I spent many hours monitoring the black redstarts which bred in the centre of Manchester. Three chicks fledged as far as I could tell. Black redstarts are a very rare breeder in the UK and are a protected species. After fledging the chicks made their way to a nearby station and carpark. I obtained written permission to photograph from the land owners and took special precautions not to disturb the dependent young.The photograph has had about 60-70% cropped out.
A brief mention is made by David Lindow(The urban birder) in the current issue of the RSPB's magazine 'Birds' there is also a picture of some of the RSPB members who I spent many hours with doing the peregrine watch, and may I say, they were in my view an absolute credit to the RSPB as indeed were the peregrines and it was nothing less than a joy to have met them.
