Wednesday to Friday, 7-9 March

Three days with the Gorge peregrines, usually between 10 and 11am. The birds sit over in the trees in Leigh Woods, and in the strong sunshine of the last few days their white fronts stand out like a little light in the trees. Mostly they sit still and enjoy the morning sunshine. They take off and either fly over to the cliff below the Peregrine Watch, or fly over towards Stoke Bishop and disappear. Since the pigeons sit around them, sometimes very close, just yards away, I guess these birds have eaten and are digesting the latest pigeon! Today, Friday, a couple of peregrines were circling high in the sky above the Gorge. This lasted for some tens of minutes, occasionally a bird would seem to 'disappear' as it dropped out of the sky, but I did not see a kill. They were still circling when I left.

Tuesday 6th March

There was more water lying on the roads around the Downs than I have ever seen before. Several crows were taking advantage of the large puddle to take a wash! At the peregrine watch a group of five to six magpies were arguing on a tree in the nearby woodland, some seagulls were doing a fair imitation of buzzards by soaring high in the sky, and a pair of buzzards were circling around high over towards the Suspension Bridge. They also seemed to be squabbling - or courting! I spotted one peregrine, a large bird, so probably a female, again high over the Suspension Bridge. She disappeared against the sun, so I lost her. It was/is a beautiful bright day with little wind and a spring warmth, the river was very full, the tide going out and with no mud visible.