I was all dressed up for a cycle ride when the heavens opened, so I walked to the peregrine watch, coming back via Waitrose for a Sunday paper. By the time I got to the Gorge the sky was lighter, there was some weak sun, and it was windy. Crossing the downs, I saw a solitary pied wagtail on the path, but was pondering the fact that there were very few birds around apart from feral pigeons! No sparrows, I miss them.
The Gorge was very rewarding. I have never seen the jackdaw tree so crowded, a large flock of perhaps 50 birds all tried to land in it at once! Then there were large groups of gulls, they tend to fall around in the wind, spiraling high in the air above the river. Recognising birds at a long distance is tricky, but gets easier with experience. A peregrine took off from the trees in Leigh Woods and flew towards the suspension bridge, it could have been a pigeon at that distance, but for the economical flight with few wing beats. Then there were some buzzards over towards Sea Walls, mingled with gulls and rooks they are sometimes difficult to spot - unless they are being mobbed: this morning, because of the distance I was not sure whether there were two or more. A mystery bird flew over the top of the woods, at first I thought it was a cormorant, but the flight was wrong.
A curious optical effect. A jay landed on the bright grass beside the Portway road, I stared at it trying to see what it was doing, then glanced away at the trees opposite, so see them turn into a band of purple, complementary to the green I had been fixed on.
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