Bristol - peregrine watch - FREE

Savvy_Sue

This weekend (yes I know it's a bit late!) and in two weeks time, ie 25-26 June, the Bristol Ornithological Club are up on the Downs from 9 am to 5 pm with telescopes set up so that you can see the peregrines. The young are just being encouraged out of the nest. There are buzzards too, not to mention jackdaws, ravens, and others. Take your own binoculars if you've got them, it's a bit hard to see the birds when they are flying.

But the main thing is that there are PEOPLE there who will tell you where to look and what it is you're seeing! I've been taking the bus up and down the Gorge for over 5 years and have had no idea what kind of birds those specks in the sky were!

The BOC website gives details of where to park and where to go: if you don't know where you're going click on Local Birding Sites, then Bristol City, then Avon Gorge. The Club is at the first site they mention: if you've got a street map then I'd park on Ladies Mile and walk down towards the gorge, you can't miss them then. Or there are, of course, buses.

They (the bird watching people) seemed to be quite family friendly, you don't have to keep quiet in case you scare the birds, and the Downs are a lovely place for families anyway. Take a kite, a frisbee, a picnic, then all you need is fine weather!