Hopes soar for a new family of falcons at MediaCityUK

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Hopes are high that a new family will take flight at Salford Quays this year. After four years of campaigning by one woman a pair of peregrine falcons are to get a little help to breed.

From at least 2017 the same pair have tried unsuccessfully to breed at MediaCityUK. Their haunt is two tower blocks which book-end the BBC Studios - the Holiday Inn and one opposite, known as The Blue Tower which houses offices.

Their nest has been on the ledge of the Blue Tower on a far corner. Since 2019, the Manchester Raptor Group has been lobbying land and property giants Peel, who own both buildings for permission to install a device on one of the blocks to give them shelter which they believe would ensure the falcons were able to raise a family.

But, although Peel acknowledged it would be a 'fantastic project', the installation was delayed. Both blocks required major works carried out on them in the wake of the Grenfell tragedy to replace cladding.