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UPDATES:

23rd Feb 2024: Spent some time today sorting out the connection to the nestcam. It seems to be working now!

This livestream shows the breeding pair of peregrine falcons that make their home on the Bell Tower of Lincoln cathedral in the UK. I am Bruce Hargrave and, together with my colleague Matt Ashton from the University of Lincoln, we installed and set up two cameras to observe the birds back in the Winter of 2018. Quickline – a local broadband company – generously allow us to use their equipment to make this stream work. In 2022, Chris Skipper, Colin Lea and I replaced the cameras for better units. These new cameras were funded by me and Colin, but we also had some generous donations from some other ‘peregrine fans’ – thank you!

I livestream the cameras via my home PC. This means I have to keep it powered up 24/7 – not cheap with power bills nowadays. If you would like to, you can help me with these costs by going to https://wildlifeprintstore.com/products/set-of-10-peregrine-postcards and buying a set of 10 peregrine postcards for £9.99.

One camera overlooks the nest site on the south side of the tower. The other camera looks east, over the top of the old nest box. We call this the larder shelf as the adult birds sometimes cache their prey there to eat later or to feed to the chicks.

The adult female was at least 19 years old – she was seen to fall from the sky, dead, on 18 Feb 2023. She was on her 2nd or 3rd mate and had successfully raised at least 35 chicks since records began in 2007. 4 eggs were laid in 2019, 3 chicks hatched and fledged successfully. At least 3 eggs were laid in 2020, but none of them hatched. We hoped for better news in 2021, but no eggs were laid. Both adults had been seen mating and preparing the scrape, but 2021 was another year without chicks.

Due to the lockdown restrictions in England, we were unable to replace the cameras before the 2021 breeding season began. We had planned to do this in late 2020 – with hi res cameras with sound – but we finally managed to do it in early 2022. This was a joint effort by Chris Skipper (who installed the cameras for the Norwich and Cromer Peregrines), Colin Lea and me. Colin and I paid for the new cameras (about £500 all told), but we also started a Go Fund Me so that other peregrine watchers could contribute. You can find full details at https://gofund.me/eed823e9
Thank you to all of you who have contributed so far! If you use Facebook, you are welcome to join our Lincoln Peregrines group.

A local falconer had also told me that one reason for no eggs being laid in 2021 might be that the gravel in the nest tray had gone “stale”. It was certainly pretty mucky! The cathedral Works Dept very kindly replaced the gravel in early 2022. So we now have new gravel and new cameras! Unfortunately, no eggs were laid in 2022 – perhaps the female was too old.

Since the old female died, the adult male has attracted another mate and they have been seen going through their pair-bonding rituals. So it may be that we will see eggs this year – fingers crossed!

If you do visit Lincoln, you can often see and hear the birds as you walk around the outside of the cathedral. If you see photographers with long lenses staring up at the Bell Tower, it could be me (or Colin or David or…). Feel free to come over and say hello to us!

In the Summer months, our local RSPB branch usually sets up a watch point on the East lawn of the cathedral, near the Tennyson statue, with scopes and lots of information. Pop over and see them too. The watch point has not run for the last few years, but they hope to do so in 2023.

Read more about the birds at https://www.brucehargravephotography.com/Blog