Fledging gets underway and a request for donations
Update Saturday 3pm: all four have now fledged. The last one is now on a roof top near the cathedral and she has flown quite well to get there. She should be OK now. The Watch Point folk actually saw the last bird leave the platform and eventually located it quite low down on a building.
From there it flew to the roof top on which it seemed quite relaxed, despite the loud band playing at the back of the green where the watch point is held (down by the river). There was some gathering there this afternoon. We will upload some photos when we get them later this evening.
Thanks to everyone who helped today - a team effort! Cliff, who lives nearby, will make a further check this evening.
NB
Update Friday: the second one has fledged this morning, captured on Wendy Bartters video here (about 2 mins. in). Thanks Wendy!
Please see our comment to this post (by clicking on comments at the bottom) to read why we cant be down there checking 24/7 and why it isnt really necessary since 85% of our fledgings happen with no problems at all. Usually it is a member of the public who finds and reports a grounded bird. As you can imagine in a busy city centre, there are so many places a bird can land and even when its up high, much of the time the bird is invisible from the ground however many streets you walk down to look upwards. Over the years weve spend many many hours searching, usually in vain, so weve developed a system that seems to work and to ensure that no bird comes to harm.
Well do our best to report back on what we discover asap but inevitably there will be delays.
Thanks for your patience.
Cliff Pearson, who has helped us many times over the years to find fledged birds, has reported mid evening Friday that he can see both fledged juveniles on the tower as well as the two in the platform...so alls well, for now anyway. Thanks Cliff!
The Watch Point tomorrow should ahve better weather....we hope!
o o o o o o o
Early morning today (Thursday 16th) the first one of our juveniles fledged from the platform.
Whether it was pushed or just fell off backwards we dont quite know but it was discovered later on the nave roof, immediately below the nest, none the worse for its fall.
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| Sliding down the slippery nave roof..... |
Thanks to all the commentators who have been watching today plus those on the ground.
The photo below shows it on the balustrade:
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| Where on earth am I? Photo: Helen Naylor |
The next Watch Point on Saturday (10am - 2pm) could be quite exciting so do come and see if you can experience fledging happening as you stand watching.Theres sure to be some fun and games.....
Donate to our Project
Unprompted, several of you have sent us donations this week - many thanks to everyone who did!
We are now appealing for more so if you can spare us some cash, please click on the donate tab above. It is really simple to make a donation and now, with no lottery money to underpin our work, we need every penny we can get.
Thank you.
Donate to our Project
Unprompted, several of you have sent us donations this week - many thanks to everyone who did!
We are now appealing for more so if you can spare us some cash, please click on the donate tab above. It is really simple to make a donation and now, with no lottery money to underpin our work, we need every penny we can get.
Thank you.
Nick B (DWT)
