Donations, the last Watch Point and a lovely letter

Update 22nd August:
Thanks to Helen and Kate for reporting seeing two peregrines (probably both adults) on the nest platform and below it recently and an adult and a juvenile on nearby Jurys Inn.
For those new to the project, both adults stay around all through the winter making sure that no intruders try to take over. Juveniles usually leave by or during September though it seems as if one is still remaining.
There's sometimes a short period of courtship behaviour in autumn but normally it doesn't last long. So hearing the birds calling and even seeing them scraping the gravel (as they do before egg laying) is not that unusual.
Kate has recently put photos on the Derby Peregrine Flickr site which is always well worth a look:
https://www.flickr.com/groups/derbyperegrines/ .

The Project Team


A big 'thank you' to everyone who has sent a donation to the Peregrine Project this summer.
As always we are really very grateful. Your contributions allow us to run the web cams, the blog and the Watch Points and without them we would really struggle to keep going.

We've known for years that people who are unable to get out and about, for all sorts of reasons, derive a lot of pleasure from watching the web cams and reading the blog.
So it was really delightful to receive not only a generous donation last week from Meriel Jones who lives in Port Sunlight on the Wirral in Cheshire but also this letter about her mother:

"My mother, Mrs May Jones, is currently 99 years old but unable to get out. She has been keen on nature all her life.
The web cams of the adults and the young peregrines this year have fascinated her - a great window on the world for the housebound."

We have had letters and emails from people in their 80s before but never one from someone so close to becoming a centenarian!
So a big 'hello' to Mrs. Jones from all of us at the Project. We are honoured to have you as one of our many watchers in the UK and indeed around the world and we send our best wishes to you and many thanks to your daughter.

Ps. If you haven't yet sent us a donation, please click on the 'Donations' tab on the blog to find out how easy it is to donate.

Final Watch Point Report   
The final Watch Point (on Saturday 15th July) went well with over 500 visitors logged.
At least two of the young were visible and the female came and sat on the platform too.
A massive thanks to all our brilliant volunteers this year who worked tirelessly throughout.
More on this year's Watch Points will follow later but it has been a very busy and successful season with many more people seeing our falcons due to the poppies nearby.

A 2017 Watch Point

Hits top 300,000
Since January the blog and web cams have received 312,000 hits. While most come from the UK, we've had visitors from over 60 different countries this year. So thank you for watching and either stay with us through the winter (our web cams and blog stay live throughout) or rejoin us next spring.

The Project Team

Final Watch Point and a youngster turns up in Doncaster

The final Watch Point of 2017 will take place this Saturday 15th July, usual place, usual time.
As you can read by scrolling down to the previous post, two juveniles were visible along with their parents last Saturday....so there's still plenty to see (and the poppy display is still drawing the crowds too). Do come and see these magnificent birds if you possibly can. It is your very last chance this year!

This screengrab (above), taken by Kate from Devon today (11th), shows a fledged peregrine on the platform.

I'm off to Yorkshire!
In April last year (2016) a photographer called Bob Usher took a photo of a male peregrine on Doncaster Minster, which is also known at St George's.

015 on Doncaster Minster. Photo: Bob Usher

On closer examination the bird had an orange ring on its left leg bearing the number 015.

He sent the details to the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) who organise the ringing (banding) of wild birds in the UK. They identified the bird as a male ringed as a chick at Derby Cathedral in June 2011.
We are grateful to Bob for sending the photo to us for use here.
Bob said a female was also present in 2011 but he saw no direct evidence of breeding. He promised to try to visit again this summer and see if 015 is still there.
It seems likely that the birds are nesting on the Minster somewhere but so far there's no direct evidence.
The Project Team

School work and more photos

Report on the Watch Point on Saturday 8th July:
With over 400 visitors it was another very busy watch point. Several people had come down to the Green after hearing an item about the birds on Radio Derby earlier in the morning ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p056b5jb ). Note that the presenter says that this was the last Watch Point when there will be one next Saturday 15th all being well (check this blog mid week to be sure though!!).
There was plenty to see, with one of the juveniles perched higher up on the tower for most of the day. It was joined by one of the other juveniles for a short while, both birds enjoying the warm sunny weather. The adult female bird also spent some time sitting on the side of the tower. At one point she took off only to return to the Silk Mill museum a few minutes later with some prey.
After plucking and eating some of it herself she then flew back over to the Cathedral and tried to tempt the juvenile from its perch by first showing it the prey and then flying away from the tower. The juvenile was having none of it though and waited for the adult bird to land back on the tower and feed it directly. We had great views through the telescopes as the female tore off tiny pieces of meat to pass to her youngster.
Joyce Sawford, one of our excellent band of volunteers, took this video:
 

The male bird appeared later in the afternoon, sitting on the nearby hotel. There were lots of special moments but one that really stood out was when a little girl who was only about 5 years old approached the telescopes and immediately held up the teddy bear she was carrying so it could have a look!  

