Worcester Peregrines are Back in Town

This year there is another unique chance for everyone to see these impressive birds of prey over the weeks during Spring and Early summer. The action isn’t on a Scottish sea cliff or Welsh mountainside, but our own St. Andrews Spire right in the city centre.

And this year you can watch them raise the family live on the City Council's website!

The City Council is again hosting a partnership with the RSPB featuring the birds and a number of events are planned throughout Spring and early Summer. The RSPB stall will be either at St Andrews Tower or the Guildhall or both, from Thursday to Sunday, 10 til 4 pm with information, the chance to join the RSPB, and lots more besides. The stall will be there throughout the summer until the youngsters fly the nest. For more information from the RSPB, and loads more about Peregrines, checkout www.rspb.org.uk

Peregrines are at the top of the food chain and often roam huge tracts of hilly countryside, but they are also happy with Worcester’s green corridors, open spaces and historic buildings like the Spire and Cathedral, so we have one of the 1285 pairs in the whole of the UK right on our doorstep. The biodiversity policies in the guidance that the City has been following have helped to make the City a place for spectacular birds like the Peregrine to thrive.

Several combined exhibitions and live events are planned both outdoors in the Gardens and at the Guildhall. RSPB advice will be on hand and the City will be explaining and exhibiting the new Biodiversity Guidance as well.

Chris Dobbs, the City Council’s Landscape Architect is helping to pull things together ..he say’s ……

"This is a unique project and a real team effort to get this far following the Peregrines progress and now being able to share things as they happen with the live webcam. Everyone has helped from IT experts, electricians, property maintenance, conservation, communications, the police and fire service, security and many RSPB staff. It’s a real partnership."

"Worcester is a City, but it’s full of wildlife quite happy to share space with us if we don’t take it for granted. We’ve got many Nature Reserves, one of which has European status, and the new biodiversity guidance explains what we have and how to protect and sustain it for now and for future generations. Worcester’s real value though is outside the reserves, a green city with big gardens, rivers and streams, open spaces, hedgerows, woodlands, trees and buildings linking together to create a green infrastructure. This sustains the habitat and the wildlife we see and enjoy around the City all the time, including the Peregrines!"

Sharon Boardman, RSPB says ……………….
"We were so pleased with Worcester’s response to the peregrine’s last year; everyone was so excited and proud of their peregrines. We are happy to be back helping people see the birds and nest again this year. Not everyone likes these birds and birds of prey continue to be killed, despite the fact that it is illegal and has been for decades. We are calling for the killing of birds of prey to stop. Pledge your support here, and join the growing movement of people who say killing birds of prey must stop."

Please support our campaign and visit: http://www.rspb.org.uk/supporting/campaigns/birdsofprey/index.asp

RSPB’s ‘Date with Nature’ events

There are over 50 Dates With Nature events around the UK. The scheme gives people the opportunity to get up close and personal with all sorts of wildlife and enjoy spectacular views of creatures they may never see otherwise. Some Dates With Nature let visitors watch via webcam footage while others introduce people to wildlife in the flesh, feather and fur.

Staff and volunteers will be on hand to show visitors birds and other wildlife at locations across the UK, from peregrine falcons in city centres and seabird cruises along the coast, to ospreys nesting and garden birds in urban parks. Up close and personal

Log on to www.rspb.org.uk/datewithnature to find out more.