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Final Watch Point news of a juvenile and a new book

Final Watch Point news of a juvenile and a new book

The final Watch Point of 2014 will be this coming Saturday 5th July, 10.30 to 1.30, weather permitting...so please do come along.The juvvies are still about so there should be plenty to see....and if not you can always wander off and find a white letter hairstreak butterfly - as long as its sunny!
Update Saturday afternoon: the weather improved greatly for the Watch Point but the birds were somewhat absent for the first hour and a half. Then all three juvs appeared on the tower and, very late on, the adults also put in an appearance. Big thanks to all our great volunteers (and especially Sue who travelled up from Buckinghamshire, bringing with her a big bag of change that she and husband Andrew had accumulated over the last several months!) and to Rolls Royce team members Fred, Jon, George and Sandra.
The season is now officially over as regards watch points and the wonderful Ian, our Engagement Officer, who has run them again this year, has now only one more week to work this summer. Well miss him! Apparently one prey item today was a swift - not really a species we want them to catch since we are starting a new project about these marvellous birds!
Last night we ran a session for a Derby school class that was doing a sleep-over in the cathedral to raise money for some charitable cause. Both adults were in view and as we finished, two juvs appeared on the JI lettering! Many thanks to Joyce Sawford for her help, use of her telescope and her photos. NB

Lakeside Primary learn about the fastest bird on the planet Photo Joyce Sawford

(Further thanks to all donors who have sent money recently towards the project - we need more of course.....phone 01773 881188 on Monday (full details under donations tab!)

Photo by Jon Salloway

News has reached us that one of the males reared in 2012, having been found injured a couple of months ago near Alfreton, will never be able to fly again in the wild, having a wing injury similar to that of Cathy, the female who has been in the care of another falconer since having her accident in 2009. Fortunately, a falconer is willing to look after this new casualty and has already taken him to the vets and administered treatment for worms and trichomoniasis. Hes now in good health and putting on weight. The falconer has obtained a licence from Defra to keep the bird.

Guided wildlife walks last weekend: Joyce has sent a photo of the first group down by the river Derwent:

Looking for otters.....? They do pass through the city - but not in the daytime!

Further, a reminder that Ed Drewitts excellent new book Urban Peregrines (�24.99) is available from Pelagic Publishing:  http://www.pelagicpublishing.com/urban-peregrines.html . Its packed with photos and information and Derby gets several mentions too. The neat cover design title copies the style of a street sign (it took me awhile to figure that out!)


There are chapters on Food and Feeding, How to study peregrines, Ringing them, How to spot a peregrine, Threats and Futures, People and Peregrines etc - and a foreword by Chris Packham. Altogether a very important and readable publication - long overdue!

Finally - and talking of Chris Packham, he has agreed to attend a rally in North Derbyshire on 10th August, organised by Mark Avery, to highlight the plight of the hen harrier. So far 200 people have pledged to come - but more (many more) are welcome! For details go to Mark Averys influential blog at http://markavery.info/blog/ .
The hen harrier should be present on most upland moors in England - theres room for perhaps 200 pairs - but last year none bred and this year there are just three pairs (none of which are in the Peak District national park). You can find out whats behind this strange and very disturbing affair by reading the many posts on the subject on Marks blog.

Nick B (DWT)

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