The pair of wild Peregrine Falcons that live on Bradford City Hall’s clock tower now have a new a nesting box.
It’s been installed by the Bradford Peregrine Trail project to help them to breed successfully.
Peregrines have been present in Bradford for many decades, but they rarely have breeding success. In the wild the birds lay their eggs in scrapes, or small depressions, they make in the soil or gravel of a cliff ledge. Eggs laid on bare stone are more likely to fail, so the nest-box will provide some shelter and a gravel tray for the birds to lay their eggs in, giving them more chance of successfully raising young.
The installation marks the culmination of over two years of planning and preparation by the team involved in the conservation project.
The logistics of getting a nest-box up to the top of the over 200ft tall clock tower were particularly challenging as access is very tight. This meant the team had to design and build a nest-box which could be transported in kit form, that could also squeeze past the huge bells that the clock tower houses. The nest-box also needed to be easy to reassemble in an awkward working space at the top of the building.
Once the team had got the specially designed nesting box as far as it could go inside the tower, a team of professional steeplejacks winched it up into position at the very top of the tower.
From the ground the nest-box is best viewed from Centenary Square near to the Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture office.
If all goes to plan, the Peregrines are expected to start laying eggs at some point over the next week. The Peregrines have been observed visiting the nestbox, bowing to each other in courtship display and mating.
The works are part of the Bradford Peregrine Trail Project, which is wholly funded by Natural England and run by Bradford Urban Wildlife Group and Bradford Peregrines with support from officers at Bradford Council.
The Bradford Peregrine Trail project aims to help people of the district and beyond to view and find out more about this majestic bird, the fastest animal on the planet.
For more information about The Bradford Peregrine Trail and to view the live cameras, visit: https://www.bradfordperegrines.com/
