Thursday August 12th

The magnificent Horse Chestnut trees on Saville Road show obvious signs of leaf miner moth attack, and it looks more severe than for previous years.  It has been around for several years now, even since I started these Blogs.   Given BCC and the Downs Ranger's propinquity for felling any tree that looks "dangerous" (and not replacing it), the outlook for these trees is bleak to say the least,  and it is probably too much to hope that Chris Sorensen's advice to sweep up dead leaves will be heeded. {Advice from  Chris Sorensen, Forestry Commission officer for the 4,500-acre Savernake Forest near Marlborough, said: “There are quite a few that are affected here but the problem is limited, because the horse chestnut is not generally a forest tree.  For those who have horse chestnut trees at home, I believe the advice is that you should rake up dead leaves and bin them, that way you at least kill off that year’s offspring.”
There was a lot of peregrine activity at the Watch, I could see two young Peregrines and possibly a third one over in the yew tree beside the quarry, and lower down in the dead tree the fourth sibling was facing me.  Looking as ever like a little white beacon.  When you know where to look the Peregrines are very visible if they face over the river.  After that the birds moved around a lot, one flying off up river, another sailing around the quarry, moving around the top of the yew, and there were several trips over to the cliffs underneath my vantage, and one 'fly past'.  The tide was very high and starting to recede, other birds flew warily and rapidly over the river!   A Cormorant flew up river, and two Ravens came across and perched in an ash tree just up and behind the Peregrines.  I expected an altercation - but the Ravens disappeared into the Leigh Woods trees.

Sunday August 8th

I decided to take my breakfast to the riverside by Sea Mills - Sunday is usually croissants and egg.   I cycled through town and onto the Portway, where I discovered that there was a charity event on, puzzled as to what it was at first, I later discovered that people were being taken over the river from the cliffs to the towpath on an aerial runway - for charity. Many other were walking and cycling on the Portway, enjoying the peace and quiet.  The closure of the Portway to traffic makes for a heavenly ride, no noise, no huge lorries rushing past, the gulls and other birds are audible, as are people talking on the other side of the river.  There were some very raucous ducks around.
Just before the Suspension Bridge there was a Heron standing at the river edge in the mud.  Then there were numerous ducks, sleeping on the mud, dabbling at the water edge, flying busily.  At Sea Mills I watched a Cormorant fishing, it would dive and surface every few yards, I did not see it catch anything, but later a cormorant was standing down river with its wings out, as they do when digesting food.  Maybe it was lucky.  Another Cormorant flew up-river, very close to the surface so I'm reminded of the Russian Ekranoplan!
At last I spotted some Redshank feeding on the mud. There were other birds, Martins, Swifts, Gulls, and a small one flitting among the reed tops;  later at the Peregrine Watch a Spotted Woodpecker flew past.  No sign of the Peregrines, either from the Watch, or below on the Portway.