Thursday 7th August

The tide was high and still flowing up river, with it came a large number of Cormorants, firstly two at our level, they looked like a pair of geese when I spotted them coming from Sea Walls direction, as they passed we could see that they had their beaks open. Next five just above the river surface, flying in a staggered line, then two other groups of three flying beside Leigh Woods. Over in the quarry to the left of the Peregrine Watch was a Roe deer, and in the opposite quarry sat a young Peregrine, statue-like, and just up from the Raven nest. Apparently he had been there several hours. The prospect of a heavy shower of rain made me head for home!

Monday to Thursday, July 28th to 31st

The Avon Gorge, by Paul Evans. The picture was a present from my daughter Joanna and her partner Chris, painted for me as a present for my 70^th birthday. Somehow, Paul has captured the terrible rhythmic beauty that is the Gorge; a river of gold in the sunlight, but the dark sides of the trees and cliffs holding many shades and colours. The 'photo image below is not a very good one, but will have to suffice for now. See also the collaboration between Chris and Paul, in their work, "Cells"



On Monday there were bunches of flowers above Black Rocks at Sea Walls to lament yet another young girl's death; someone had removed them by Tuesday? The contrast with my weekend (birthday on Saturday 26^th, and our Ruby Wedding Anniversary a week earlier), for the family who had lost a loved daughter and sister, is terrible. The other flowers, just above the Peregrine nest, for another young girl, have faded but are still there.

The Peregrines were flying each day, sometimes briefly, with only a glimpse as they came into the cliff, other times noisily as a young bird chased a parent for food. They do mew a little like kittens! The mystery of the brown seagulls was finally laid to rest as I watched all three young birds begging from a Lesser Black Backed Gull parent. Perched on the rocks exposed by a low estuary tide, these young gulls blend perfectly into the background. An unusual sight on Tuesday was of a Buzzard flying low down over the river, it caused the gulls on the mud to get up and chase it as it passed.

Wednesday, Thursday 23rd, 24th July

Wednesday. Roger Yates and Mandy Leivers were at the Peregrine Watch when I arrived, Mandy on one of her missions to log the Downs fauna. She emailed me after, with a note of some of her "haul". Impressive! A juvenile peregrine swooping low over the Rooks at Sea Walls. A Song Thrush bashing a snail on an anvil. An adult female Green Woodpecker and a juvenile feeding on the lawns below Wills Hall. 13 meadow brown, 11 marbled white and 4 ringlet butterflies at the White Tree roundabout meadow (just been cut). A Kestrel on the Granny Downs. A Weasel at the Dumps.
About a minute after Mandy left us the large brown seagulls appeared again. Roger and I have decided they must be young Greater Black Backed Gulls, probably 2nd year, and there are three, so probably siblings. Yesterday one was playing with a bit of stick.
The three Peregrine kittens were flying around, chasing each other in the quarry opposite. One landed in the Jackdaw Tree to the consternation of the Jackdaws, and on the river we saw two groups of two cormorants on their way to the docks. Roger could hear a Blackcap. So Mandy's sightings show that to the watchful eye, the Bristol Downs are an amazing place for wildlife.

Thursday. A brief glimpse of the Peregrine, but the visit was darkened by finding three bunches of flowers attached to the fence just above the Peregrine nest. Someone had jumped from the cliffs to their death. What can I say?

Tuesday 22nd July

The mystery gull(s) are back! Two of these birds were flying around over the river under the Peregrine Watch this morning at around 7.30am, another set off towards the city docks. We had very clear views of them, but identification is another problem. I'll attempt a description, they have dark beaks, and brown flecked plumage which darkens to black at their wing tips. The leading edge of the wings were also darker, going to almost black, much lighter on the trailing edge. The heads are a lighter brown, and some white shows when they preen and turn their heads. I couldn't see the leg colour clearly from above. The gulls were on the water, and also the mud for some of the time. The tail feather tips are black, with a white area in front of this and above their rump, rather like the Sabine's Gull (I don't think they are these). Neither are they the Skuas, or the Shearwaters. They were 'playing' with some small pieces of stick! This time the other gulls (Black Headed mostly), ignored them. One guess is that they are immature Greater Black Backed Gulls. Otherwise could they be a hybrid? A web search for similar looking birds, particularly when photographed from above, drew a blank. I joked to Roger (Yates) as I left, that I hoped they would not attract twitchers! A 'photo would be very useful.

There was a Heron on the mud below Sea Walls, the first I've seen for a month or so.

Friday 18th July

Two of the Peregrine kittens were pursuing their mother and demanding to be fed! A Buzzard could be seen over towards the Suspension Bridge, and a flight of five Cormorants came past. The Black Headed Gulls and this years offspring have returned to the estuary. Always something!

Wednesday July 16th

I lingered at the Peregrine Watch - talking! But with an eye on the activity over the river, there was not much, some flights by Peregrines, and they could be seen perching in various trees and in the quarry opposite. A much greater interest was a large dark (blackish) gull which passed up and down a few times, at first I thought it was a hawk, but it had the head of a gull. A juvenile gull? Possible, but this bird flew like an adult, and its plumage was not like any of the young Herring or Black backed Gulls, much blacker. The size was comparable to a Herring Gull, possibly a little smaller. As it left the Gorge, flying over towards the Zoo, it was mobbed by a Herring Gull, and the two together looked similar in size. Shearwaters sometimes pass through, but its slight hawk-like appearance, and the reaction of the other gull makes me wonder if this wasn't a juvenile Skua. There were no tail streamers of the adult Skua. Have any Skuas ever been seen in the Avon Gorge?

Tuesday 15th July

This morning the Downs were misty with low clouds over Leigh Woods, and a dampness in the air. I did not stop, from the corner of my eye as I rejoined ladies Mile, I noticed two of the Peregrine kittens playing in the air just above the Peregrine Watch, and above them a large group of Swifts.