Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 25-28th September

The Redshank are back - when there is enough mud - so I saw them Tuesday and Wednesday. No raptors for a week now. Today, Friday, the Ravens were perched over on a patch of ivy just below their nest. A large flock of young Swallows were flying around over the Peregrine Watch and Downs when I arrived at around midday. With some cold weather now with us (it dropped to 4C on Wednesday night), they really need to be on their way. Maybe their dilatory behaviour is due to climate change.
What would cause a group of Jackdaws, five from a flock of a couple of dozen, to apparently go for a height record over Nightingale Valley? That is what it looked like this morning, they went so high that they nearly disappeared from sight. I also have a recurring memory of the four cormorants that flew up-river on Wednesday, all in a perfect half-v formation, and over the middle of the river, very close to the water.

Monday, 24th September

I noticed yesterday that at the Peregrine Watch, rather just back from it, a new bench seat has appeared, with two brass plates, one dedicated to Miss Swagota (Sasha) Basak and the other giving a 'phone for the Samaritans. This adds a chilling reminder about a tragic event back in February this year. Sasha, from Cardiff, was a Bristol Graduate and a very popular Maths teacher at Malmsbury School. Here is my Blog for Monday 26th February. That such a beautiful day should involve such an event I find heart-wrenching.

After the rain comes the sunshine - last night was very wet and there were large puddles all around the sides of the Downs. At the Gorge the wind was strong, and now from the west, the low river level encouraged a large number of gulls to explore the mud near Sea Walls. No Peregrines in sight, and the two pale blobs that were over near the Banana Tree turned out to be tricks of the light that disappeared as the sun moved around a little.