Saturday 11th August

This morning there was a Mute Swan on river below Sea Walls. I have never seen one in this part of the Avon, only up in Bristol Docks. It was also an eventful time at the Peregrine Watch. The first Peregrine I spotted was flying around over the trees in the Gorge below Leigh Woods, I suspect this behaviour is to try to flush other birds out of the trees, particularly pigeons. The Peregrine attracted a Crow! The Crow proceeded to harry the Peregrine (not a wise Crow), and the result was two locked birds falling towards the river together, no feathers flew, and they separated before they hit the trees. I think the Crow was wiser afterwards! Near the instant they separated another Peregrine appeared, it was almost as if the second appeared from thin air! After that I could see a Peregrine on the yew tree opposite, and another in a dead tree down towards Nightingale Valley.
Soon after this one of the Peregrines was seen climbing high into the air and circling down over the River, then over towards Sea Walls and the Downs, descending rapidly, then rising again and eventually coming back over the Peregrine Watch. Meanwhile a couple of buzzards appeared over Nightingale Valley, and circled slowly up towards us, eventually meeting our Peregrine above us. The birds flew at each other, but not with any enthusiasm, not like the Peregrine seeing the Crow off. They eventually went their own ways, the Buzzards and the Peregrine, and I returned home to breakfast.

Tuesday, 7th August

My first ride in a week, though I came past the Peregrine watch last Friday on the way back from Temple Meads station. Today was fine with light clouds and a warm west wind. At Sea Walls a Heron was moving along the mud on the other side of the river, he kept back from the water so his shadow did not alarm anything in the water; he went into a position with his head down and beak pointing, striking something in the water. I saw a second strike and thought that there might have been a flash of a silver fish, but maybe it was his beak in the sunshine. Black Headed Gulls also lined the water edge, so there must be a good food supply in this muddy channel. At the Peregrine watch I spotted four buzzards circling over towards Horseshoe Bend; other birds were circling very high, probably seagulls, certainly not a flock of of buzzards! On the river mud opposite there were a lot of tracks, mostly gulls, but there could have been some larger deer tracks - a difficult call. No Peregrines this morning.