Blogs

Hello peregrine perusers! Well this week we really know that ‘Colin-for-now’ is not a boy peregrine, she is huge (See photo, thanks to Anthony Hallam) and is already the same size as her dad. It will be a matter of days before she is out and about on the ledges of the clock-tower, hopefully...

The first Cuckoo of the year returning to Dove Stone, probably from sub-Saharan overwintering grounds, was heard on May 4th. This will be the male giving the 'cuckoo' call. Since then we've heard regular calling from around the plantations behind Bradbury's Farm; yesterday was our first...

It’s falcon Friday folks! Lots of great sightings today at the clock tower, with Anthony Walton finally making a dry day to come and see us, congrats mate! ;-). The chick is now a huge meaty fluff ball and is beginning to sprout the first glimmerings of ‘proper’ feathers. Three large...

I have been away for a long weekend in Lincolnshire for a wedding, which seemed to fit around quite a lot of bird watching. As I have said in a previous blog, it all started for me in Lincolnshire, that light bulb moment coming at Freiston Shore . The weekend got off to a flying start, quite literally...

Hello folks. Its time once again for me to give you an update on how things are going in Bath . The weather has got a bit cheerier now so Mrs P has been able to stop brooding and come out to hunt. This means we can start doing one of my favorite activities. The food pass. This is where we hand...

We've just had one of our woodland art walks ( courtesy of the good folk at the local Woodend Artists collective ) where we follow a trail through Dove Stone's woods, collecting a small number of leaves from a number of trees such as Sycamore, Alder, Birch, Rowan & Oak ( as an aside, apparently...

Hello. Good news. I've got two little chicky P's. P junior has finally started getting his own dinner and even sharing it with the family. Now there's the difference a week makes. He's making his old man proud. It's not often a peregrine like me gets a babysitter. Just goes...

Despite the huge amounts of rain we've been having over the last couple of weeks the reserve has managed to stay above water apart from a few puddles along the trails and there is quite a lot to report. Last Friday (27th April), discovered too late for last weeks blog, an Osprey flew from Ham Wall...

Here's the full bird list for Ham Wall for April 2012: Short Eared Owl, Barn Owl, Tawny Owl, Osprey, Marsh Harrier, Pallid Harrier, Peregrine, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Kestrel, Hobby, Bittern, Little Egret, Great White Egret, Grey Heron, Cormorant, Whimbrel, Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Greylag Goose...

Last week, during a particularly high tide, we saw a Pergrine take an Oystercatcher from the hundreds at the high water roost. It landed on the merse to eat it's kill and was promptly mobbed by crows and a Curlew. Due to the size of the Oystercatcher it was unable to take it's prey away so was...

Hi all, I'll be honest, my knowledge of feathers is limited! I can tell a peacock from a magpie, and a buzzard from an owl but I'm no expert, although I am very fortunate to be surrounded by wonderful friends who keep me company in the garden and around the croft. I count amongst my friends...

Bob, I might accept your comments but for the fact, and on this the RSPB were unequivocal in their reply to me, that their interest centred solely on the estuarine species. The removal of one of 20 turbines to create a slightly larger access to the wetland habitat seemed sufficient to satisfy them. ...

Ray, the tip speed of a 90m diameter turbine blade rotating at 20 rpm approaches 200mph. There is some unpleasant footage on U-tube of a reptor finding this out the hard way.

Hello to you all; I've been an RSPB member for many years but this is my first venture on-line. I want to raise an issue that affects me because it is local to my home, but is being repeated across the British countryside. The RSPB has been rightly vocal in its criticism of those landowners who...

http://tinyurl.com/6bohrke The link above is for a Blog by wildlife photographer Galen Leeds Photography . The reason I posted this link is that Galen talks about seeing a pair of red tailed hawks copulating and, then without warning, here comes a Peregrine falcon at a tremendouse speed and...

Hello All, We had a good march around the reserve on Saturday. First is a record shot of a colour-ringed Spoonbill as mentioned in Gordon's blog Grey Heron Sky Lark Meadow Pipit Green Sandpiper Ruff Reed Warbler Peregrine And finally...

I was down at Capel Fleet yesterday and took some photos that im having trouble identifying. I have not seen Marsh Harriers on the wires before and this bird was also chasing small birds above the cornfields very fast and with great agility where i thought it maybe a peregrine, however it seemed too...

The Avon Gorge Peregrines are, of course, well known (and their productivity is impressive) but I wonder how many Bristolian passers-by notice madam here sitting on top of the downpipe right in the city centre day in day out.... JBNTS

The tedium of a team meeting on the 13th floor of our Manchester offices was relieved by a peregrine flying outside the window, six feet behind my boss's head. After hanging there for a moment, he dropped out of sight...

Our first sighting of Peregrines at Malham Cove, Yorkshire. Managed to get picture of chick on ledge. Good morning watching both parent birds soaring high. All the family got great views.

Some say a peregrine falcon is a vicious killer, a speedster of the skies, terror and plunderer, ripper of feather and flesh. Not so I. For I call it a back-from-the-brink miracle, a wonder to behold, a tender parent. Lucky me: I call it work!

Some say a peregrine falcon is a vicious killer, a speedster of the skies, terror and plunderer, ripper of feather and flesh. Not so I. For I call it a back-from-the-brink miracle, a wonder to behold, a tender parent. Lucky me: I call it work.

Some say a peregrine falcon is a viscious killer, a speedster of the skies, terrorising and plundering as it rips through feather and flesh. Not so. I call it a back-from-the-brink miracle, a wonder to behold, a tender parent. I call it work.

I sat in an all day meeting today on the 30th floor of Canary Wharf. As they stared down at their papers, I looked out of the window to see a peregrine swooping around the building, effortlessly riding the high winds. Best meeting I've had in ages!

The times when I find a less common bird and can show it to someone else are the really special moments; like the Peregrine Falcon seen on the cliffs of Lundy Island with my daughter. A very special place and a very special memory.

We visited Hilbre Island, watched the sea birds, turned away from them,they all started to make an awful noise and fly in the air,we turned back just in time to see a perigrine nose dive down, grab one of them and fly up the beach to eat his meal

Saturday June 14th (this year) my sons – in – law, a few friends and I charted a fishing boat “Bad Ladz” from Holyhead Marina for a day’s fishing around the Anglesey coast. All the fish bar two were returned, all the gear has now been put away for winter, what remains is unforgettable. The folding cliffs...