Go on teddy, you have a look at a peregrine!
Photo: Marc Whitlock

Other visitors included some past pupils from Brigg Infant School (whose work is sometimes shown on the blog - see below), so it was lovely to see them still showing such an interest in the birds. Visitors were clearly delighted to see the close up views of the birds, most of whom were seeing a peregrine falcon for the very first time. When the watch point finished at around 3.45pm the female was sitting on the platform, with the juvenile looking down from above.


Brigg Infant School in South Normanton always produces great artwork on the topic of peregrines, a subject which the children (aged only 6 and 7) really seem to enjoy.

Peregrine display at Brigg Infant School

The children also put comments on the blog which gives then experience both of IT and of writing.
Their teacher, Helen Naylor, also helps at the Saturday Watch Points so there's a strong link between the project and the school.
Helen said:
"Emerald class have really enjoyed watching the peregrines this year. One of the highlights was when we spotted the arrival of the new male bird. We've shared lots of great moments over the past few months, from watching the eggs being laid to the chicks hatching and fledging."
Hopefully the experience will last with the children into adulthood....though that's a long way off!

More photos
Dave Farmer sent us some super photos which he took in June - so many thanks to him! Here are a couple for you to enjoy:

Just look at my under wing - how neat is that! Photo: Dave Farmer

Flying free. Photo Dave Farmer

Recent sightings on the platform/scrape/ledge...call it what you will!
Kate and Wendy have spotted the male back on the nest platform a couple of times recently.
Kate's screengrabs are on the Derby Peregrines flickr site.

The Project Team

Another busy day....and a way to help us

THE NEXT WATCH POINT IS ON WEDNESDAY 5TH JULY.....ALWAYS ASSUMING THE WEATHER IS OK.Don't forget the excellent Bakewell tarts and coffee at the Cathedral Coffee Shop on Irongate and the beer and lunches at the Silk Mill Pub only yards from our Watch Point.
And if the sun stays out there's a good chance of seeing the rare white letter hairstreak butterfly on the elm tree on King Street nearby. The Watch Point team will tell you where to look - bring your binoculars!

The rare white letter hairstreak butterfly
photographed on King Street.
Photo: N Brown

Report on Watch Point Saturday 1st July: most of the activity was on Jurys Inn and the Silk Mill chimney. One of the juveniles (all three were seen) was on one of the cathedral tower's pinnacles at one point and stayed there even when the flag was changed!
One of the juveniles was seen chasing some pigeons....so they seem to be getting the general idea!
Many thanks to Antony, Helen, Kelvin and his wife for stalwart work. There are still plenty of people coming to look at the poppies. See you on Wednesday?

The Project Team

Update 24th June 5 pm: Today's Watch Point volunteers saw all three juveniles together on the top of the Silk Mill Museum's chimney...so that's very good news!

This project survives on a remarkably small budget (much of the work, including the rescue work) is done voluntarily keeping costs low. However we do need funds to keep the web cams running and the Watch Points organised - something like £4000 a year.
So any donation, small or large, will be appreciated. Please click on the donations tab on the blog to see how simple it is to do...it's jjust a phone call to the Wildlife Trust office - or do it online via Virgin MoneyGiving.
Many thanks
The Project Team
Ps. If you would like to join Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, who's project this is, please phone the office on 01773 881188 or visit the Trust's website here.
Rescue Number Two
A phone call this morning (Thursday 22nd) to the Wildlife Trust from someone working in a solicitor's office near the cathedral alerted us to the fact that someone in an office facing Jurys Inn had seen a peregrine drop to ground and possibly disappear into a hedge.

Hedge minus peregrine as it turned out.

We went down and spent a less than delightful half hour searching behind, below and right in the hedge - hot and dusty work. No sign of anything....
Then three hours later, we had a call from Landau Forte College which is on the other side of the inner ring road from the cathedral and Jurys. A neighbour with a small garden had found a peregrine and managed to get it into a cat carry box. We nipped down to town again and transferred it to a cardboard box, having checked that it was in good shape -  which it was:

Yes it's me again!

We then released it back on the top of the tower. To us it looked like the same bird we had rescued on Tuesday....a small if feisty male now with fewer tufts of white down on its crown.

