Peregrine’s eggs hatch on Derby Cathedral
26/04/2007 00:00:00
Quick facts
- Derby Cathedral gave permission for the nesting platform to be installed last year after a pair of birds took up residence on the cathedral’s tower and had showed signs of wanting to breed but had failed to find any suitable flat ledge.
- Soon after the wooden platform was installed, the female peregrine laid a clutch of three eggs which hatched in May. Three youngsters fledged from the nest in July 2006.
- Peregrines were virtually wiped out in the UK in the 1950s and 60s by pesticides such as DDT and dieldrin. The residues accumulated in the birds and thinned the egg shells, making incubation impossible.
- In the last 15-20 years, peregrine numbers have increased throughout the UK back to their pre-crash levels. Some pairs have now taken to nesting on artificial structures such as power stations, churches and even on pylons.
- The peregrine is specially protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.
May 2007. The Derby Cathedral peregrine eggs hatched on 10th May, watched by thousands of people who have been logging onto the webcam pictures of the incubating adult peregrine falcons. The birds that are nesting on the specially constructed platform high on Derby cathedral’s mediaeval tower have been incubating a clutch of four eggs since Easter. Now there are two tiny white chicks visible in the nest when the parent bird stands up, but it appears that the final two eggs will now not hatch.
The project is a partnership between Derby Museum, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and Derby Cathedral. Nick Brown, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust’s Education Manager said: ‘This is exciting news and it’s wonderful that this year, bird watchers and peregrine addicts across the globe can now see the birds with their new chicks. Last year, the first time they nested on the cathedral, we could only guess from the ground what might have been going on in the nest platform. This year we can watch, big brother-like, and follow every intimate moment!’
Nick Moyes, Keeper of Natural Sciences at Derby Museum said: ‘The number of visits we have received from people around the world who have logged on to see the live web cam pictures of our birds has shown that the time and effort it has taken to get the cameras up and running was worthwhile. We expect that the number of hits to the web cam and to the project diary or ‘blog’ will increase dramatically now that there are chicks. We’ll certainly be seeing much more web action as we watch the parents delicately offer their chicks tiny morsels of food.’
To view the webcams directly, go to
http://195.224.106.202/peregrine/webcam.htm
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