Orphaned Shropshire peregrine chick now on camera at cathedral home - with video
The orphaned chick of two peregrine falcons poisoned in Shropshire has been re-nested at a cathedral – and can now be seen on camera.
The chick was one of three that had to be re-homed after their parents were found dead at their breeding site at Clee Hill quarry in south Shropshire, believed to have been deliberately and illegally poisoned.
The chick and its siblings were rescued thanks to the swift action of Shropshire Peregrine Group, the RSPB and others, and he has now been placed with an avian foster family at Salisbury Cathedral – were he is on 'peregrine cam' to monitor how he gets on.
Visitors to the Salisbury Cathedral website can also see a live stream of the birds.
RSPB investigations officer Tim Jones, who was involved with saving the chicks after both parents were found dead, said: "The rescue went swimmingly but this left us with three fluffy, noisy peregrine chicks in need of a home.
"The decision was reached to foster the orphaned chicks into carefully-selected nests in the wild. A suitable nest was identified in the Midlands, and the third chick, the smaller male, was be fostered in the Salisbury Cathedral nest.
"Fostering has been done before, always with success, and was the only option in these extreme circumstances. Keeping the chicks in captivity would have greatly limited their chance of success.
"Choosing the right foster nests, however, was crucial. We wanted families with no more than one or two chicks, of a similar age to our orphan chicks.
"Peregrine parents usually raise two to four young and should accept a newcomer and raise it as its own.
"We also needed nests which were easy to access, so as to cause minimal disturbance. Better still, because the Salisbury Cathedral nest has a camera on it, we will be able to watch the chick’s progress."
Mark Thomas, RSPB principal specialist, said: “This has been an incredible conservation rescue mission. Passionate people have worked together and gone above and beyond to save these birds – without everyone’s help this could not have succeeded.”
He said thanks should go to Shropshire Peregrine Group, South Peak Raptor Group, Northern England Raptor Forum, Natural England, Salisbury Cathedral, Adventures Are Us, West Mercia Police, Jean Thorpe and MQP for playing their part in saving the birds.
Clee Hill is a notorious blackspot for the illegal killing of the birds, with four peregrines found poisoned with Diazinon there in recent years – two in 2010, one in 2011 and another in 2015.
West Mercia Police is urging anyone with information about the death of the parents to call 101, quoting incident ref 0676s of May 30. Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or at crimestoppers-uk.org
The Salisbury Catherdal peregrine cam can be viewed at salisburycathedral.org.uk/visit-what-see/peregrine-falcons-0