Be afraid, be very afraid......Photo Nick B

Meanwhile wonderful Wendy Bartter captured these three videos, the last of which shows the departure of the final (we think female) youngster today. Further searches will be made to try to see all three youngsters tomorrow and Saturday. Since the parental birds were very calm today we suspect they are all fine:




The second:



And the one showing the fledging:


The Project Team

Unexpected early fledging and an Update

Update 21st June 3 pm.
A hot Watch Point today. One juvenile was in the nest platform all the time and one, perhaps two flying about but at no time did we see all three at once. So we are still unsure about the two that have left and whether both are OK. The parent birds were sitting high up on the tower during the mid-day heat, the male in the shade by the lead gutter and the female right up near the top of the NE pinnacle, keeping her beady eye on everything below. A juv was seen walking on the top of Jurys Inn mid morning and we've had a report of one on the Silk Mill roof. These may be the same or different birds, time will tell.
Thanks to Paul, Hilary and Nick M for running the Watch Point. There were plenty of people who had come to see the poppies but nothing like the weekend crowds. Those who came to see our birds were interested and pleased to have seen them....which is good!
Nick B

Update Wednesday 21st early morning:
Two juveniles were in view at 7.30 am. One in the platform which it now seems hasn't fledged yet!) and another right at the very top of the tower on a pinnacle. No sign of the third but the parents were very relaxed so probably they can see it somewhere on the building or on another roof or even in a tree.....
We'll have a further scout round during the Watch Point this morning which starts at 11 am.
Looks like being a hot day ahead.....

Tuesday June 20th: quite a day at the cathedral!
Early this morning web cam watcher Janet saw one of the chicks being accidentally pushed off the nest platform.
The two Nicks went down to try to find it. Nick M saw it on a gutter at the base of the plastic roof on the north side of the nave roof. It seemed OK and after a while was reported to have climbed up to the apiex of the plastic roof but out of sight of the web cams. All good so far.
Then at 5 pm Nick B had a phone call from Alex Rock who works for the cathedral. A young peregrine had come to ground and was being watched by a growing crowd of admirers. Alex rang us up and kept an eye on the bird (and the crowd!) while we drove down to town.
Without too much difficulty the bird was caught and put in a cardboard box and taken up to the top of the tower where it could be fed by its parents and from which it should make a second successful attempt at flying once it is ready.

Fallen male safely in hand. Photo Alex Rock

Notice how pale its legs and feet are and the absence of any yellow round the eye or on the cere at the base of the beak.

Male fledgling put out on the tower roof  looking slightly bewildered. Photo: Nick Brown

Close up of the male on the tower roof. Photo Nick Brown

The suspicion is that this individual was the second one to fledge not the first as we originally thought.
Attempts to see the missing bird proved unsuccessful but the parent birds seemed really calm so the chances are that it is somewhere up high and not on the ground. An anonymous web cam viewer reported seeing the second one fledge at about 8 pm and fly to a tree on Cathedral Green.....let's hope it stays up in the branches at least until tomorrow morning.

The male hitches a ride on a boot......Photo: Alex Rock

Tomorrow Wednesday there is a Watch Point so further attempts will be made to locate all three chicks wherever they have got themselves to by the morning....

A big thanks to Alex Rock who speedily alerted us to the fallen bird.


The Project Team

Where's our new male from? Late news of a 2011 chick, and some great drone footage

UPDATE 20th JUNE: early this morning one of the three chicks was pushed out of the nest platform and is now sitting below the nest at the apex of the plastic 'shroud' but out of web cam view. So it is safe there for the moment. Roofers and vergers are alert to the situation and if the bird should come to ground at some point someone will spot it and let us know.
The Project Team

Watch Point from behind

Watch Point Saturday 17th.  A really hot day saw plenty of visitors (350 by 1 pm) but not so much activity from the peregrines. Both adults sat in the shade for much of the time, as did the chicks.
The Weeping Window attracted many people though not quite so many as last week when it had just started.

The Silk Mill Museum plus weeping window

Thanks to all the volunteets who helped run the Watch Point.

