Young peregrine chicks take first flight from Wakefield Cathedral

Wakefield Cathedral’s trio of peregrine chicks have flown the nest for the first time.

Julie Knowles captured this image of the downy falcons as they took to the air.

The Cathedral peregrine story began in July 2012 when keen birder Mr Hickenbottom got a text about a peregrine being at the cathedral.

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Later they approached the church officials, The RSPB and people connected to peregrine nest sites in other cities.

This led to a specially adapted box, made by a team at the University of Sheffield, being placed on the cathedral in January 2014.

A male showed some interest but left at the start of the breeding season last year.

But things changed this spring when a male bird was joined by a large female.

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In April the female started spending a long time on the nest, suggesting they had bred.

The peregrine watchers then had to patiently wait for the birds to grow up so they could peer out of the box.

On June 5 a regular watcher from the adjacent tower blocks, who has a better view of the box, confirmed that there was a least one chick.

Two more were later seen, and the trio have now taken their maiden flight.

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Keen birdwatcher Francis Hickenbottom has been manning a watchpoint at weekends, with telescopes showing members of the public the Peregrines feeding the young or flying around and on the spire.

Express readers can send their images of the chicks to [email protected].

The best will be used in a slideshow online next week.