Peregrine falcon found shot dead at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust’s headquarters
Like some of the other historic buildings Lincoln Cathedral has some peregrines. I therefore found this story immensely depressing. It builds negative perceptions about the countryside. Not much else to say apart from there should be some positives for us to build on in terms of the relationship between the countryside and general sentiment in terms of these new urban dwellers. The story tells us:
A peregrine falcon which was nesting on Derbyshire Wildlife Trust’s office roof has been discovered shot dead outside the building in Belper.
Police have launched an investigation into the illegal killing after the corpse of the male bird was found by a local photographer and x-rays revealed it had been recently killed by a shot lodged in its shoulder.
“Everybody is devastated,” said Kaite Helps of Derbyshire Wildlife Trust. “The nest is in one of the towers of the old mill and it was well-known in Belper. Photographers would come daily to take pictures of the birds.”
It is not known if the killing was a provocation by someone opposed to raptor conservation but Derbyshire Wildlife Trust said it was a deliberate act and there was a “possibility” that the peregrine had been shot on their grounds.
The male was part of a pair which produced four chicks last year and three in 2013 after discovering one of the Victorian mill’s towers was a suitable nesting site the previous year.
Peregrine numbers have slowly recovered in recent decades from near extinction, and birds have found elevated nest platforms put up in many towns and cities, including on the cathedral towers and spires of Derby, Chichester and Norwich.
The fast-flying raptors are still widely persecuted, however, and their range is contracting in northern Scotland. The RSPB has logged 54 confirmed cases of illegally persecuted peregrines in the past six years across the UK.