Yesterday morning we were able to confirm that we now have two young peregrine falcon chicks on Derby Cathedral, and two eggs that may well not now hatch. These will no doubt be incubated for some time to come until they either hatch, or she gives up on them completely. Meanwhile, both adults are caring for their new arrivals very attentively, as we see from the two clips below.
We've not been able to bring you all the interesting video sequence we retrieved yesterday, but these moments included prolonged periods of preening and others of the male frequently bringing in food which were not well-received, so he flew off with them until later in the day. Plus this lovely one below showing how our falcon spreads her wings and turns her back so as to protect the chicks from the heat of the morning sun, whilst still attempting to keep warm those remaining two eggs.
Peregrine Falcons first nested on Derby's Cathedral, England, in 2006. Our Peregrine Project is now run by a partnership between Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, Derby City Council, Derby Cathedral and the Cathedral Quarter. Here is what's happening in 2026. . .
Friday, 17 May 2019
Tuesday, 14 May 2019
First view of new chicks
After teasing us with late egg-laying and late hatching, we're pleased to be able to report that we now have our first chick - or chicks - of the season.
We'd expected signs of hatching last Thursday (see post) but yesterday a return visit to Derby Cathedral's tower to check our cameras revealed some tantalising glimpses of our new arrivals.
With the sun having only just risen above the horizon, and shining directly into the camera, we can make out one tiny chick being carefully shielded by its mother.
As you can see from the other video clip below, our falcon is still incubating at east two of the clutch of four eggs, though whether these will ever hatch seems unlikely. What we do know is that one tiny white chick had definitely hatched, and possibly a second one too - but there was not enough showing to be confident.
Why can't we be sure? (Ignore this bit if you aren't into the technicalities of our Project)
Basically, it's down to my own stupidity! Our modern IP cameras automatically detect and record any movement in the nest, storing short video clips on a memory card built into the camera itself. When that 32Gb card is full, any new recordings overwrite older ones so we always see the latest activity. With our internet link still not established (see below for update), the only way to know what's been going on is to climb up the tower, and plug a laptop into the circuitry going to the outdoor camera, and scroll through its internal recordings.. Previously, these recording had been very low quality, so I remarked in an earlier blog post how I had tweaked its settings, and had also increased video resolution. Unfortunately, I went too far the other way, without realising the consequences, So on Monday, I discovered the disk was completely full of lots of consecutive uninteresting clips of shuffling on the nest, but each one in vastly higher resolution that was necessary. As a result, the memory card inside the camera was completely full with just one day's incubation. Any real activity of hatching, or that first feed (no doubt on Friday or Saturday) had been completely overwritten. I really am sorry about that and have now increasing image compression, reduced video clip size, and attempted to reduce the sensitivity of the motion detection software itself. Providing I haven't gone too far the other way, this should now give us fewer clips, but each with greater interest in them. So, no more 50 second clips using 200Mb of storage space, I hope. Fingers crossed, everyone!
We do have some progress to report on reestablishing a link from the ancient cathedral tower to the nearby Council House. We understand a new pole has been fitted and cabled up which will have line-of-sight to the tower once the wireless link equipment is installed there. We then aim to meet (later this week, perhaps) to determine what we need to do at the Cathedral end. It would be unfair of me to promise a re-connection immediately, but we are doing our best. I'm hoping the easiest way is to establish a link from the Clock Room (which houses our IT equipment) by rigging up a small aerial outside, just above the nave roof, which won't be visible to anyone else or impact on the structure of this important listed building. If that's too low down, we might then consider something inside one of the window alcoves in the Ringing Room, which is slightly higher up, but more prone to accidental disturbance. We will keep you informed of our investigations, and we apologise to everyone who has been disappointed that Derby's Peregrines aren't currently watchable online. Of course, in a few weeks, we'll be able to consider Watchpoints from outside the Cathedral. Watch this space!
We'd expected signs of hatching last Thursday (see post) but yesterday a return visit to Derby Cathedral's tower to check our cameras revealed some tantalising glimpses of our new arrivals.
With the sun having only just risen above the horizon, and shining directly into the camera, we can make out one tiny chick being carefully shielded by its mother.
As you can see from the other video clip below, our falcon is still incubating at east two of the clutch of four eggs, though whether these will ever hatch seems unlikely. What we do know is that one tiny white chick had definitely hatched, and possibly a second one too - but there was not enough showing to be confident.
