THE PEREGRINES
Peregrines on Wakefield Cathedral
Peregrines have been present on Wakefield Cathedral for several years but they bred for the first time in 2015, using a nestbox made at the University of Sheffield. An adult female and a male that was still in juvenile plumage arrived unexpectedly after the overwintering pair departed at the start of the season. Despite a late start, they raised three young successfully.
A couple of months after the youngsters fledged, the male moulted into his adult plumage. The ring on the right leg shows that it is the same bird. We’ve since discovered that he was ringed on 16 May 2014 at St George’s Church, Sheffield. As the female was in adult plumage when she arrived, we know that she is at least a year older than the male but we can’t be more precise than that. We have no information about where she came from because she is unringed.
A new box installed in the autumn of 2015, and later fitted with a camera, has improved access to the box and has allowed us to observe the behaviour of the birds inside the box. In 2018, a second camera was installed overlooking the east parapet and has allowed us to observe the juvenile peregrines when they leave the nestbox.
Since 2016, the juvenile peregrines have been fitted with an orange colour Darvic ring on their left leg and a metal BTO ring on the right leg. The Darvic rings are readable through binoculars or telescopes, and we hope this will enable us to get feedback on the subsequent movement of the juveniles after fledging.