1) Drone-eye's view of the tower
Especially for those of you who don't live near Derby and have never visited the city to see the set up, the drone pilot, Tim Curtis of VideoEast, kindly filmed the cathedral tower for us. The drone stayed a good distance away (and without disturbing the birds), and a member of the project team was on hand to keep a wary eye open.
Tim and Derby City Council had been in discussion about the drone flights days beforehand to ensure that no harm came to either the peregrines or, indeed, to the drone itself. Drones can play a very useful role in nature conservation if used responsibly - and Tim certainly was thoroughly professional throughout the exercise having carried out risk assessments and having discussed the issues with both us and Natural England well in advance.
Tim has kindly sent us this video footage:



2) Detective work
In an attempt to discover where our new male peregrine falcon has come from, photographer David Naylor is trying to get a close up shot of the bird's left leg - the one that bears a small, metal BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) ring with a unique number on it.
Even if we could read even a few of the numbers on the ring, it might have proved possible to work out the full ring number by a process of elimination. Then we could discover where it was hatched.

We obtained permission from Bruce, the roof project manager, for David to stand at the top of the access gantry and take pictures from there - probably closer to the nest than anywhere.
His first attempt produced some fabulous photos of both adults (scroll down to the previous post to see some of them) but the male didn't land on the rim of the nest platform which would be the position where his ring could be seen from best.

David's second attempt was better in that the male did land on the platform but that ring is very dull and he wasn't able to read the numbers/letters beyond possibly an 'N'. So our hopes of finding where the male had come from are dashed for the moment at least.....

David has kindly allowed us to use his images on this blog (scroll down to see the previous entry which features three of them). Please note that they are David's copyright though I'm sure he'd give permission for appropriate non-commercial usage..... (We'll put more of them up on this blog shortly.)
Here's one of the female with her brood:

Feeding time.....photo copyright David Naylor

3) One of our juveniles turns up!
We have just learned that one of the brood of juvenile peregrines raised and ringed at Derby Cathedral in 2011 was seen at Doncaster Minster (St. George's) in April last year (2016), 71 kms. north-east of Derby.  So it seems very likely that it may be breeding there. We are currently trying to find out the details since we only discovered this by seeing it listed in a list of ringing 'recoveries' in a raptor report issued a few weeks ago.

4) Here's the latest video from Wendy Bartter entitled 'chick antics':



The Project Team

Watch Point flood - and some great photos & an Update

Weeping Window at Derby's  Cathedral Green

Update 12th June: one of our peregrines apparently saw off a red kite this morning close to the cathedral. We don't think a red kite has been seen over the city before so this is an interesting observation indeed.
Kites are getting more common in the county but they tend to pass through rather than hang around.....but we suspect that breeding may occur in a few years time....
Today's Watch Point (10th June) was duly flooded out - not with rain, but with people!

The Weeping Window of poppies at the Silk Mill museum certainly drew big crowds, despite a grey, moody start.
In total, nearly 800 folk came to look through our telescopes on Cathedral Green and to watch Derby's amazing peregrine falcons!

Marc Whitlock contributed this report which we have interspersed with some superb photos taken during the week by David Naylor (more on him and his photographic mission will follow.):

"The weather was kind to those gathered on the Green, amounting to no more than a light drizzle. The tiercel made a few appearances but the falcon was in evidence for much of the day.

The male flies off. Photo: copyright David Naylor 

Early in the day the adult pair left the tower and flew off…….the falcon returning shortly after to watch over the chicks from her perch high on the tower. She showed again how vigilant she is, returning on a couple of occasions to circle the tower, calling noisily to ward off an unseen (to us) intruder.

Chick wing and the falcon (female). Photo copyright David Naylor 

Later in the afternoon both adult birds were seen on Jury’s Inn. Taking flight from there, the tiercel was seen silhouetted against the sky with what appeared to be a prey item. He flew across before us and landed on the nest platform but no food appeared to have been dropped there - maybe it was dropped in flight.

The male in flight. Photo copyright David Naylor 

The chicks came to the front of the nest platform to the delight of those below and showed their growing confidence with long periods posing for the scopes. There was also a good deal of wing stretching and flapping.

There was an impressive turnout today with numbers massively boosted by those who came to see the poppies but who also enjoyed a spectacle of a different kind. Among almost 800 people who came specifically to view the birds were visitors from Uruguay, America and France.

A special mention should be made of the little boy aged about 6 or 7, clutching his toy peregrine in his hand. who had come with his mother to see the birds 'for real', but caught only glimpses of the chicks and so very much wanted to see one of the adults through the scopes. A joy to see such enthusiasm in one so young. Thanks to Helen, one of our volunteers, for seeking him out in the crowd after he had left because the falcon had returned, bringing him back to really make his day".

Thanks to all our trusty volunteers on duty today (Paul, Anne, David, Malcolm and Helen) and Marc from DWT. They stayed until 4 pm to accommodate all the visitors - a really dedicated effort!

The Project Team