Worcester's newest tourist attraction: a family of peregrines

For many years, Worcester did not boast many notable tourist attractions. A porcelain centre and a dusty museum on Elgar were about all that the city's visitor website could muster.

But the arrival of a family of peregrine falcons has changed all that. Under the media's glare, a pair of the world's fastest birds has set up home in the spire of an abandoned church and produced two chicks. The creatures are becoming star attractions for fascinated nature lovers.

As many as 500 visitors armed with binoculars and information leaflets are flocking to the site every day to see the magnificent birds in action. As tourist attractions go, it is fairly low-budget but the new arrivals have already managed to make themselves a fixture in the community.

Just hours after the peregrines were spotted at the site, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), set up an observation station. Soon, a marquee had sprung up in the city centre grounds of St Andrew's church, and a webcam was trained on the nest. Enthusiasts were able to watch online or at a live video feed in the tent as two of the falcons' four eggs hatched into chicks. In fact, interest in the unhatched chicks reached such a fever pitch that an hourly check on the precious eggs was conducted by police during the night and the local newspaper is running a competition for children to name the chicks.

Until recently, peregrines were regarded as birds that belonged to the wild crags or isolated sea cliffs of the British rural landscape but the changing countryside has obliged them to adapt to living in built-up areas. There are now more than a dozen pairs nesting in urban centres across the country, many of which are being kept under watch by the RSPB's Aren't Birds Brilliant! scheme.

Ross Lawford, peregrine officer for the RSPB, who has been manning the Worcester site five days a week, said: "It's one of our greatest success stories; they were almost extinct globally 45 years ago, and now you can see them in a city centre. Peregrines are more adaptable than most birds of prey but it's only been in the past few years that we've seen them in the cities."

Peregrines have increased from 350 breeding pairs in the mid-1950s to more than 1,500 this year, and other city sites in the RSPB scheme include Manchester, where a live video feed of a nearby nest is being shown on giant screens in the city centre.

According to Mr Lawford, some visitors have termed Worcester's makeshift centre "the city's greatest tourist attraction", and there has been a steady stream of children and adults eager to watch the birds.

"In the first few days, we had 500 people every day, and we've been able to see every development from egg to chicks. So far, we've seen the first two chicks coming out. They're eight days old now, and we can watch them feeding.

"We get cracking views because the male and female sit on the spire, so we have scopes and binoculars so people can see them perch and fly. We've had loads of kids and adults too, and quite a few have said it's already the city's greatest tourist attraction".

To look at the birds in action, visit the information tent, open from Wednesday to Sunday, or log on to http://www.worcester.gov.uk:8080/peregrine/index.htm

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