Saturday to Tuesday, 4th-7th April

Saturday. I cycled via the Portway. Just beside the Wessex Water works, and on the walkway by the road, with lorries and cars thundering past, a minute black ball of fluff was lying. I nearly fell from my bike trying to stop - well they do tell you to walk that bit - it was an injured pipistrelle bat Pipistrellus pipistrellus (I discovered later that it was a pipestrelle). About the same size as my top thumb joint, and still very much alive so far as I could see, certainly injured, but I could not see how apart from a small lump on its face. What to do? I could not leave it there, and could not care for it, and did not want to leave it in the bushes. I decided to take it to the Zoo and contact Mandy Leivers. It wriggled in my hand, got rather hot and torpid, but we got there and the girls on the counter produced a small cardboard box for the bat while Mandy called around to some of her contacts on the Avon Bat Group. We took the little animal over to Mandy's office and tried to give it some water, but it seemed to prefer bathing to drinking, and was now moving around in the box at some speed. Very not dead! Mandy had contacted a vet student, Heidi, who could look after the pipestrelle.

I left and went on with my ride via the Peregrine Watch and Downs. At the Watch there were several fly-pasts and (eventually) a Peregrine landed in one of the oaks opposite.

Sunday. No Downs today, but Bristol Morris Men had a cycle tour around Yatton. We danced outside three local pubs. Well where else do you find Morris Men? I did see a Heron, but was too busy watching the somewhat rough paths to see much more. The Brompton bike is not nearly as pleasant to ride as the Dawes road bike, especially the saddle.

Monday, Tuesday The Peregrines were flying on both days, around the Gorge, landing in the trees opposite, and high up, probably hunting. The Ravens are still over on their nest, and on both days there was a large group of Redshank lined up on the river-edge mud below Sea Walls. I counted over 30 birds on Tuesday. The trees are now coming strongly into leaf, with the Horse Chestnuts leading the way. The Whitebeams have white buds on them, and many other trees are sprouting.

The pipestrelle. I had a 'phone call from Heidi this morning. The bat had an injured eye, and despite valiant efforts at feeding, it was getting weaker, so she had to put it to sleep. A sad ending, but the little animal did have some TLC, did not die miserably beside the Portway, and will have given a young vet some valuable practical experience. The head injury to its eye was just too severe, and despite tasty meal worm offerings it was fading fast. Thanks, Heidi and Mandy.

Sunday 29th, Tuesday 31st March

Sunday. A Peregrine and a Raven sparred briefly in the air above the cliff face to the left of the Raven's nest, the Peregrine diving, the Raven turning on its back in a ball to face the Peregrine. No feathers, so this was shadow boxing. A Peregrine eventually settled over in the oak tree opposite; they were flying around, sometimes into the nest.
Monday. The tide was still coming in, and the river was very full and still. A quiet morning with one good view of the female Peregrine circling around the cliff, and (supposedly) landing on the nest. I thought that I could see a Jackdaw under the bush in front of the Peregrine nest. Nesting? Some neighbours for these audacious small birds!

Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, March 24, 25, 27

By Tuesday it was much colder, so I was back into long trousers again! I spotted about a dozen Redshank on the mud just down river of Sea Walls, but little else. On Wednesday I decided to walk the periphery of the Downs, around from Cote Green, along the edge of the Gorge, then back via Zoo Bank and finally the Granny Down. You see much more than from a bicycle. Coming through the edge of a grove on the side of Walcombe Slade a Peregrine appeared high above me, circled for a while, then flew rapidly to the North. Coming through the bushes by the Dumps a bright green bird, gone in a flash - a Green finch! Just before that I saw a group of six Magpies on the grass towards Ladies Mile, these are not good news for the Green finch if it is nesting.
The Ravens are nesting; sometimes the female (I assume) is hunkered down in the nest and invisible, other times a small piece of black is visible, now and then the bird comes onto the edge of the nest.
On Friday I decided to be lazy, took the car and parked by Sea Walls, then walked along through the top of the Gully, over to Peregrine Watch, then down the new Zig Zag to the Portway, and crossing, along to come back up via the Gully. I watched a Peregrine, first from the top on the path beside Fairyland. The bird circled quite low and for nearly a quarter hour, over the trees opposite on the side of Leigh Woods, going into the quarry beside the Ravens nest, then coming back towards the Gully, sometimes flying fast, mostly gliding in the wind. Hunting? Possibly. From the Portaway I stopped and looked up at the Peregrine nest, there was no activity for a full half hour, but then I saw a Peregrine circling about 500 feet up, it circled higher and higher, eventally dropping rapidly to the Gully. A kill? Just after that I saw a Sparrowhawk flying above the Gully. A very pregnant deer was sitting under a birch tree in the sunshine in the quarry opposite Sea Walls. My last Peregine, a large bird, appeared quickly by Sea Walls and disappeared towards Black Rock cliff.

Monday March 23rd

An early morning ride (and the first one this year in short trousers), so I was up by the Peregrine Watch around 8am. The Great Bristol Public were out in force on Sunday, the evidence was left all over the Downs, with some particularly large piles in the cleared scrub beside Circular Road. The Downs Committee also seem keen on removing even more trees, I counted three with stump bases all looking fine. At this rate, and without replacements, the Downs will be treeless in ten years - I joke not!
There was some mud showing, and to the west of Sea Walls I counted ten Redshank, in one place a small flock of half a dozen birds were all busy pecking at the mud. At the Peregrine Watch the Jackdaw flock was flying around in a noisy group, I though that a raptor might have set them off, but could not see one.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, March 9th-13th

Back to more regular rides! The tide precessed during the week, going out, but getting higher with less mud as the week progressed. Today Friday, about a dozen Redshank were on small patches of mud on the opposite bank; also with the Mute Swan sitting on the riverside. I do hope that he/she is well? A small black head is just visible on the Raven's nest, so she must be sitting. On Monday the male was displaying - flapping around then folding his wings and dropping down. Earlier in the week there were large numbers of gulls on the mud, Lesser Black Backed, young and old, Herring Gulls, Black Headed Gulls, Common Gulls.
I see the Peregrines in the oak trees opposite, sometimes one, sometimes two. I heard that there were two other adult birds flying on Monday, whilst two were perched. On Tuesday I had a glimpse from above Black Rocks of a Peregrine land below the nest on the cliff, then fly around. It is rare to be able to see them from the Sea Walls region. When the Peregrines are flying the Jackdaws become more agitated ....

Thursday 5th March

The cold has returned so I was on foot at the Peregrine Watch. A large flock of Sea Gulls was circling above the river, looking like pieces of paper in a wind. Walking back along the Gorge rim I spotted a Redshank just below the Donkey Slide, then, just before Circular Road stopped to look for a Robin singing. He was high up in some ivy on an ash tree, without his red breast he would have been impossible to find. Coming back behind Zoo Bank there were three kinds of Tit - Blue, Coal and Great, all in pairs, and flitting around the top of the hawthorn bushes. Add Blackbirds and Thrushes, Magpies, Crows, Pigeons and Jackdaws.

Sunday, Tuesday, 1st, 3rd March

Sunday afternoon brought out the crowds - and banished most birds from the downland, though a flock of Jackdaws had found a tasty patch to probe beside Ladies Mile. On the river I saw the lone Mute Swan on both days, I wonder if he/she is either looking for, or has lost a mate. There are a number of Swans on the docks water. There were a few Redshank on the mud on Sunday, and a Cormorant digesting its dinner. Tuesday I watched a flock of Jackdaws wheeling above the Gorge, the Raven pair were flying around, sometimes in the midst of the Jackdaws. A lone Peregrine left the Gully, flew over the river, and then up towards the Suspension Bridge.