Saturday, Monday to Wednesday, January 12th, 14th to 16th

The weather has been atrocious so I have been lucky to get any rides in at all. With a full river and little mud I don't see many Redshank, however they appeared on the small areas of mud made during a retreating tide, and, better still, I was able to see them fly. Usually they are pecking the mud and do little flying; I was lucky and twice caught several birds in my binoculars, and in flight when they show a beautiful white flash on their wings and under-belly.

At the Peregrine Watch, especially a little later in the morning, a female has taken up a perch in an oak tree just beside a little clearing between the two quarries opposite. The tree is slightly left of twin ivy-covered trees. I wonder if this is where she digests her kill in the morning? When there is sunlight her breast looks like a lantern and draws ones eye too her. She was present on three of the four days, and once left the perch to fly over to the cliff under the Watch, then a few minutes later, flying back followed by another Peregrine. The other disappeared into the trees, and despite a lot of searching, I could not find it.
The Jackdaws are very noisy at present, and (very obviously) mostly paired up, Gulls, Cormorants and Mallard are plentiful, so the stop off is usually worth it. Cold and wet drive one away.

Tuesday, Wednesday 8th, 9th January

Tuesday: warm again, I passed a Pied Wagtail on Cairns Road. They are always very tame, and I cycled within a meter of him. At Sea Walls, on the mud on the opposite bank I watched a Curlew carefully examining the mud, it strutted along the water edge, then carefully went up and down the little gullies that run down from the river grass. His head went up suddenly as a very light brown hawk, I assume a Kestral, passed over. I did not see the Curlew again, he had disappeared when I looked back. Below the cliff were a large group of Gulls, a Cormorant and the usual Mallard. Redshank were scattered up and down the estuary. A Heron flew down river. At the Peregrine Watch I could see a Peregrine perched over in the woods in a very similar position to a previous day, maybe this is the favourite spot to digest breakfast at present. Sometimes the variety of birds on view in a very short time is truly amazing, this was such a day.
Wednesday: some 5 degrees colder. Ugh! Only Redshank, Ducks and Gulls this morning, and it was too cold to linger.

Sunday 6th January

Sunny and frosty ... and my bike slipped going round a corner! No damage apart from a couple of scrapes and too my dignity; a fall brings home how unsafe two wheels can be. From Sea Walls I could see a large wader on the mud a couple of hundred meters down stream. Possibly, it was a Curlew from the way it moved, it looked larger than some gulls at a similar distance. Otherwise Mallard, tight groups of Black Headed Gulls and occasional Redshank, three Cormorants reared snake-like heads on the river. Nothing at the Peregrine Watch.

Friday, Saturday 4th, 5th January

An interesting couple of days! Friday was so misty, and the cloud so low that it was difficult to see over to the quarries from the Peregrine Watch, so not much to report there. However at Sea Walls I saw the lanky form of a Curlew picking around on the mud, there were several Redshank and a number of Black Headed Gulls and Mallard, all making the most of the mud. On Saturday I passed the Grey Wagtail at the beginning of Saville Road, he was unphased by a jogger, or by me turning my bike for a closer look. Cute! The sunshine at Sea Walls brought the Redshank legs to life, several were feeding on the mud. They move their head back and forth as they travel. One bird was moving up and down on the mud, alternately climbing the mud bank and then returning to the water edge. From the Peregrine Watch, on the other side of the river, two Redshank were probing the mud, but keeping away from the water edge. It would be interesting to know exactly what these birds find in the mud?
There was a very brief glimpse of a female Peregrine as she came to the cliff face beneath the Watch, at the time the grass behind me was crowded with Jackdaws, picking up some scraps left for them. The Jackdaws are largely paired up, they are also quite tame, especially if one keeps still! On the river, Mallard, Black Headed, Greater and Lesser Black Backed and Common Gulls, and a Heron flapped off downstream.

Wednesday January 2nd

The temperature is dropping - signalled by my toe temperature during the ride. The sky was even more overcast today, so that the half dozen or so Redshank looked like little dark blobs as they searched the waters edge. There was no sign of a Peregrine today, but I did not stop long. With an even colder day on Thursday I stayed at home - and watched the excellent pre-Christmas ITV series Up On The Downs - thanks Geraldine - for the tape!

Tuesday 1st January

This morning's falcon was perched in an oak tree, midway between the two quarries opposite to the Peregrine Watch. She appeared as a white dot in the bare woodland, I did not see her arrive, and she was still there, breast feathers puffed up and mask just visible above her white breast. She was probably digesting a kill. Apart from the Peregrine, Mallard ducks were swimming in a very mucky looking river, and a group of Jackdaws and a pair of Magpies squabbled over some seeds someone had left out near to the railings.

Monday December 31st

I'm not exactly a 'twitcher', except for spotting new (for me) birds on my ride each morning. Maybe two this morning!
As I cycled down towards the White Tree a small yellowish bird easily kept pace with my bike at 30km/hr, it flitted along above the pavement with a kind of looping flight, and landed a few times, at first I though 'Chaffinch', then a closer look as it crossed in front, landed again on the opposite pavement, and wagged its tail at me, I thought, Ah, a Grey Wagtail, well away from its usually watery places. The last one I saw was down south of Chew Valley Lake, so they are around.
There was a little more mud on the Avon estuary this morning, rapidly diminishing as the tide came in, there were Redshank scattered at wide intervals, perhaps a dozen in all. Then, underneath Sea Walls I saw another small bird, plumper than a Redshank, also a little smaller, but with a very white undersides, from the top it looked dark. With such a dull morning light most birds look dark brown! Like the Redshank it was rooting around at the river-side in the mud. I could only see it from above, and did not manage to view it flying. What was it? My R.S.P.B. book helps a little, at least with possibilities. It was certainly not an Oyster Catcher; some form of Sandpiper? I could not see its legs from above, so could not judge their colour or length. A Turnstone in its winter coat? Possible, but it was too large, certainly not like the ones I saw in Brittany this year. On balance I go for a Common Sandpiper. Moreover the R.S.P.B. video from the link shows what I saw quite clearly, though in a rather different environment. Maybe someone else will see it and give a better identification.

No sign of any raptors, but they must be around. Maybe chasing the pigeons in Broadmead! A Very Happy New Year to all!