We are thrilled to announce that the Derby Cathedral peregrine pair have had their first three eggs hatch. By 3pm on Easter Monday afternoon, the first two chicks had hatched, followed by the third in the early evening. Four eggs were laid this year, with the first egg appearing on the 8^th March (nine days earlier than last year), a new record for the peregrines.

Back in 2006 the Derbyshire Cathedral Peregrine Project team members fixed a large wooden platform to the cathedral and since then the peregrines have been successfully nesting there, with over 45 young peregrines raised.

"It will be remarkable to watch them grow rapidly over the next six weeks and eventually fly off"

Nick Moyes, co-founder of the Derby Cathedral Peregrine Project said "We are delighted to now have our first chicks of the year. Three of the four eggs hatched during Easter Monday, which seems most auspicious. We await to see if the fourth egg will hatch too. People have been watching the webcams and hearing cheeping and getting glimpses of the chicks as the male and female peregrine falcon changeover. The tiny white chicks have had their first feed, and it will be remarkable to watch them grow rapidly over the next six weeks and eventually fly off, so now is a really great time to watch the webcams."

Peregrine falcons are the world’s fastest animal, reaching speeds of up to 200mph when diving down onto prey. They nest in high places such as towers and cliff edges, and have excellent binocular vision allowing them to see prey from more than 3km away. The famous Derby peregrine webcams are now live. All thanks to Nick Moyes, Nick Brown and Derby City Council. You can watch live at https://derbyperegrines.blogspot.com/p/our-webcams.html. The project is a partnership between Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, which manages the project, Derby Cathedral, Cathedral Quarter and Derby City Council.