Monday 25 February 2008

The Worlds fasted bird?

The last of the weedy fields at Bockhill went under the plough today.

Lots of gulls were following the tractor at the top of the field but down at the bottom corner several Magpies and Carrion Crows were sifting through the clods looking for some easy pickings.
I walked up to the cliff to and sat at the highest point ear the Bluebird tea rooms. The cliffs curve in here giving a fantastic view looking NE towards Kingsdown. The noise of the Fulmars noisily claiming their nesting ledges was suddenly drowned out by the loud cries of the Herring Gulls.

This normally means that they've been upset by a perceived threat, and I immediately scanned the sky looking for a raptor.

It was a few seconds that I realised it was actually below the height of the cliff and a Peregrine shot by and disappeared round the cliff. Although it was moving pretty fast it is when it stoops from the sky after prey that it reaches speeds of upwards of 150mph which make it the fastest moving animal in the world. I sat and watched the world go by for a while but it didn't return, but the few seconds of it dashing through were as exciting as ever. The Gulls quickly settled down and I resumed watching the Fulmars.

2 comments:

Benjamin Young said...

I was lucky to get that view too. Is this adult a non-breeding resident?

Tony Morris said...

Hi Ben, e-mail me
Tony