This afternoon has given us good views of one of the young Peregrines perching on a ledge on Dove Stone rocks, as well as some good aerial displays of two Peregrines together. One of these birds clearly had food in its talons and there was some calling going on between these two.
The young Peregrines will be about three months old now. On Sunday early evening I saw one of the young birds fly onto a ledge on Dove Stone rocks with a kill and although I couldn't see for sure what this particular prey was I did get a good look at the wing and would hazard a guess that this bird was feeding on a gull, perhaps a Black Headed Gull ? The pigeon, of course, is the number one prey for the Peregrine.
In fact, Sunday was a good afternoon for Peregrine watching with the birds pulling quite a crowd at Ashway Gap ( with the help of the warm weather of course ! ). We had great views all afternoon of two of the young birds on the crag as well as views of three Peregrines flying earlier in the day. In short, the good news is that the Peregrines are very much still with us at Dove Stone ! At some point in the near future of course these young birds will no longer be seen at Dove Stone as they will head off to find their own terrritories, but until that happens lets enjoy watching them whilst we can.
Peregrines aren't all that Dove Stone has to offer though. Elsewhere around Dove Stone there have been recent sightings this week of Kestrel, Linnet, large groups of Goldfinches ( the collective noun of which is, I have learnt lately, a charm of Goldfinches ), Buzzard, Treecreeper, Swallow, Cormorant, Grey Wagtail, Oystercatcher and Common Sandpiper to name a few.
Don't forget our next Wildlife Disovery Walk coming up on Sunday 22nd August, meeting at the main carpark at 10.30. If you fancy leaving the car behind then here's a bit of a plug for the Saddleworth Hopper which you can pick up at various points between Uppermill, Greenfield ( including the train station ) and Dove Stone. It runs a view times an hour and the hopper will drop you off in the main car park. It's a useful service that's included in the price of your train ticket. If you haven't come by train and feel like leaving the car and having a walk to Dove Stone the cost is just £1. It's quite a pretty walk from the Clarence along the brook by Tanners Mill which again takes you right into Dove Stone. If you're lucky you might get to see a Kingfisher along the way. Why not give it a go; it's got to beat driving, surely . . .?!