Tuesday - Thursday, October 16th - 18th

On Monday, Geraldine and I went to Westonbirt Arboretum, the Japanese acers are very striking in the autumn colours, but what was remarkable was the greenery on the other trees - and an amazing lack of birds. I only saw a couple of pigeons, some crows, and some small birds flying up near the canopy top of some large trees. Where are all the birds?
Standing one hundred meters above the Avon, looking down, gives a unique view of bird flight, from the Jackdaws, to Gulls and Herons, every detail of the fight feathers are revealed. Herons in particular look very beautiful - but are outclassed by the Buzzard that I saw on Tuesday. Wow! He/she was flying low down near to the lampposts above the road, then flew across to land behind some trees on the Gorge slope in Leigh Woods. There must have been something edible down there! That was Tuesday before the heavy rain. Today and yesterday a Peregrine sat in the 'Banana Tree' for all of my visit, he (a small bird) moved slightly but did not fly. As with the Buzzard I had a good view of a female as she came in to land on the cliff underneath the Peregrine Watch. A pair of Buzzards soared, high, and moving in circles towards Clifton. The tide has started to go out again, in this mornings' sun a group of nearly fifty Mallard were camped on the mud, and dabbling in the water below Sea Walls. A Grey Heron was fishing nearby.

Sunday, October 14th

There was a Peregrine sitting in the banana tree when I arrived at the Watch, it (almost literally) vanished, and could not see it afterwards. There were some Jackdaws flitting around on the ciff, but no falcon.