Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, 3rd-5th June

I've been away for two weeks, walking along the Cleveland Way. Lots of birds: Golden Plover and Red Grouse, baby Tawny Owls, Guillemots and Fulmers, lots of meadow pipits and skylarks. Penguins in Scarborough! Yes, one peregrine off the cliffs before Whitby.

Sunday was very quiet, no peregrines, only a lone cormorant flying down river, and a heron came up river, gliding with bent wings and landing near last years rock fall, also a wren passed at speed - like a large brown bumble bee!

10.15am Monday was much more eventful, but in a way that I did not like. The day was very overcast and rather cold, when I got to Sea Walls I looked at the place where the peregrine nest is and saw that a couple of climbers were starting an ascent right below the nest! One red hat with blue top, the other a white hat. Their progress was very slow, in fact I think it took a couple of hours to get to the top. I cycled across to the peregrine watch, no sign of the peregrines, nor could I see them from Sea Walls, though I repeated the journey back and forth at least half a dozen times, and could see Jackdaws flying off the cliff near the climbers. No Peregrines. The climbers passed within 20 feet of the nest site up a piece of the rock face that looks flat from over by Sea Walls. There were a couple of bird watchers at the top by the peregrine watch, I wonder what happened when the climbers appeared? I did not wait to see the end of tha climb and left just before noon.

Tuesday. A beautiful bright blue warm day. Cormorants and a Heron flying down river. Lots of onomatopoeic Jackdaws. Then a peregrine came in low and down to the cliff, he circled several times, moved over towards Leigh Woods at one stage, and came back, landing below on the cliff again. I'm not sure, but there may have been a second bird over on the Leigh Woods side. Tonight, BBC Points West reported on the peregrines, and said that there were three chicks (eggs?) this year. If they have not hatched then chances are that the bird would sit tight as the climbers ascended. So maybe all is well. I wonder if the climbers even knew about the nest site?