The Lincolnshire Bird Club

Grantham......the admirable Lincolnshire town of aspiring dreams a la Margaret (Roberts) Thatcher and of dreaming spires a la Peregrine Falcon; but in 2014 there will be one less spire in Lincolnshire for dreaming Peregrine Falcon admirers. Those booking accommodation for 2014 in the small market town should have no problems.....unless you happen to be the pair of Peregrine Falcons for which St Wulfram's Church spire area has provided very welcome living quarters including a comfortable nest-tray and, locally, plenty of take-away food.

According to the "Grantham Journal" :

"Falcons will have to move on.
Nesting Peregrine Falcons which have become welcome guests at St Wulfram's Church in recent years will have to be moved (sic) when the spire work begins in 2014.

Church architect Graham Cook said it will not be possible to work around the birds. He said: "In 2014 the Peregrines will have to go elsewhere. We will have to start work as early as we can in the spring to get the 40ft spire (top) rebuilt before the bad weather." "

Has anyone any idea where "elsewhere" could be?

Apparently, the spire damage was caused by the use of now rusting cast iron tie rods in the 18th Century, whose adverse long-term effects were unknown at the time. As well as wear and tear over the years, the 2008 earthquake could well have exacerbated the problem by shocking the joints.

The bird-centred question now is.....how do you deter/inform a pair of regularly nesting Peregrines in 2014 that they are no longer welcome?.......perhaps having a cut-out figure of the Church architect fluttering in the breeze over the spire might help.

Freddy

The following reply has been writtern by Bob Sheppard.

However, I would like to add that I completely agree with the sentiments.

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Thank you Freddie for drawing attention to this issue. I know how much you enjoy seeing this pair of Peregrines and you appreciate why it is such a popular site with birders and the general public.

The situation at St Wulfram’s Church, Grantham raises important issues. The architect and church leaders have worked closely this year with Alan Ball and Andrew Chick and myself to make the best of a difficult situation. They are a fantastic group of people who adore their Peregrines and have always given us their full cooperation.
If the steeple is not refurbished then some of it will collapse onto the walkway and there will be major problems. The longstanding work to repair the existing cracks has reached a critical stage and can only be carried out in the warmer months because the mortar won’t set in winter. So we have no alternative to the present plan which means deterring the Peregrines from nesting by removing their nest tray in 2014.

Peregrines will not tolerate humans at the same level as their nest and will never nest when people appear above them. There is no alternative place for the tray on the Church structure. Although this site has a regular pair, there is no guarantee that they will return in 2015, but I personally think they will.

It is vital that the Church can go ahead with this major programme of works. If birders make a fuss then the work will still go ahead but the resulting publicity in the media will result in other churches throughout the UK being wary of ever allowing Peregrine nest trays to be installed, and who could blame them?

We ask that this situation is treated with respect and understanding by the LBC members. We all care about the birds but occasionally we have to give way to common sense.

Bob Sheppard. 6th October 2012

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Andrew Chick
Website: http://www.forktail.co.uk/

Andrew/Bob,

Thanks for bringing us up to date with the LBC background to the steeple problem and the Peregrines at St Wulfram's Church, Grantham.

In writing my own post, I wanted to draw members' attention to the work to be done but certainly no criticism or fuss were intended......which would be pointless anyway as clearly the work HAS to be done. More importantly, I had the genuine query as to whether or not a potential 'reserve' nesting site or two might have been identified/suggested in the Grantham area which the Peregrines might (?) choose in 2014......a Yes (or No) would suffice, of course, bearing in mind nest security.

Freddy

I entirely agree with Bob and Andrew's posting. There is already an alternative nesting site which this pair have used before but this is not a secure as the church, and we were lucky that a couple of Police wildlife officers were able to keep an eye on them regularly for us. We are also looking at a possible more secure site, and we have a full year to try and sort one out. We have known about this situation for some time and Bob has been tirelessly working behind the scenes having had several discussions with the architect in 2011 to allow nesting to take place in 2012. As you know, some scaffolding was left in place over the 2012 nesting season. Scaffolding has to be checked monthly under Health and Safety legislation, but these discussions resulted in the scaffold walkways removed for the 2012 season, leaving just the 'skeleton' scaffolding steelwork meaning that the monthly checks did not have to take place.
Anyway, before all this, we still have the 2013 season to look forward to, and the tray will be put in position in less than four months time.............

Alan

Alan,

I am sure your advice is spot on : let's look forward to, and enjoy, the Grantham Peregrines in 2013!

Freddy