Sheer nerve helps to make new nest

Dec 18 2008 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

ABSEILING wildlife workers have created a des res nesting site for peregrine falcons on a sheer rockface.

The team have worked on the 25-metre high quarry face in Kielder Water & Forest Park in Northumberland to carve out a ledge and line it with turf.

This has replaced a natural ledge, which crumbled away due to erosion earlier this year, threatening what had been a highly successful nesting site over recent years.

Peregrines were until recently one of the most persecuted birds in Britain.

Kielder has 13 pairs. Last summer seven of these bred, producing a dozen chicks, all of which were ringed before they fledged allowing experts to keep tabs on their welfare.

The local population is now stable after fighting back from the brink of extinction just a few years ago.

The team is trained in abseiling and tree-climbing techniques so that members can ring and monitor birds like peregrines and goshawks, and also bats.

Crag work was carried out by Tom Dearnley, Forestry Commission regional ecologist, wildlife ranger Paul Pickett and North East ornithologist Martin Davison, who is contracted by the Forestry Commission to survey and monitor birds of prey.

Tom said: “ If you don’t have a good head for heights, it’s not a good idea to try this sort of work.

“The rock face is an important site for peregrines because Northumberland does not have a lot of crag sites which are found in the Lake District.

“The quarry ledge site is visited frequently by Forestry Commission staff and monitored throughout the nesting season

“The peregrine is a Kielder success story thanks to careful monitoring and conservation measures. It was a bit of a blow when the rock ledge crumbled, because it’s been a very good and productive nest site. But the new ledge does the job and hopefully will provide a base for more chicks to get a good start in life next spring.”

The peregrine is a schedule one species, meaning it enjoys the highest legal protection from disturbance.

Egg theft, persecution and the use of pesticides all contributed to its previous downfall.

So rare did the bird become that when a pair nested in Kielder in the early 1990s a 24-hour security operation was mounted to protect the site, similar to an operation staged nearby for hen harriers.

Philip Spottiswood, Kielder chief wildlife ranger, said: “The project was only possible because we have a small team intensively trained in climbing and abseiling skills.

“Since Kielder was planted in 1926 it has become a haven for bats, red squirrels and birds of prey. But as the forest matures, we need to scale the trees to keep an eye on them all and undertake conservation tasks. It takes a head for heights, but you get a great view from the top.”