Town & Country
Feathers in Salisbury’s cap
IN tribute to The Queen and after a public vote, the peregrine falcon chicks of Salisbury Cathedral, hatched in April, have been named after royal dogs.
The Wiltshire cathedral’s tower has famously been home to nesting peregrines since 1864 and their absence was felt keenly when they disappeared in 1953. During the following two decades, their countrywide population plummeted, mostly due to the use of organochlorine pesticides, which worked their way up the food chain to cause eggshell thinning and failed nests. However, the chemicals dropped out of use, numbers increased and, since 2014, the birds have returned to the cathedral every year to breed. Since then, 27 chicks have been ringed and successfully fledged.
The heaviest of this year’s four is Willow, named for The Queen’s late corgi, and Monty is named for the Queen Mother’s corgi; both starred alongside the monarch and Daniel Craig in a skit for the opening of the 2012 London Olympics. Vulcan’s namesake is The in 2016. Lastly, Noble, named for Queen Victoria’s five collies (Noble I, Noble II and so on), created a slight drama recently when he fell off the tower from his balcony nestbox, 223ft up; he fledged successfully last week.
