Into winter

Thanks to the regular videos that Wendy Barrter puts on You Tube we know that the adult pair are returning to the nest platform (aka 'scrape') from time to time.
They will continue to do this throughout the winter to ensure no intruding peregrines think the nest is unoccupied.

                                Female flying towards the camera by Dave Farmer. May 2023

Here's one of Wendy's recent videos but there are more if you scroll down to the comments to the previous blog post. This one shows the female preening on the platform.

The Project Team
This project is managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, with The Cathedral, Cathedral Quarter and Derby City Council (especially its IT team) as partners.

Dave Farmer pix from today show the juvenile in great shape

 Photo taken by Dave Farmer today (Wednesday 14th) show the juvenile looking good!
Dave said: Juvenile looking really great. All alone. Adults not around.

It fed for about an hour right at the back of a lead water spout so only it's back end could be seen.

Much wing flapping just like when it was on the nest before fledging. Eventually it took off, did a 180 and flew away strongly and high in the sky.

Thanks Dave!

The Project Team

This project is managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.

Dave Farmer's Photos from Saturday and good news of the juvenile

The juvenile came to ground late last night (12th) totally soaked after heavy rainfall. James Rigby captured this photo of a very bedraggled bird on a low wall.

A local animal sanctuary arrived within minutes and took it away to dry it out. The bird is fine and will be released back up the top of the tower shortly. 
Big thanks to David Ball who was there last night and who contacted the project today with information about where the bird had been taken and also thanks to Linjoy Animal Sanctuary for their prompt arrival at the scene last night and for looking after the bird!
5pm and the young male (for that is definitely what he is) was taken to the tower top and released. He should be fine now.
Big thanks to Mark from Linjoy Animal Sanctuary for bringing him back and climbing all those (189) stone steps to the top!

The photos below by Dave Farmer are from Saturday: three of the juvenile and the final one of one of the adults.
We are really grateful to Dave for his great images.

The Project Team
The project is managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust with support from partners Derby Cathedral, the City Council and Cathedral Quarter.

Dave Farmer's Photos taken (2nd June) and an Update 10th June

Long standing project volunteer, Helen, provided this summary of today's (final) Watch Point:
Today was very busy with a lot of visitors coming to look at the birds through our telescopes.
Both adult birds were on the tower at the beginning of the morning, which made us think that the juvenile was probably on the nave roof below. After a short while he was spotted in flight, before landing high up on one of the pinnacles on the tower. 

The youngster was quite active for a lot of the time, making several flights over the watch point and around the tower. He was seen flying strongly and landed well after each flight. It was wonderful to see him looking so confident already. Towards the end of the morning the adult male bird brought some freshly caught prey back to one of the grotesques on the tower, which he plucked and ate. The youngster who had been perched lower down out of sight, flew up to join the adult male and was rewarded with a feed.
A Red Kite drifted overhead a couple of times during the watch point. On both occasions one of the adult birds was very quick to see it off, giving the visitors below some exciting aerial views. The adult peregrines looked quite small in comparison to the kite, but the peregrines definitely had the upper hand! 
In addition, a swarm of honey bees was spotted and up to six swifts also.

The consensus seems to be that the juvenile is a male given his small size but we can't be 100% sure.

If you have enjoyed watching the web cams please consider making a donation to help us run this project which has depended on individual donations for most of its 17 year existence. Just getting the web cam images out to everyone costs us over £1000 per year.
Please go to the 'donations' tab on the blog home page to find out how to donate. If you need help email us at peregrines@derbyshirewt.co.uk .

Dave Farmer took these photos today (2nd June) which show how well advanced the chick is now....though it is some way off fledging as yet.

Many thanks to Dave for his super images!

The Project Team
The Project is managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, brilliantly supported by Derby Cathedral, the City Council's IT team and Cathedral Quarter.

Fast and furious growth and an update!

Update 31st May:
This video by Wendy taken today shows the youngster on the edge of the platform flapping its wings. With no siblings to accidentally push it over the edge we feel pretty confident that it will be OK but time will tell.....

The chick is growing very fast on its 'Atkin's diet' of meat, meat and more meat!
Dave Farmer (gdfotos.co.uk) took this photo of it yesterday (27th May):

Chick with parent at 27 May. Photo Dave Farmer (gdfotos.co.uk )

And this one of the formidable female flying towards him as she leaves the tower:

Female leaving the tower. Note her huge feet! Dave Farmer (gdfotos.co.uk)

To read about the first Watch Point and see Wendy Bartter's recent videos (check out the comments for many more) scroll down to the previous post.

