I was sat at my computer the other day, now and then glancing into the garden to see what wildlife was about as I'm sure we all do. What caught my attention on this occasion, though, was what WASN'T about. Everything had scarpered - a sure sign around here that a bird of prey was visiting. I instinctively watched the garden, as it is usually a Sparrowhawk that hunts in the vicinity and occasionally I am lucky enough to catch a brief glimpse of one flashing by. However, my eyes were drawn upwards by movement and I found myself watching a larger bird of prey soaring overhead. It was about the size of a crow with broad, powerful looking wings and a quite short, dark-tipped tail. I'm almost certain that I was seeing a Peregrine Falcon. The first I've seen in my vicinity, although the nesting pair in the Wye Valley at Symond's Yat aren't a million miles away and I know that Peregrines hunt over agricultural land out of the breeding season.
It's one of those - I'm not certain enough to add it to my written list of birds seen in and around my garden (31 so far) but I'm confident enough to share it here and smile at the memory. I'll keep looking out.
On earth there is no heaven, but there are pieces of it - Jules Renard
NIce spot!! Good for you! Very exciting to see one above your garden! Hope that you get to have more and better sightings!
"All weeds are flowers, once you get to know them" (Eeyore)
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Thanks, MarJus.
I still think it was a Peregrine, although a pretty good counter-claim would be that I was watching a female Sparrowhawk, which are so much larger than the male of course. However, I don't think they are THAT big. The jury's still out - out in the garden, actually, peering at the sky in the hope of a fresh sighting.