Wednesday, 22nd July

I had to ride my Brompton 'cycle, the mountain bike is being repaired. The small wheel base and the different gearing, especially when riding on the flat, make this a much less pleasant ride.

At the Peregrine Watch three birds suddenly appeared, chasing, flying and calling as only Peregrines can. The consensus was that this was two youngsters, male and female, and one of the parents. The chase was very boisterous, and a pigeon who got into the act was chased but not caught. I don't think one of the youngsters was 'danglefoot', so where is she? After this four buzzards appeared just over the treeline of Leigh Woods and towards Portishead, they circled slowly and then disappeared. Other birds were flying high in this direction, pigeons and gulls?

Tuesday August 21st

At Sea Walls I spotted a large black backed gull on the mud - a Greater Black Backed Gull or a Lesser Black Backed Gull? Probably the latter since I think the legs were yellow, however the light was very poor, with a cold grey high cloud. Other small gulls, Common and Black Headed were picking food from the mud. Over the other side of the estuary South Wales was in bright sunshine. After the gull I noticed a small gaggle of Herring Gulls just below me on the mud at the edge of the river grass. They were clustered around something that looked at first glance like a small body with its arms splayed out, then I could see the head. A deer, probably a Roe deer, and now providing carrion for the gulls, and making the morning seem even more gray than it was.
Over at the Peregrine Watch the yew tree had a Peregrine perched in it, the bird moved occasionally, but did not fly. It was too cold to linger, so home to breakfast.

Monday, 20th August

Peering though binoculars after a sweaty cycle ride is sometimes difficult - ones glasses steam up so that the scene disappears into fog. This morning the air was quite cold, so the effect was worse than usual, on taking my glasses off to wipe them, they broke! Rather an old repair came apart, so that put an end to this morning's bird logging. Maybe there was a Peregrine lurking behind the banana tree, but I decided to cycle home and try another repair. typing a blog without my precious multifocals is difficult.

Sunday, 19th August

It was cloudy and a little cold today, intermittently, when the sun came out it became summer! A Peregrine was perched on the top of the yew tree opposite, he moved once, flew around the quarry, returning to the tree to become a statue for the rest of my visit. A Buzzard came past. When it first appeared over by Sea Walls it was chased by some crows, then it flew down around the tree tops opposite, and disappeared up towards the Suspension Bridge. Other visitors were a troop of Scouts, the Balmoral going down river and the Bristol open-top tours bus. The usual group of local birders were camped on chairs 10 meters back from the rim.