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.

Sunday, Monday, July 29th, 30th

On Sunday morning we were treated to a stunning display of peregrine "tag" around the trees on the other side of the river, the young male and one of the two females were playing; they dived, chased pigeons, chased each other, and generally fell around the sky close too, and among the trees. No other bird could fly in this acrobatic way, and these were only the young Peregrines - well they did not catch any of the pigeons! In between the bouts of flying, and there were several, they landed in trees or in the quarry opposite.

One of the two female youngsters has damaged a leg - it dangles down when she flies - we saw the undamaged female on Sunday. Today I saw the female with the damaged leg, she seems to have been nicknamed "dangle foot"! She was also playing tag with her brother, but this was less boisterous, and the brother was doing most of the chasing. Again they both landed in the trees, but also behind the birch tree in the quarry opposite. "Danglefoot" seemed to be landing alright, when I could see, but mostly went into the bushes. When she flew the leg was very obvious through my glasses. Can she survive? It is very doubtful with such an injury. The parents must still be feeding these birds since they do not yet look too efficient at making a kill.

Thursday 19th July to Friday 27th July

An eventful week! Rain rain, rain and floods (elsewhere than Bristol).
Thursday 19th : my ride was cut short, so I did not get to see the Gorge.
Saturday, Sunday 21st, 22nd July. Peregrines sighted on both days, clinging to the cliff opposite, and flying.
Tuesday, 24th July. I met up with Roger again, we watched a juvenile Peregrine pursue a flock of racing pigeons, he was not too successful, the pigeons stayed in a tight bunch, occasionally one peeled off, but the Peregrine did not single it out. The whole chase disappeared off over towards Clifton.
Friday, 27th July. Another juvenile Peregrine was hunting over the Gorge, and though stooping on several occasions, did not catch anything that I could see. From Sea Walls I thought that I could see two Peregrines just by the cliff top on the grassy ledge. Lots of assorted gulls on the river mud. No deer tracks visible.

Wednesday 18th July

Yesterdays performance from the young peregrines made me forget to report the sighting of a Roe Deer and her fawn over in the opposite quarry, they were about half way up, feeding on the vegetation, they stayed for nearly half an hour before disappearing off towards the woodlands at the side of the quarry. This is probably the deer that leaves her tracks in the river mud.

Today, I think that the two female peregrines were perched near the top of the cliff by the grassy ledge, they were lower down, and so not visible from the cliff top. I had a brief sighting of a peregrine (the male youngster?) flying over the tree tops in the quarry over the river and to the left. This was a very beautiful morning, with a warm westerly wind, and light clouds moving over, the effect on the Gorge and the high slack tide, just on the turn, was a sight to behold.

Tuesday 17th July

This was not a morning that I expected to see very much, with heavy rain showers and a brisk wind coming up the Gorge. I was at the Peregrine Watch at 10.45am, after about ten minutes two of the young peregrines flew past, as one came up river below me it was calling. After a while all three young birds were to be seen diving in and out of the trees over towards Nightingale Valley. They managed to put up a pigeon, and as it dived towards the river a large cloud of feathers erupted, I did not see the strike, the pigeon must have, somehow, survived because the three peregrines were seen again very shortly after, chasing around, and chasing each other. Then a flock of six or more cormorants flew past towards the Bristol Docks, they did not notice the kerfuffle, and the peregrines ignored them. The youngsters continued their chasing for a while, then came down past the Peregrine Watch and into the quarry too our right and above the storm water outflow. Then it rained, so they beat a retreat back to the cliff under us, and probably their old nest site. What a display, and the speed and mastery of flight that even the young birds can show!

Monday 16th July

Bright, warm and muggy, with Crows, Rooks and Jackdaws all busy on the Downland grass. Today's finds were a Peregrine in the banana tree, a Cormorant flying up river, and a Buzzard towards Sea Mills. The Peregrine's presence in the tree was only given away by occasional, slight movements, he was certainly not seen by the local Wood Pigeons flying in and around the quarry.