A peregrine has been shot dead in the Forest of Dean, luckily not one of the pair at Symonds Yat Rock. However, another local peregrine was found dead near to our Nagshead nature reserve on 2 June. The original Symonds Yat project was designed to help protect the peregrines from egg collectors and illegal persecution and started 25 years ago - what a shame that these things are still going on under our nose!
Looking at the x-rays, it shows that the bird has been shot at reasonably close range with a shotgun. If you have any information about the shooting then please call the police directly on 0845 090 1234 (quoting the incident number 296 of June 2). Alternatively, call the RSPB in confidence on 0845 466 3636.
On the 23 June the Walkway to the Symonds Yat Rock Viewpoint will be closed all day for resurfacing work. Luckily the alternative viewpoint will be open all day for views of the Wye. Unfortunately the viewpoint doesn't offer views of the peregrines or cliff face and the RSPB will not be onsite for the day.
Not to worry we will be back on Wednesday at 10am to see how the peregrines have coped without us.
I mentioned the club-tailed dragonfly a few weeks ago but up until now we've only been getting glimpses of them whizzing passed the view point.
Imagine our excitment when this mature female decided to spend the afternoon hanging out with us at the the Rock. Thankfully I managed to get a photo whilst it was nice and close.
You can tell it's a mature female because of its black and yellow colouring and the green eye. This is also the only dragonfly species in the UK which has eyes which don't meet at the middle, another good ID feature for club-tailed dragonfly. However the most obvious feature is the club-shaped tail.
The flight season is now coming to an end but one was seen yesturday, so it's not too late to visit the Rock for a view of this superb and rare insect.
This year the eggs simply never hatched which is slightly different from what happened last year. The chicks hatched but soon died, presumably due to weather. But could have been anything. Thankfully other peregrine pairs around the area seem to be doing well, so thankfully what’s happened to our pair in an isolated incident.
Thankfully over the past few days we've been getting good views of the male perched up on his favourite rock, obviously thinking about what would have been happening around now, chicks fledging.
Other raptor species have been making appearances over the past few weeks including red kite seen on two dates plus hobby and goshawk.