Thursday 16th September

I've been neglecting my cycling!  This morning there was no excuse, so I did a quick Downs circuit before a lazy brunch.  I'm told that only one of the four young Peregrines is still hanging around in the Gorge, maybe the male, he was often separate from his sisters.  Anyway, today I only caught the briefest glimpse of a Buzzard, down in the woodland over the other side, and then obscured by the vegetation on this side of the Peregrine Watch.
A large tree, an elm I think has been felled.  It grew in one of the front gardens of Ivywell road, and the remnants were sitting, cut up, on the Down.  I'm always sad to see these giants disappear. 

Thursday, Sunday, August 19th, 22nd

The Goat Pen

Very little bird life to report on on Thursday, however I'll soon be able to observe the goats!  This is a truly mad-cap scheme, supposedly to improve the habitat of the Gully, aka Walcombe Slade, and return it to the grassland that it never was. Because goats have been introduced in various other locations, the Downs Committee and its Natural England advisers,  think they can do the same in Walcombe Slade.  Firstly, it will cost a lot of money, at the BCC meeting to approve this scheme BCC were noticeably coy about the cost.  And that was before the present financial crisis.  Secondly,  all the other schemes are in areas about 100x the size of Walcombe Slade, so this will be a pen rather than a free area for the animals to roam.  Thirdly, we all know (or at least those who are followers of Sean the Sheep) that "goats eat anything", so they will surely munch on the many beautiful Whitebeams in this area - some very rare.  Thus in Cheddar the N.T. are somewhat worried about the fact that the goats there are already chewing on a newly discovered Whitebeam species which is unique to Cheddar Gorge;  a recent BBC feature showed one of the botanists, busily going around taking cuttings of the rare ones! A safety precaution! Fourthly, as if they didn't have enough to do with clearing litter, the Downs Rangers will have to keep an eye on them most days - also the fencing.  Maybe someone will find a Heidi to do the job!  Fifthly, the goats are very close to a large population area, they may prove a tempting tasty morsel;  having eaten goat myself I can vouch for it as a pleasant meat.  Sixth. Looking at the "temporary" fencing being instated, it is unlikely that the goats will escape - unless someone damages the fencing - but they are highly intelligent and have a great curiosity.  When goats escaped on another conservation site they had to be shot.  Seventh, weasel words were used to assure everybody that the said fencing was "temporary", so how long is that?  Five years, ten years?  And what plans are there for the time when they are removed - if ever!  Remember that the "temporary" Zoo car park has been around for 40 years!  Enough said, but I'll be reporting about anything I learn about our coming  capra aegagrus hircus or maybe plain capra aegagrus.  


On Sunday I cycled through Bristol and onto the Portway, this was another day when the traffic was excluded.  Heavenly!  I could not see any Peregrines on the cliffs below the Peregrine Watch, though it is plain to see where they roost from the guano patches below various pinnacles on the rock faces.  Neither were there any Peregrines in the quarry.  At Sea Mills I watched as a flock of twenty or more Redshank gathered on some patches of seaweed - and went to sleep!  Elsewhere numerous Ducks and Gulls sat beside the river, and Martins dived around above the river catching flies.  Occasionaly they scooped water from the river surface.

Thursday August 12th

The magnificent Horse Chestnut trees on Saville Road show obvious signs of leaf miner moth attack, and it looks more severe than for previous years.  It has been around for several years now, even since I started these Blogs.   Given BCC and the Downs Ranger's propinquity for felling any tree that looks "dangerous" (and not replacing it), the outlook for these trees is bleak to say the least,  and it is probably too much to hope that Chris Sorensen's advice to sweep up dead leaves will be heeded. {Advice from  Chris Sorensen, Forestry Commission officer for the 4,500-acre Savernake Forest near Marlborough, said: “There are quite a few that are affected here but the problem is limited, because the horse chestnut is not generally a forest tree.  For those who have horse chestnut trees at home, I believe the advice is that you should rake up dead leaves and bin them, that way you at least kill off that year’s offspring.”
There was a lot of peregrine activity at the Watch, I could see two young Peregrines and possibly a third one over in the yew tree beside the quarry, and lower down in the dead tree the fourth sibling was facing me.  Looking as ever like a little white beacon.  When you know where to look the Peregrines are very visible if they face over the river.  After that the birds moved around a lot, one flying off up river, another sailing around the quarry, moving around the top of the yew, and there were several trips over to the cliffs underneath my vantage, and one 'fly past'.  The tide was very high and starting to recede, other birds flew warily and rapidly over the river!   A Cormorant flew up river, and two Ravens came across and perched in an ash tree just up and behind the Peregrines.  I expected an altercation - but the Ravens disappeared into the Leigh Woods trees.

