A good day in the hills 10/4/09

My dad told me about a peregrine nest site that he had come across with his dad over 30 years ago high up in the Cheviots - he's never been back since. I asked him if he would take me to see if it was still being used today. We parked the car and walked for an hour into the hills until we came to a cliff face, it was raining slighting so we sheltered under a tree which gave us good views of the cliff. At first there appeared to be nothing there and we thought we had wasted our time when suddenly a female peregrine appeared overhead and flew onto a ledge high up on the cliff. She sat there watching and preening for 10 minutes before settling down until only her head was visible. After a while the male flew over and the female flew up to greet him before returning to the ledge. We watched for about an hour before quietly sneaking away so we didn't disturb them. I have read that some nest sites have been used for 100 years and we now know that this one has been used for at least 30 years. It occured to me that the next generation of our family was watching the next generation of the peregrine family. I wonder if I'll be showing my kids this wonderful sight in 30 years time!!

On the drive up there we drove through Elsdon where we saw a pair of dippers under the bridge and as we were watching them a pair of sand martins flew over. Other sightings were 100+ fieldfare, 6 red-legged partridges, 5 wheatear and lots of buzzards. Spectacular views of the peregrine LapwingRL Partridge Fieldfare