Why can't we be sure? (Ignore this bit if you aren't into the technicalities of our Project)
Basically, it's down to my own stupidity! Our modern IP cameras automatically detect and record any movement in the nest, storing short video clips on a memory card built into the camera itself. When that 32Gb card is full, any new recordings overwrite older ones so we always see the latest activity. With our internet link still not established (see below for update), the only way to know what's been going on is to climb up the tower, and plug a laptop into the circuitry going to the outdoor camera, and scroll through its internal recordings.. Previously, these recording had been very low quality, so I remarked in an earlier blog post how I had tweaked its settings, and had also increased video resolution. Unfortunately, I went too far the other way, without realising the consequences, So on Monday, I discovered the disk was completely full of lots of consecutive uninteresting clips of shuffling on the nest, but each one in vastly higher resolution that was necessary. As a result, the memory card inside the camera was completely full with just one day's incubation. Any real activity of hatching, or that first feed (no doubt on Friday or Saturday) had been completely overwritten. I really am sorry about that and have now increasing image compression, reduced video clip size, and attempted to reduce the sensitivity of the motion detection software itself. Providing I haven't gone too far the other way, this should now give us fewer clips, but each with greater interest in them. So, no more 50 second clips using 200Mb of storage space, I hope. Fingers crossed, everyone!
We do have some progress to report on reestablishing a link from the ancient cathedral tower to the nearby Council House. We understand a new pole has been fitted and cabled up which will have line-of-sight to the tower once the wireless link equipment is installed there. We then aim to meet (later this week, perhaps) to determine what we need to do at the Cathedral end. It would be unfair of me to promise a re-connection immediately, but we are doing our best. I'm hoping the easiest way is to establish a link from the Clock Room (which houses our IT equipment) by rigging up a small aerial outside, just above the nave roof, which won't be visible to anyone else or impact on the structure of this important listed building. If that's too low down, we might then consider something inside one of the window alcoves in the Ringing Room, which is slightly higher up, but more prone to accidental disturbance. We will keep you informed of our investigations, and we apologise to everyone who has been disappointed that Derby's Peregrines aren't currently watchable online. Of course, in a few weeks, we'll be able to consider Watchpoints from outside the Cathedral. Watch this space!
Thursday, 9 May 2019
Still awaiting hatching
With hatching expected around 8th May this year (quite a bit later than other local pairs) a climb up the spiral staircase at Derby Cathedral was expected to reveal to us that at least one new chick had hatched.
As the video below shows, as at this morning (9th May) our falcons are still incubating four eggs. No sign of pipping could be detected, though some background chirps did make us wonder if we were hearing a soon-to-hatch chick inside its egg, or some other source of noise entirely. Reviewing the automated recordings shows how one or other bird has sat tight on those eggs during some pretty horrible weather.
It has certainly been very wet and windy these last few days, but peregrine falcons are mountain birds and have adapted to coping in bad weather. Less can be said of our nest camera which now bears a round tidemark from a large raindrop that formed on the front of the lens cover!
As the video below shows, as at this morning (9th May) our falcons are still incubating four eggs. No sign of pipping could be detected, though some background chirps did make us wonder if we were hearing a soon-to-hatch chick inside its egg, or some other source of noise entirely. Reviewing the automated recordings shows how one or other bird has sat tight on those eggs during some pretty horrible weather.
It has certainly been very wet and windy these last few days, but peregrine falcons are mountain birds and have adapted to coping in bad weather. Less can be said of our nest camera which now bears a round tidemark from a large raindrop that formed on the front of the lens cover!
Sunday, 28 April 2019
Four eggs confirmed
Yesterday (after returning from holiday and finally wresting my laptop off my daughter who'd been using it for her GCSE exam revision for the last few days!) I managed to call in at Derby Cathedral to check out our cameras. The good news is, we definitely have a full clutch of four eggs, and expect these to hatch out in the first week of May.
Nowadays, a laptop is needed because modern 'IP cameras' can't be viewed directly from a TV monitor, like our old cameras used to be. But what they can do is deploy 'movement detection', which automatically records a short clip of whatever is happening on the nest platform directly to a built in SD card. Most often it's just a bit of shuffling around on the nest scrape, which isn't very interesting to watch. But, by wading through the recordings, we can unearth gems recorded over the last few days or weeks, like the one below. Here we see the female peregrine falcon being relieved by the smaller male (known as a tiercel) from her main duties of incubation. It confirmed that, just as in every year since 2007, we have had a clutch of four eggs laid at Derby.
