24 April 2011
Two pairs of city peregrines on Hawk and Owl Trust nesting platforms (in Norwich and Bath) gave the wildlife charity a double reason to celebrate this Easter.
One pair hatched what are believed to be this year’s first peregrine chicks (known as eyasses) in the UK. The other laid the first egg on a new platform installed only this year.
The pair of peregrines nesting on the Hawk and Owl Trust’s newest platform – on Norwich Cathedral – have today (Sunday 24 April) celebrated Easter with their first egg. The female peregrine laid the beautiful russet coloured “Easter” egg this morning whilst the congregation celebrated Easter Sunday in the cathedral below.
In Bath the pair nesting on the Hawk and Owl Trust’s more established nesting platform on the spire of St John’s RC Church have just hatched two chicks on Easter Saturday, with one egg still to go. The peregrine pair, which returned to the platform for the sixth successive year, surprised everyone by laying a clutch of eggs by 18 March. It is thought they may have been the earliest to breed in Britain this year.
In Norfolk, the Hawk and Owl Trust team and Norwich Cathedral are delighted with the success that came only nine weeks after the nesting platform was installed high up on the cathedral spire.
The egg is a wonderful Easter present because the female peregrine is very young and still in her juvenile plumage so it was by no means certain that she would be old enough to breed this year. The platform, installed by the Hawk and Owl Trust in February, is obviously to their liking and now that the female has laid one egg there is the possibility of up to three more, possibly even four.
Anyone who would like to follow the unfolding events on the Norwich platform can watch developments via webcam on the Hawk and Owl Trust and Cathedral websites www.hawkandowl.org or www.Cathedral.org.uk. Visitors are also welcome to the Cathedral where the Hawk and Owl Trust is running a watchpoint tomorrow – Bank Holiday Monday 25 April. Please note that there is no parking for visitors at the Cathedral so please use Bishopgate car park or other city parking.
In Bath, members of the public watching activity live from street level usually have great views of the peregrines flying in and out of the nest site – in South Parade, not far from Bath Spa railway station. This is especially true after the young hatch and require increasingly frequent deliveries of prey.
From time to time, Trust volunteers will also be setting up telescopes to help people view the peregrines. For more information see the Trust website, www.hawkandowl.org
The peregrine, which is the logo of the Hawk and Owl Trust, is the largest falcon resident in the UK. Numbers have increased after being devastated by the effects of organochlorine pesticide poisoning in the 1960s. There are now thought to be 1500 pairs in the UK and although their natural nesting habitat is cliff ledges, over the last decade peregrines have also increasingly been breeding on human structures in our cities.
The Norwich project has been generously supported by Archant, ContiTech UK, iCode Systems, Larking Gowen, LVS-Imas Ltd, Opticron, SIMM Conveyor Services Ltd, WildSounds and in memory of the late Mr. Ray Rogers of Norwich.
-ENDS-
Press enquiries: Barbara Hall, 020 8858 4154
Notes to editors:
1. Permission MUST first be obtained from the Cathedral Estates Office before any filming or sound recording takes place at Norwich Cathedral.
2. Hawk and Owl Trust: Founded in 1969 to help save the peregrine, the Hawk and Owl Trust is a national charity which now works for the conservation and appreciation of all wild birds of prey and their habitats – both in its nature reserves and in partnership with others. Working with other organisations, farmers, foresters and landowners, the Trust researches, restores and manages nesting, roosting and feeding habitats and encourages greater understanding and appreciation of these very special birds.
