Wednesday, Thursday 28th,29th June

Wednesday was cold, grey and bird less! Not a day to linger. On Thursday I was caught in a cold heavy rain shower, but there was a good omen. Coming towards the White Tree roundabout across the Downs there was a flash of yellow from a small bird as it flew in front of me - a goldfinch out in the rain. Then when I got to Sea Walls the two female peregrine youngsters could be seen perched where we saw them on Tuesday last (Eye of the Falcon) - on their ledge just below the cliff top. Shortly after I arrived at the Peregrine watch the male chick flew from somewhere over near the banana tree, down and over to the cliff near his sisters. Next an adult, probably the female appeared just over the river mud below, then flew along and over the towpath, settling into some of the trees by the railway. Next I heard the birds calling from below the cliff, no sighting just the call. Then two birds, then a third dropped sharply down to the bottom of the quarry to our right, then they appeared over the trees opposite and flew towards the woodland opposite Sea Walls. Maybe a lesson for the young birds from a parent? I checked the clifftop perch from both Sea Walls and from just above, and the girls had flown off. At Sea walls a falcon was perched on one of the dead tree branches in the opposite woodland. By this time the sun had come out, and I was drying off. A miserable start turned into a beautiful day.

Perhaps a moral about watching these birds, but you need to keep a constant watch for them, they are very well camouflaged against their background, and the move fast, often apparently gliding and with no wing movements. They seem to appear as if from nowhere, then disappear again into the trees and background rocks. Sitting back from the cliff, or being distracted by talking to other people is no good. I'm sure that the trio of other watchers out there today did not see a quarter of what I saw going on! Bird watching, especially with peregrines is a solitary pass time.