The clip above was actually created by uploading two separate, higher quality video clips to YouTube, which had been automatically recorded moments apart. It's no longer possible to merge clips together on YouTube itself, so for a 'quick fix' I used a free online merging tool at www.clideo.com. If you'd like to view the much higher resolution HD versions separately, see here and then here.
Whilst we do still have an old analogue video recorder inside the cathedral's tower, it can only connect to our one remaining analogue camera, which nowadays we use just to show visitors inside the Cathedral's tower what's happening just a few metres away outside. Over the years we have gone through quite a few analogue video recorders, but eventually the wind-blown dust within the ancient stone tower tends to get inside their mechanisms, and they eventually fail us. With our latest (second hand) one now on the blink, and with the camera not giving us such a good image, we've not been too fussed to strip down the recorder and try to get it working again. Our greater need at the moment is to reinstate our internet connection so everyone can watch our birds live.
Nick M
Peregrine Project Technical Advisor
Nowadays, a laptop is needed because modern 'IP cameras' can't be viewed directly from a TV monitor, like our old cameras used to be. But what they can do is deploy 'movement detection', which automatically records a short clip of whatever is happening on the nest platform directly to a built in SD card. Most often it's just a bit of shuffling around on the nest scrape, which isn't very interesting to watch. But, by wading through the recordings, we can unearth gems recorded over the last few days or weeks, like the one below. Here we see the female peregrine falcon being relieved by the smaller male (known as a tiercel) from her main duties of incubation. It confirmed that, just as in every year since 2007, we have had a clutch of four eggs laid at Derby.
The clip above was actually created by uploading two separate, higher quality video clips to YouTube, which had been automatically recorded moments apart. It's no longer possible to merge clips together on YouTube itself, so for a 'quick fix' I used a free online merging tool at www.clideo.com. If you'd like to view the much higher resolution HD versions separately, see here and then here.
Whilst we do still have an old analogue video recorder inside the cathedral's tower, it can only connect to our one remaining analogue camera, which nowadays we use just to show visitors inside the Cathedral's tower what's happening just a few metres away outside. Over the years we have gone through quite a few analogue video recorders, but eventually the wind-blown dust within the ancient stone tower tends to get inside their mechanisms, and they eventually fail us. With our latest (second hand) one now on the blink, and with the camera not giving us such a good image, we've not been too fussed to strip down the recorder and try to get it working again. Our greater need at the moment is to reinstate our internet connection so everyone can watch our birds live.
Nick M
Peregrine Project Technical Advisor
Wednesday, 17 April 2019
Incubation time and an update
28th April: as incubation continues it is now clear that we definitely have four eggs! Video clips showing them will be uploaded shortly....
Despite several visits to the tower to try to see the eggs, so far we have failed....and currently for various technical reasons, we haven't been able to access the video recorder which has been on the blink! We're working on that.
There has been a very chilly east wind blowing for over a week and that has meant that the female, now well into incubation, has been sitting very tightly on her precious eggs.
So, as usual each year, we are now in a very quite, inactive phase of the breeding cycle.
Incubation lasts for just over 30 days so it will be a few weeks yet before hatching begins.
We remain hopeful that the web cams will be back on stream by then. Rest assured we are doing everything we can to ensure that will happen.
Meanwhile, there are other peregrine web cams to watch both in the UK and abroad. And, indeed web cams on many other bird (and some mammal) species too if you are feeling the need.
For example, the Wildlife Trusts nationally have several web cams available. See here.
There's a Dutch peregrine web cam here . This is near the top of a big cooling tower, a very lofty perch indeed! Incubation is underway there as well.....
And worldwide try this site here . Take just one species (eg the white tailed eagle) and there are over 30 web cams available though they are all in the USA or Canada.
Happy viewing!
The project team
Despite several visits to the tower to try to see the eggs, so far we have failed....and currently for various technical reasons, we haven't been able to access the video recorder which has been on the blink! We're working on that.
There has been a very chilly east wind blowing for over a week and that has meant that the female, now well into incubation, has been sitting very tightly on her precious eggs.
So, as usual each year, we are now in a very quite, inactive phase of the breeding cycle.
 |
| Sight of our first chick back in 2014. Screengrab by Marski. |
Incubation lasts for just over 30 days so it will be a few weeks yet before hatching begins.
