Friday: walked the length of the Gorge rim from Observatory Hill to Sea Walls. I wanted some 'photos for the Downswatch website, in particular some around Observatory Hill. There are nooks and crannies to these Downs that make them a paradise (albeit cold now) for the wildlife; clearing the sides of the gorge to open up views akin to those in the 1820's seems like madness to me.
At the Peregrine Watch there was a curious excursion by a Sparrowhawk - maybe to be called "why did the Sparrowhawk cross the river". The bird left Walcombe Slade, glided across to the trees in Leigh Woods, did a couple of very brief circuits above the trees, and headed straight back the way it had come!
Sunday: I reached the Peregrine Watch just as one of the Peregrines was coming in to the cliff, I saw him for fractions of a second, then again very briefly a few moments later when he circled before returning to the cliff. A small flock of Redwings were flying around.
Monday: Too cold to linger long, there were Black headed Gulls very close to Ladies Mile, apart from the 'head phones' their red beaks and legs look rather paler than I remember from a close encounter in the Lakes this summer.
A nice comment about my blog from Des (thanks!), with a picture of a Bullfinch on Dyrdham Down:
