John's Morning Bike Ride: Sunday 22nd October

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Sunday 22nd October

A cold autumn Sunday, with a slight high cloud rain. The Gorge was very quiet with no traffic along the river road, someone was working on the Gorge sides, so that cars were stopped. Only a few birds flying, pigeons and some gulls, a few jackdaws, no raptors.

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My morning cycle ride takes me up over Bristol Downs, and past Sea Walls and the Peregrine Watch where the Downs are cut off by the Gorge, and its' muddy tidal river, the Avon; opposite is Leigh Woods, between Sea Walls and the Peregrine Watch is a little valley - Walcombe Slade. Further up the river is Brunel's Suspension bridge; steep cliffs edge the Downs side of the Gorge; noisy traffic passes underneath the cliffs, to and from Avonmouth and Bristol; joggers and other cyclists trog busily around the Downs!

I usually stop for a few minutes to admire the views and to see if I can see a Peregrine. Sometimes I'm lucky! Many other birds inhabit the Avon Gorge; Cormorants and Mallards fly low over the river, Herons perch at the water edge when there is mud, as do Redshank and the occasional Oyster Catcher or Curlew; there are always Gulls - Herring, Lesser and Greater Black Backed, Common, Black Headed, etc.. Ravens nest on the cliffs, as do the Peregrines. A dead tree juts over the Gorge - what I refer to as the Jackdaw Tree - it provides a roost mostly for Jackdaws (almost invariably in pairs), but also for Crows, Rooks and Magpies. Occasionally I also see Jays, Green Woodpeckers, Wrens, Blue Tits, Hedge Sparrows, Swallows, Swifts, Martins, Buzzards, Sparrow Hawks, Kestrels, Goshawks! Red Kites, and Ospreys have been spotted by other watchers. I have seen Squirrels, a Weasel, and Field Mice, Foxes below the cliffs, and Roe Deer in the clearings of Leigh Woods. The deer sometimes walk down over the mud to the water edge. So a blog to keep a diary about these might be interesting to others - or at least for me as a memoir. The birds are mobile gems in Bristol's crown - the Avon Gorge.

John's Morning Bike Ride

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Sunday 22nd October

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Young female, 19th June 2007

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