We remain hopeful that the web cams will be back on stream by then. Rest assured we are doing everything we can to ensure that will happen.
Meanwhile, there are other peregrine web cams to watch both in the UK and abroad. And, indeed web cams on many other bird (and some mammal) species too if you are feeling the need.
For example, the Wildlife Trusts nationally have several web cams available. See here.
There's a Dutch peregrine web cam here . This is near the top of a big cooling tower, a very lofty perch indeed! Incubation is underway there as well.....
And worldwide try this site here . Take just one species (eg the white tailed eagle) and there are over 30 web cams available though they are all in the USA or Canada.
Happy viewing!
The project team
Friday, 5 April 2019
Second falcon egg and an update
Update on 11 April: by now our pair should have a complete clutch and have started incubation. Certainly when we have been up to look at the monitor in the tower she has been sitting very tight on her eggs and we haven't yet been able to see if there are indeed four or not. We expect there will be.
The cold winds from the NE and E blowing onto the nest will ensure she stays put as much of the time as she can.....it least it has been dry!
Sometime on the night of 4th April a second egg arrived. Because of the low light levels, the video below is low resolution.
Every year since 2007 we have had four eggs laid, and this year is unlikely to be different. Not all hatch, nor to the chicks all survive to the point of fledging. But we have so far seen over 40 young peregrines take flight since the project began.
We can't be sure (because they're not ringed) but we still believe this is the same female who first arrived in 2006. However, we do know that our male falcon only arrived a few years ago, replacing the previous male, though we do not know what happened to him.
In past years we had to warn our webcam watchers not to be alarmed if they saw two or three eggs lying out in the cold, apparently unattended for hours at a time. This is quite normal for peregrines, who delay the full incubation process until all eggs are laid. This means that they all develop at almost exactly the same time, rather than hatching in a staggered manner like many other species.
Of course, with our current lack of any internet connection from the Tower, we can't bring you these live moments right now, but hope to be able to do so soon. (During this climb up into the cathedral tower to retrieve video clips, we adjusted the focus and resolution settings, so daytime videos should be sharper from now on.)
Oh, and thanks to everyone for their comments in the last post, and especially to Zebra Class who correctly forecasted this second egg. Well done Zebra Class!
While we wait for live footage, you might like to see other webcams managed by Wildlife Trusts elsewhere in the UK - click HERE. They cover barn owls, ospreys, peregrines and more....well worth a look!
The cold winds from the NE and E blowing onto the nest will ensure she stays put as much of the time as she can.....it least it has been dry!
Sometime on the night of 4th April a second egg arrived. Because of the low light levels, the video below is low resolution.
Every year since 2007 we have had four eggs laid, and this year is unlikely to be different. Not all hatch, nor to the chicks all survive to the point of fledging. But we have so far seen over 40 young peregrines take flight since the project began.
We can't be sure (because they're not ringed) but we still believe this is the same female who first arrived in 2006. However, we do know that our male falcon only arrived a few years ago, replacing the previous male, though we do not know what happened to him.
In past years we had to warn our webcam watchers not to be alarmed if they saw two or three eggs lying out in the cold, apparently unattended for hours at a time. This is quite normal for peregrines, who delay the full incubation process until all eggs are laid. This means that they all develop at almost exactly the same time, rather than hatching in a staggered manner like many other species.
Of course, with our current lack of any internet connection from the Tower, we can't bring you these live moments right now, but hope to be able to do so soon. (During this climb up into the cathedral tower to retrieve video clips, we adjusted the focus and resolution settings, so daytime videos should be sharper from now on.)
Oh, and thanks to everyone for their comments in the last post, and especially to Zebra Class who correctly forecasted this second egg. Well done Zebra Class!
While we wait for live footage, you might like to see other webcams managed by Wildlife Trusts elsewhere in the UK - click HERE. They cover barn owls, ospreys, peregrines and more....well worth a look!
Tuesday, 2 April 2019
First egg of 2019
A climb up Derby Cathedral's tower yesterday revealed the news we'd all been waiting for: - the first egg of the 2019 season.Despite not currently having an internet link from the tower (and thus no live webcams at this time) we were able to directly access our cameras and retrieve a number of motion-activated clips. This suggests that the first egg was laid sometime between 22:30hrs on 31st March, and 03:00 on 1st April.
At this stage we can't promise when we'll have our webcam connections up and running again, but it's certainly great to be able to share these moments with all our blog readers.
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