SERENITY: 2 day's of great birds

Friday 14 October 2011

2 day's of great birds

We had a great day on Tuesday and Wednesday, with lots of birds passing. Yesterday we saw a male Peregrine hunting a blackbird near Staple Island. It was fascinating to watch this beautiful bird doing what it does best, but this time it did something that I have never seen before. It hit the Blackbird with so much power, that it stunned the bird and it fell into the water, but the Blackbird was not going to give up. It tried so hard to get out of the water, but the Peregrine never give it a chance. Next thing we saw, was the Peregrine hitting it again, killing it,and then grabbed it with it's claws and of into the sky. It flew towards Staple Island with the Blackbird tightly gripped in it's claws and then landed on the rock with it's kill. Nature is cruel but it was amazing to watch. The picture is not very good but it shows the Blackbird in it's claws.

We also saw a lovely Merlin watching the Pigeons, but then it spotted us and did not hang around for long. Well just long enough for me to get a picture.

On Wednesday it was windy but we had beautiful blue skies and on Thursday we had no wind but rain in the morning and very overcast. When it gets to this time of the year Keith and myself try to keep a look out for as many things as possible as we don't have the thousands of breeding birds around, and people still ask if the Puffins are still here. When you say NO they are a bit disappointed, but if we can find a Peregrine they seem to be more than happy. Yes it's harder work for us but it can be very rewarding, especially when I get we see people faces and I get some good pictures.