Peregrine falcon eggs hatch in Derby on Easter Monday

Three peregrine falcon chicks are nesting at a cathedral after hatching from their eggs on Easter Monday.

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust said the first two chicks hatched before 15:00 BST followed by the third a few hours later.

One more egg remains inside the nest, that is on a fixed, large wooden platform at Derby Cathedral.

The first of the four eggs was laid on 8 March - the earliest ever at the cathedral.

Nick Moyes, co-founder of the Derby Cathedral Peregrine Project said: "We are delighted to now have our first chicks of the year.

"Three of the four eggs hatched during Easter Monday, which seems most auspicious.

"We await to see if the fourth egg will hatch too."

He said the young chicks can been seen and heard cheeping on a webcam fitted inside the nest.

"The tiny white chicks have had their first feed, and it will be remarkable to watch them grow rapidly over the next six weeks and eventually fly off," he added.

Peregrine falcons nest in high places such as towers and cliff edges, and have excellent binocular vision allowing them to see prey from more than 1.9 miles (3km) away.

More than 45 young peregrines have been raised at the cathedral since the platform was installed in 2006.

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