Tuesday 11th August

Grey and blues days seem to alternate, today was blue with some clouds. A quick trip around the Downs with brief stops at Sea Walls and the Peregrine Watch. The river was muddy brown, debris, gulls and ducks still moving slowly in on the nearly high tide. I spotted a male Peregrine as soon as I had my glasses focused towards the quarry, he flew low, then towards me and the cliff below, as he came in and got close, he folded his wings as in a stoop, but to land on a cliff ledge.

Sunday 9th August

Another sunny morning (irony). The river tide had just turned, very little bird life that I could see. The travellers / gypsies have moved on, or been moved on, so that that the only relics of their camp are large grass circles showing where their tethered horses cropped the grass.
A more careful reading of the plastic posters shows that they refer to barbeque's and removing rubbish, it looks as if some more permanent notices on metal posts will appear soon, probably about parking. There are already such notices on Cote Green, and one on Ladies Mile hidden by foliage. We have far too many notices plastered over our roads and countryside, the useful ones are usually obscured by trees and bushes.
Home to sardines and croissants for breakfast.

Friday August 7th

A group of travellers are camped on the grass below Sea Walls, eight horses and four round topped caravans. The horses have eaten large circles from the grass, it looks spectacular from the cliff top! Whilst I was watching a small red Hyundai car drew up; a large group of Crows, Rooks and Jackdaws with young and old Gulls gathered on the other side on the downland. They were not worried by several runners, just moving aside to let them through! They recognised the car, and its occupant, who was about to feed them. There were a number of cars parked, several others passed, but only this little red one attracted attention. Members of the Corvus family are an intelligent bunch, and they led the way for the Gulls. Several of the young gulls were going into 'feed me' postures while this was going on. The birds waited, I waited, the man waited! Eventually the man got out and the birds were rewarded with bread scraps.
The Peregrine watch was quiet, no Peregrines, but a Heron and a Cormorant flew down river, and towards Nightingale Valley a Buzzard came and settled in the top of a dead tree.

Wednesday 5th August

A warm and very humid morning so that my glasses kept misting up when I tried to use them with binoculars! The rain copious rain over the last few days created a strong ebb tide with a lot of mud and debris. Not many birds to report, a Cormorant flying downriver and lots of Black Headed Gulls on the mud.

Monday August 3rd

A lower tide now, Black Headed Gulls were lined along the riverside, with a few Mallard in the river. On the Downland by Sea Walls someone was feeding a large flock of Herring and Lesser Black Backed Gulls, Jackdaws, Rooks, and Crows. They milled around and grabbed the bread as it was thrown.
At the Peregrine Watch, no Peregrines but a young Kestrel came and sat in the Jackdaw tree. She moved around on the branch, and gazed intently at the grassland at the foot of the cliff, preened her feather a little, and balanced in the strong southerly wind. Every now and then the wind pulled her speckled feathers up into a little umbrella around her waist, most undignified for a lady! But what a little beauty! Eventually she left and flew in front of me below the cliffs.

Some large plastic posters were being erected, mounted on stout wooden posts at either end they are nearer to posters than the usual kind of notice. One at Sea Walls, the other on the corner of Circular Road and Ladies Mile. There are probably others. The message is that barbecues are not allowed on the Downs - and please remove your litter. Quite so! Very commendable! However I do wonder how long such flimsy notices will survive - vandals or the wind! Some weeks ago I watched a policeman on horseback talking to people parked on the grassland by Sea Walls, there was also a barbecue going. He did not seem to be doing anything about moving them off the Down, so what use these notices will be remains to be seen.

Sunday 26th July, Friday 31st July

Sunday was my birthday! A Roe deer was feeding in the quarry opposite the Peregrine Watch. No sign of the Peregrines, but a Kestrel took off from our side, flew over the river and along the treeline by the river, disappearing eventually among the trees. The tide was fairly high on both visits. The rest of the week was so wet that I did not cycle at all. Apparently this was the wettest July in Bristol since 1888.

On Friday I was told by others that there was a Peregrine perched on a ledge near to the Raven's nest. It was not obvious to me.

Thursday 17th July

Whilst I don't mind being caught by the rain, I don't like starting out with it raining! So today (Friday) is not a good day for cycling for me. Yesterday's ride was unremarkable, with neither Kestrels nor Peregrines in view. A lone Cormorant flew down river, and low over the water, I saw another flying towards Bristol across Ladies Mile.