Peregrine Falcon

Spotted yesterday, about half four, a peregrine circling the ground and landing on the floodlight grid behind the welcome stand.

Saw it do the same at the last home game..could be that we are a prospective home to this wonderful creature...fingers crossed.

 

If your interested in such things this is worth keeping an eye on later in the year.

http://www.ntu.ac.uk/ecoweb/biodiversity/falcons/index.html?campaignid=falcons

 

Perhaps it's a good omen?

 

There's a few of em over at Barnsdale Bar, by the quarry...id guess they'd been introduced over there, not that far really.

 

Could help with the pigeon situation.

 

theres quite a few around,i actually had one attack one of my pigeon decoys last year(near brierley),it was unbelievable how hard it hit it.It had been circling around for a few minutes and then it came in like a shot and walloped the decoy,it was funny then seeing it hoping around the decoy with its wings outstretched.Great bird to see in the wild,even more so when it was so close.

 

Thought thad missed an e of the end and we were interested in an Anglo Italian footballer.

 

I lived in Princes Risborough for a few years and saw sometimes as many as a dozen red kites flying over the town together. Saw a few every single day but sometimes they came mob handed. Bucks and Sth Oxfordshire is very well stocked with them and it's a privilege when u see something like that up close

 

Whilst on holiday in the Scottish Highlands a few years ago, my wife & I had the pleasure of watching a couple of golden eagles in flight. They were wonderfully graceful, magnificent and bloody big! I was somewhat concerned they'd carry me off for their dinner, being the weedy, little wimp that I am!

 

kiites do come mob handed and they are scroungers,they'll take anything from birds to chip wrappers.Apart from the falcons i regularly get buzzards,up to 15 a time,all this 5 miles out of barnsley town centre.

 

me and our lass were with our motorhome on the southern tip of the kintyre penninsula and there were two golden eagles there,absolutely amazing to see them so close,they flew over the top of the van,no more than 40 feet up,fantastic.Added to this about 60 yards away sunning themselves on the rocks were about two dozen sea lions,who didnt bat an eyelid while we were gawpin at them.

 

The two my wife & I saw were flying up and down the Great Glen over Loch Ness, old mate. Well, I say 'fly', they glided effortlessly on the thermals. We were watching them for ages. Beautiful birds in a beautiful landscape.

 

Different bird. There's far too many sparrowhawks around killing song birds and people's pigeons and doves, one of the *******s killed 3 of my fantails earlier in the year.

The law is ****ed, there's far too many of them nowadays, they should lift the ban and allow them to be shot again, I was inches away from shooting one after it kept coming near my garden looking for my doves... only reason I didn't is there is far too many morons around me who would more than likely report me.

 

ha ha,they certainly glide dont they,i'll bet they didnt flap their wings half a dozen time whilst we were watching them.Since we got the van 6 years ago we never miss going up scotland,we 'wildcamp' everywhere,great holidays just me our lass and the dogs.We went over the pass to applecross last november,the view from up there was amazing,looking out across skye,great times.

 

peregrines kill far more pigeons than sparrowhawks.

 

I love it up there. A few years ago, the cottage we were in was surrounded by a field containing a large flock of sheep. Every time in the first couple of days when our dogs left our cottage to wander round the garden, the sheep would scatter nervously. Our dogs being the characters they are treat them with sheer indifference and totally ignored them. By the end of our holiday the sheep were doing exactly the same with the dogs!
I once read a phrase which stated "If you seek the Elysian Fields, then simply look around". To me, it sums up the Scottish Highlands perfectly.

 

us too lil,best time for us is in the autumn,flies have gone and the landscape is awash with colours.Prefer the west side,but the cairngorms take some licking.

 

The midges never bother me. Probably can't get through my body hair and flab to cause any irritation!

 

I'd disagree with that to a point. They are scroungers, yes, and the reason so many of them flew over Risborough was the idiots putting food out for them just so they would visit their garden. They are not meant to be fed. They pick up road kill and anything else lying around dead that they can carry. There was a big debate in my area a few years ago about Kites attacking small mammals or even small people but that was proved to be untrue. They are not brave enough to attack living stuff. They just clean up after something has been run over!

Beautiful birds and, as I said, a real privilege to live somewhere that they do. Same goes for any bird of prey and if some of them take smaller birds, then so be it. It's nature's law. Personally speaking the more flying rats are taken the better (talking about pigeons, obviously!)