

We left with the female feeding the chicks who could be seen quite clearly. Hopefully, by next weekend, the chicks will be big enough to be regularly seen well from the Watchpoint rather than the brief glimpses we have been getting.

Thank you to all those who turned up to see these birds in such indifferent weather and a big thank you to Celia and Helen for their help running the Watchpoint.

_____________________________________________

Phoebe, a newcomer to our Watchpoints later wrote:

@ Andy and Chris It was good to meet you on Saturday, we thoroughly enjoyed the day despite the rain showers. I was wonderful to see these birds in life! It was my first time and I am hooked already!I would like to thank you, Wayne and everyone else there for your information and use of scopes etc

The photo above is by Colin Pass.

Hello World!

Watchpoints are now underway at Derby Cathedral's newly renovated Green - subject to reasonable weather of course. Follow this link for all dates on our Watchpoint Calendar. Do come down betwen 10.30-1.30 to see Derby's peregrines for yourself. They might even wave to you, as one did for local photographer, Colin Pass, recently!

Our four chicks really are growing rapidly. Ths mornng one went for a walk-about on the nest platform and gave a good display of its developing flight feathers.

It will soon be time to try and ring our own birds which we're hoping to arrange for later in the week (weather permitting) . Worcester's peregrines have just been ringed and have featured on BBC TV

________________________________________

Here are some shots uploaded recently to our Flickr Group Pool

16th May :

by Karen Anne, U.S.,


by Jennie, Hong Kong


by Ann ( Canada ),

15th May:

by k_15H0r3


by falconquester2001


by pocd1


by waynerawson84

Calendar of Watchpoints 2009 (End of season update)

• Peregrine Watchpoints have now finished for the 2009 season!
  
  They ran on the following dates on Cathedral Green between 10.30am - 1.30pm on all dates below.
  

MAY

• Saturday May 16th.
• Wednesday May 20th.
• Friday May 22nd.
• Saturday May 23rd.
• Bank Holiday Monday May 25th. (& Tower Tours)
• Wednesday May 27th
• Friday May 29th
• Saturday May 30th
  

JUNE

• Thursday June 4th
• Friday June 5th
• Saturday June 6th (Fledging week)
• Wednesday June 10th
• Thursday June 11th
• Friday June 12th
• Saturday June 13th
• Sunday June 14th
• Wednesday June 17th
• Thursday June 18th
• Friday June 19th
• Saturday June 20th

Cathedral Green is at the rear of Derby Cathedral on Full Street. Telescopes were set up between 10.30am and 1.30pm. Organised by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, the Watchpoints were all run by volunteers who were on hand to help people use the 'scopes and talk about Derby's peregrines. View our location map on the left side of this blog, or follow this link for a larger map.


Visitor Facilities
Even though watchpoints are closed, there is always a good chance of seeing a peregrine, no matter what time of year you visit.

There are numerous food outlets in Derby's Cathedral Quarter, including the Cathedral Centre's own restaurant and takeaway service (though this is closed on Sundays).

Next to Cathedral Green is The Silk Mill Museum (with toilet facilities). There are lots of nearby shopping and leisure opportunities, including Queen Street Swimming Baths and the new Westfield Shopping Centre, two more Museums and the new Quad visual arts centre

The Tourist Information Centre is just 2 minutes walk away, and the Riverside Quarter Trail and Upper Derwent Trail start just 15 seconds away. Follow this link to find out more about the numerous parking options when visiting Derby.

(If travelling by car, why not use the Park n' Ride at Pride Park next to Derby County Football Stadium where you can view The Sanctuary Bird Reserve (with disabled access) and watch sand martins, lapwings, wheatear and skylarks from within the car park, before getting your £2.20 bus into town which stops less than a 2 minute walk from Derby Cathedral.)

Whatever you do, enjoy your visit to Derby and marvel at our brilliant birds.

The Peregrine Project Team

WATCHPOINT REPORT - Saturday 9 May

by Andy M. & Chris M.

A nice, bright breezy day saw about 100 visitors to the first watchpoint of the year on Derby's Cathedral Green.

We were treated to quite a good session with the falcon chasing her mate off a food cache at about 11.00 and feeding the chicks for a good quarter of an hour. Several visitors had very good views of the chicks being fed (some a bit too good and gory).

The tiercel [i.e. male] flew off eventually and was seen occasionally throughout the session, once flying past us with a small prey item. At around midday, he was seen high above the Cathedral with a Sparrowhawk below him. Both drifted off in opposite directions.

Around 13.00, the falcon became restless and left the nest for a short hunting trip, never losing sight of the Cathedral, and we were treated to her stooping onto two pigeons about 1/2 a mile away to the North. She was unsuccessful and eventually returned to the nest and fed on the remains of an earlier meal which had been left in the nest tray.


Photo by Colin Pass. Caption: No, I have not seen a white feral pigeon honest.

As Nick B mentioned earlier in the blog, and as regular visitors to Cathedral Green have thought for a couple of years, this tiercel doesn't seem to be the best of providers which is probably why the falcon has been seen taking squabs from pigeon nests around the Cathedral this last week. However, they are experienced parent who have successfully fledged every chick hatched, so there is no reason to think this won't be as successful!

All in all, a good day with pleasant and useful company throughout from Wayne and Colin (see earlier comments).

If you live within striking distance of Derby, I strongly recommend you visit one of the Watchpoints and see these marvellous birds for yourselves. We will definitely be in attendance on every Saturday throughout May (10.30 - 13.30) weather permitting and on other dates to be announced - see the diary pages for updates.

From Project Team:
A CALENDAR OF FUTURE WATCHPOINT DATES WILL BE PUBLISHED HERE SOON.
Next official Watchpoint is on Saturday 16th May. 10:30am - 1:30pm

We'd also like to thank the bell ringers of Derby Cathedral who rang a 50-minute "quarter peal" of bells on Sunday 10th May in memory of Froona Veldhuis, a dedicated peregrine enthusiast from Holland who had written much about Derby's peregrines and many other sites in the northern hemisphere.
Our thanks, too, for lots of helpful replies to questions left on this blog's comments.

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Here are some images uploaded to Flickr by webcam viewers on Monday May 11th

by Colin Pass


by Dave Arrowsmith


by rejsharp


by rejsharp


by Marski2009