11th September 2009

Two Redshank were feeding on the mud below Sea Walls, one close by, and with glinting red lags in the sunshine, the other was much further down the estuary towards Avonmouth. Apart from another (maybe the same one) begging Herring Gull, nothing of note. I don't see many Swallows or swifts, so maybe they are back off to Africa? No peregrines were visible, a hopeful birder had set up his 'scope at the Peregrine Watch.

Thursday 10th September

The horse chestnuts are turning to reds and yellows, and a few conkers have fallen. At Sea Walls a party of a dozen and a half young mothers, all with push chairs and infants were busy doing exercises under the tuition of a man in a track suit. They hitched rubber bungees to the railings and were using them to exercise their arms, while half the group used the wooden posts by the road to stretch their legs. I see this group fairly regularly, along with numerous joggers. The greater proportion of those exercising are women.
At the Peregrine Watch the sun and wind were playing tricks with the foliage around the banana tree, so it looked as if a group of Peregrines was flitting around the tree. I didn't have my binoculars this morning so could not tell what was going on. This must have been tricks of the light and the clear blue sunshine. There was a cold breeze from the north.

Monday 7th September

I'm a couple of days late filling this blog in. Cycling towards Sea Walls I passed a young Herring Gull, all fluffed up, and begging from a parent. It made squeaking noises, so at first I hear the sound, and thought that my bike needed oil somewhere. The young gull looked to be far to large to beg! There was a coach party beside Sea Walls when I returned on my second circuit of the Downs, a lot of older folk all gazing into the Gorge. No one looked skywards, if they had they might have spotted a buzzard slowly circling its way down river, a hundred feet or so above the cliff top. No Peregrines were visible.
The CONE project is back - it has been for about six months but I missed the start. See http://cone.berkeley.edu/. This version is running in Texas, and is now called CONE Welder. Try it, and learn about birds, mammals and invertibrates down in Texas.