Sunday August 8th

I decided to take my breakfast to the riverside by Sea Mills - Sunday is usually croissants and egg.   I cycled through town and onto the Portway, where I discovered that there was a charity event on, puzzled as to what it was at first, I later discovered that people were being taken over the river from the cliffs to the towpath on an aerial runway - for charity. Many other were walking and cycling on the Portway, enjoying the peace and quiet.  The closure of the Portway to traffic makes for a heavenly ride, no noise, no huge lorries rushing past, the gulls and other birds are audible, as are people talking on the other side of the river.  There were some very raucous ducks around.
Just before the Suspension Bridge there was a Heron standing at the river edge in the mud.  Then there were numerous ducks, sleeping on the mud, dabbling at the water edge, flying busily.  At Sea Mills I watched a Cormorant fishing, it would dive and surface every few yards, I did not see it catch anything, but later a cormorant was standing down river with its wings out, as they do when digesting food.  Maybe it was lucky.  Another Cormorant flew up-river, very close to the surface so I'm reminded of the Russian Ekranoplan!
At last I spotted some Redshank feeding on the mud. There were other birds, Martins, Swifts, Gulls, and a small one flitting among the reed tops;  later at the Peregrine Watch a Spotted Woodpecker flew past.  No sign of the Peregrines, either from the Watch, or below on the Portway.

Thursday August 5th

Colder today, the tide was coming in, but with a lot of mud still visible.   I'm surprised not to see any Redshank, they are not seen very much recently.   At the Peregrine Watch two birds were visible over in the yew tree, and on careful looking two more could be seen nearly opposite in the trees.  One in an ash, the other in a dead tree;  the latter Peregrine was moving around in the tree, and eventually disappeared from view.  I think that all of these are the youngsters, so I'd glad they are all surviving.  No sign of their parents though.
At Sea Walls I watched a youngster in a bright red helmet abseiling down the well used vertical face near to the Gully;  well supervised by experienced climbers, but nevertheless a brave young lady!  A couple more were lined up for the drop, an several were already down at the bottom of the cliff.

Wednesday 28th July

The common whitebeam by the Sea Walls fence has a good crop of berries. {iPhone photo}.  Back on Saville Road the chesrnut trees look very poorly, many brown patches on the leaves of these fine trees, especially at the Cote Green end.  The Downland has turned back to a pleasant green after the rain.

Offficious wardens object to a family windbreak on the Downs - behavior of the Downs Warden or his underlings needs broadcasting.  Perhaps some attention to the many people who park illegally on the grass, who spoil the grass with barbecues, and who dump huge quantities of picnic rubbish, would be more apposite!   I'm glad to see that the BCC will reprimand those concerned and tell them to be more judiceous in their choice of targets.   They are still working on the Gorge fence, but it looks as if it will not be finished (again), five years to erect a couple of hundred meters of repaired fence!

The four Peregrine youngsters were sitting atop the yew tree opposite the Peregrine Watch.  One flapped its wings and took off, then another.   The other two remained for all the time of my visit.  Then one reappeared, and circled over the quarry, slowly making its way across and over towards Sea Walls.  High up it started to chase a Sea Gull, diving and chasing it high over the Downs and eventually over towards the Zoo.  I understand that at least one Gull has been killed recently,  also that five chicks were ringed and fledged.  Certainly only four survive now.   This was a glorious summer morning, with a warm breeze, high tide (receding), and small clouds.

Tuesday 27th July

Very dull and humid, so cycling was a drain on energy! The river was fairly high with only small amounts of mud. The gulls float around on updrafts and eddies from the gorge winds and make it look so easy. On the river a couple of dozen young Black Headed Gulls and their parents kept in a tight group, moving from the mud to the river and back. At the Peregrine Watch I could only see one Peregrine, perched a little way down on the side of the big yew tree to the left of the quarry; they usually perch on top of the tree, so this was unusual, and probably one of this years young brood. If there were other Peregrines in the quarry and trees I could not see them. Coming across towards Sea Walls on Circular Road I watched a mix of Rooks, Crows and Jackdaws. Rooks really do have very ugly beaks!