The next Watch Point is on 10th June. How big will the chick be by then?
It will have little or now white down feathers left for sure and could be on the point of fledging.......

The Project Team

Watch Point Saturday (27th May) and an update

Update: the first Watch Point took place today in brilliant sunshine and was very successful, with plenty of interest from web cam watching folk who had come specially and from casual passersby plus a visit from the Dean from the Cathedral.
There was plenty of action too with a feed taking place, buzzards, kites, a sparrowhawk and swifts flying over the tower and an unidentified egret passing nearby, all adding spice to the occasion.
Thanks to our brilliant volunteers and to Emma from DWT who did all the organising and brought all the gear (telescopes, leaflets, etc). Here are some photos taken during the watch point by Mike Goold, one of our volunteers:

View of nest platform with chick and adult by Mike Goold

Female flying over by Mike Goold 27th May

Male above the nest keeps guard Mike Goold

There's a second Watch Point event on Saturday 10th June (10am to 2pm)  so if you missed this one, do come along if you can. The chick will be well feathered by then and not far off fledging!

Our single chick is growing well as you can see in this video clip captured by Wendy Bartter on 22nd May:

And here's a clip from yesterday (26th) showing the feathers coming through even more!

And this Saturday (27th May 2023) you can come to Cathedral Green behind the Cathedral between 10am and 2pm and see the birds 'for real' through the Project's telescopes.
Bring your children or grandchildren (if you have any!) because there will be activities for all the family: mask making, a wildflower activity and more!

Parking is available in nearby multi-storey car parks and nearby on-street parking.
A second Watch Point will be held on June 10th.

The Project Team

The project is managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust

Our single chick is growing well and Updates

Update 18th May:
For various reasons a decision has been made not to try to ring the single chick this year. Our abseiler is not available at the appropriate time and given the complications of finding  a new peregrine-friendly abseiler and showing them the ropes (pun intended) just to ring a single chick, we won't be ringing it this year.
Regarding Watch Points, there will be two bigger ones this year on Saturday 27th May and on Saturday June 10th. More details will follow.
Again, various things have caused us to run fewer this year: the council is charging for the use of the Green, we don't have enough volunteers, a new rule insists that we have a first-aid trained member of DWT staff on hand at all times and we don't have a peregrine trainee as we did last year.
Obviously anyone is able to visit the cathedral with binoculars or telescope at any time and view the birds from The Green on Full Street.

Update 17th May: the chick briefly returned to view this morning and Wendy captured this video clip of it looking great!
As the nest gets hotter and brighter it is likely the chick will seek shade in the near corner.....

         

Update 16th May:
Wendy's video clip from this morning shows the chick looking bigger and lively!

Update 15 May:
Dave Farmer took this super photo from the back of the cathedral today.
The chick looks fine and is getting its first views of Derby, watched over by the female!
       

                         Peeping over the edge! Photo: Dave Farmer (gdfotos.co.uk) 




Update 15th May: as you may have gathered from some of the comments, our single chick has decided to hop across to the far side of the platform/scrape where we do not have a camera this year due to a variety of circumstances. The only way to rejig the camera would be to abseil down and that's not allowed by law at this stage of the breeding cycle.
Apologies for the lack of viewing. Hopefully he/she will return soon.
And just to add that the prey corpse (that of a lapwing) lying on the gravel is just that and not a dead peregrine....phew!
> > > > > 

As you might expect with only one chick this year, it is getting all the attention and food it needs and is growing well.
This video of a long feeding session was made by Wendy Bartter yesterday (11th):

The infertile eggs are getting pushed about and may break or just sit in the corners.
The front of the nest platform is tall enough for there to be no concerns about the chick falling out. This has never happened at these early stages. Only when the chicks are fully feathered and flapping their wings prior to fledging is it possible for one to be accidentally pushed off the platform.
To see many previous video clips made by Wendy, please scroll back to the comments to the previous post. You'll also find our discussion about why we think the eggs failed this year.
Scroll down the blog and you'll find that we have had almost 130,000 visits to the web cams. You'll also see a world map showing where folk are watching from. Double click it and it enlarges.....

The Project Team