Saturday, August 18th

I did not stop at the Peregrine Watch this morning, however as I cycled up towards Sea Walls for my first circuit of the Downs a Buzzard and a Raven were flying over the Rookery to the right. Occasionally the Raven flew lazily at the Buzzard, there did not seem to be much aggression in it, when the two birds were close it was easy to see how similar in size they are.

Friday, 17th August

When I arrived at the Peregrine Watch there was a bird in a tree just above the yew tree. I did not see him go, but the next I knew a Peregrine was flying through the trees opposite, and at one stage was joined by another, probably his/her sibling. We were then treated to a stunning, roller coaster display of flying by one of the two, up high above us, stoops at nothing in particular, and an occasional pigeon routed from the trees. No kill. This was a teenager enjoying him/herself, and it went on and on, with the bird occasionally perching opposite before starting again. My usual short visit during cycling was extended to an hour. Chris joined me for this display, but 'photos were difficult. However he also managed to spot a very red fox lying in the bushes under our cliff, probably a vixen, and with more looking he found some other foxes nearby, probably the nearly grown cubs. The Avon Gorge is a magical spot for wildlife! Oh, and we also saw a Raven flying high above Sea Walls, it seemed to have an altercation with a seagull.

Good news, I'm told that the female with the damaged leg is still flying, and even that the leg looks a little better. Will she survive? And the winter? Let's hope so.

Wednesday, Thursday, 15th, 16th August

A Peregrine, a Roe deer, Mallard,a Cormorant, numerous Pigeons (feral and Wood), Jackdaws, Magpies, Crows, Rooks, Gulls - Black Headed and Herring, and those that look like Lesser Black Backed but one wonders if they are a cross with a Herring gull. There is an endless variety of activity and amusement from watching these creatures. The Peregrine was perched in the top of the yew tree, he/she exercised his/her wings, moved around in the top of the tree, but did not fly. The deer was feeding on the grass about half way up the quarry opposite. No sign of the fawn this time. Again the lazy flight of many of the other birds in the gorge, especially the pigeons, led me to believe that the Peregrine had a full crop! That was Wednesday. Today, Thursday, there was a strong NW wind, but it was warm and sunny with small, high clouds. A high tide, the water on the wall opposite showing that the tide was still rising. The Avonmouth wind turbines were moving fast. A Peregrine appeared opposite, as usual, one moment nothing, then the bird appears. This time a Buzzard appeared near to the Peregrine, the Buzzard circled lazily down river, passing close to me, so that the view through my binoculars was spectacular, he circled over to the small quarry on our right (by Sea Walls), then climbed up and over towards Shirehampton, where he joined two other Buzzards. I wonder if there was a nest of Buzzards somewhere nearby in Leigh Woods? I think I saw several Buzzards a week or so ago, and thought that they were high flying crows or gulls. For all this time the Peregrine was perched at the base of the banana tree, and did not move, I tried to point the Peregrine out to a lady, but even with the binoculars, and my encouragements she failed to spot it. We did see the 'Matthew' passing down river though.

Monday August 13th

The river was high and the tide just turned, with only a very feeble wind to turn the Avonmouth wind turbines. A Peregrine was perched over in the banana tree, he stayed put for all of the half hour that I watched the Gorge. He must have had a full crop. The pigeons were flitting around in a very unconcerned manner, no tension in the air! Ducks flew up river, the Jackdaws flew around and in and out of the Jackdaw tree. When I left to go home for breakfast I discovered why the scene was now quiet - just on the other side of the road was a huge mass of Pigeon feathers. Either this was a car accident, but there was no corpse, or, more likely, our Peregrine had made an early morning kill.

Sunday 12th August

I had not seen a stoop from high until this morning. There were at least two birds in the trees opposite, one took off and climbed rapidly over Leigh Woods, it must have been 1500 feet up, a speck in the sky. The bird circled for a long while, slowly and towards us 'till it was nearly above us, then suddenly it started to drop, very fast and towards the trees opposite. The next we knew was a pigeon lower in the gorge, and still being pursued by the Peregrine. We did not see the end of the saga, and both birds disappeared. I was rained on this morning, but the sun was out at the Peregrine Watch, and I was dry by the time I was home.

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.