Wednesday 21st February

I have never seen the tide as high as it was today - within a foot of the cycle path on the other side of the river. Mallard were swimming on the water amid huge quantities of debris, as I watched the tide started to go out. A very large black raven was circling above the trees of Leigh Woods opposite. No raptors. So here is a slightly different form of 'bird', the Dixie Chicks, and showing my own support for them, long may they go on singing! Well done! To see more visit and support FreeMuse the site that supports freedom of musical expression.

Tuesday 20th February

I walked over to the Gorge via Whiteladies Road. It is Chris's birthday next Sunday - I bought a copy of Orhan Pamuk's "Istanbul memories of a city". At the peregrine watch I could see the two redshank on the mud just below the cliff, they were feeding and flew around occasionally. Looks like this is a pair now. Otherwise only mallard, black headed and lesser black backed gulls and common gulls. I wonder if there are any other types of gull that I'm missing. It is difficult to see differences.

Monday 19th February

As I arrived at the Peregrine Watch the jackdaw tree was suffering from overcrowding - they were all over the neighbouring bush! Unusually, a lot flew away as I cycled up, they usually stay put. A flock of gulls were coming up river, and suddenly did a rapid about turn downstream - a peregrine appeared and circled around below me. No wonder the birds were nervous. I saw the raptor on a couple of other passes under the cliff and towards the woods on my side, then he/she came into the cliff underneath and I didn't see the bird again. I did spot a couple of redshank on the mud, the tide was going out, but exposing a small region of mud. I waited to spot the white trailing edges to the redshank wings to verify them. Unmistakable! Also a cormorant. Earlier, when I cycled along Rockleaze it was interesting to see a pair of lesser black backed gulls strutting around alongside two herring gulls.

Sunday 18th February

The jackdaw tree was occupied by several pairs of birds, but there was not much else around - apart from the usual group of Sunday 'birders'! The tide was going out and a little bit of mud was exposed. Then a pair of mallard flew low over the water up river, then a cormorant flew down river, then four flew up high and towards the floating harbour. The birders announced they had seen a peregrine over Leigh Woods, and I managed to see a lone bird, so high it eventually disappeared into the mist. Just before I left I saw two redshank down on the mud, their identity given away by the white flash of the feathers at the back edge of their wings.{they are the only British wader with a broad white bar across the trailing edge of the wing.} When I looked again, they had gone.

Wednesday, Thursday 14th, 15th February

I run a cycling proficiency class at Bishop Road School on Wednesdays, the sunshine was intense after the last few dull days, so I cycled over to the Peregrine Watch after the class. First one, then another, then eventually four buzzards treated us to a beautiful soaring display. They were also mewing to each other. Very appropriate for Valentine's Day! They were a couple of hundred feet above the rim of the Gorge, with a low sun from across the Gorge, the sunshine caught their feathers showing greys and browns, and glistened red as they wheeled around above us. Spectacular!
Thursday, back to an early ride, nothing much to see: one cormorant flew low over the river downstream, it landed near the water outlet, but I could not see it with glasses. The mud was lined with black headed gulls, their black heads are getting more prominent with every day.

Tuesday 13th February

Sun shining through a dull grey sky, and very chilly. A large group of gulls beside Ladies Mile, the black caps are becoming more obvious. I counted four (I assume) redshank feeding in the mud alongside the mallard, they were well spaced out and seem to be a rather solitary bird. Too cold to hang around long.

Sunday February 11th

I was up at Sea Walls at 12.15. No sign of the oyster catchers on the mud. Over at the peregrine watch there was a strong wind coming up the river. I saw a couple of buzzards back over by Sea Walls, they seem to like the little valley where the shrub has been cleared. How do you tell the male and the female buzzard apart - the female is larger. I could not see a difference, but in any case it was difficult to get the two into view at the same time, especially when one of the buzzards was being attached by a crow. The buzzard got fed up with this and eventually chased the crow down towards the valley, when I lost sight of them both.