Peregrine falcon found nesting at top of Chesterfield's Crooked Spire

Photographer Karren Hancock noticed the bird of prey sitting on the top of the spire on Chesterfield Parish Church yesterday morning (Thursday, August 12).

She shared an image of the bird which appears to be a peregrine falcon – due to its distinctive yellow eyes and beak and grey front – which she said had been there for a “few years”, residing in the Crooked Spire for “most of the year” and then disappearing in winter.

In 2015, hundreds of bird watchers descended on Chesterfield’s Crooked Spire to catch a glimpse of a Crag Martin – a brownish-grey looking bird from the Swallow family which takes insects in flight.

Roy Frost, a bird recorder for Derbyshire, spotted the rare bird which had never been seen before in the county while he was looking for a peregrine falcon.

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