Hopes are high that a new family will take flight at Salford Quays this year. After four years of campaigning by one woman a pair of peregrine falcons are to get a little help to breed.
From at least 2017 the same pair have tried unsuccessfully to breed at MediaCityUK. Their haunt is two tower blocks which book-end the BBC Studios - the Holiday Inn and one opposite, known as The Blue Tower which houses offices.
Their nest has been on the ledge of the Blue Tower on a far corner. Since 2019, the Manchester Raptor Group has been lobbying land and property giants Peel, who own both buildings for permission to install a device on one of the blocks to give them shelter which they believe would ensure the falcons were able to raise a family.
But, although Peel acknowledged it would be a 'fantastic project', the installation was delayed. Both blocks required major works carried out on them in the wake of the Grenfell tragedy to replace cladding. Then there were further delays as Peel secured a contractor to do the job. But now, just in time for the breeding season which starts in March a tray has been installed.
Judith Smith, of the Manchester Raptor Group, and formerly Bird Recorder for Greater Manchester from 1992 to 2011, who has led the campaign to assist the falcons, said: "Finally after four years' effort it was installed on the Holiday Inn on Monday. The pair often roost on the green lettering of Holiday Inn and the tray is in an alcove just round the corner so they can't miss it."
"You can never be sure with wild birds but at other sites where we've put up trays because peregrines are already present it's usually worked. I just hope neither succumbs to avian flu which is known to be present at Salford Quays. We've had a case in Atherton. Peregrines probably contract it from the feral pigeons they catch. So fingers crossed for a happy event in April or May. They've waited long enough. If they do have chicks I hope we will be able to colour ring them as we do several others in GM. Our qualified steeplejack will retrieve them for the ringer. It only takes about 20 minutes."
Speaking to the MEN in 2021 she said: "We will make a tray that will be about four feet long times the width of the ledge. One end of the tray would have a canopy for them to shelter under. We have done this in many other places and it always works well. It is the shelter that makes the difference. If they are up there on that ledge they will get a lot of wind and rain.
"The reason they have not been successful so far, in my opinion, is that they need to have some kind of anchor to lay the eggs in, so they don't roll about. A tray would also protect the eggs from chilling as they are currently in direct contact with concrete which is another reason why we think the attempts to breed have failed."
Roy Ridings a regular watcher of the falcons at MediaCityUK, said: "I started watching them in 2017 and they have attempted to breed every year. They get to a certain stage then nothing. I've watched them mate, and change shifts on the nest. Each year it is believed they lay eggs but it doesn't go any further. I don't think we will get anywhere until we get a tray installed."
Agile, on a level flight a peregrine falcon can reach 60mph. But when it climbs high, spots a meal on the wing, and tucks in its wings, and hurtles into a dive, in what is called a 'stoop', it can reach an astonishing 200 mph.
There are estimated to be 13 pairs of peregrines in Greater Manchester, nesting on urban buildings, mills, and quarries. Pairs have nested at Manchester, Rochdale, and Bolton town halls, and in mills in Stockport, Chadderton, and Wigan. Demolition of Agecroft Power Station was delayed when a pair nested in a tower there.
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