Wednesday 30th August

9am start. At the Avon Gorge the tide was about half-way, with only a mild breeze onto the Downs. A really beautiful morning! At the Perigrine Watch a couple of magpies had invaded the jackdaw tree and were squabbling with the usual occupants; I don't usually see any magpies in the tree, crows yes. On the end of the Downs the usual flock of rooks and some gulls were prodding around. At the watch a peregrine flew rapidly into the cliff underneath (You need to stand right up against the cliff to see these birds since they fly in quite low to roost on the cliff). The next peregrine I saw (I don'nt think it was the same one, but it could have been, was on the other side of the gorge, ducking in and out of the tree tops. I guess he/she was trying to flush out some of the birds, usually pigeons, who sit in the tree tops. I have seen the peregrines do this before. This bird flew on down the gorge towards the Bristol suspensions bridge (Brunel's), where it seemed to be met by another peregrine - they chased each other and I lost sight of them.