Peregrine and Osprey - Llangwm

From Graham Stephens - Yesterday evening (7.30) I witnessed an amazing sight of a peregrine hunting and taking a redshank in a mud gully on the estuary a hundred yards or so from my house at Llangwm Ferry. I caught sight of the peregrine as it flew past the house and opened the patio door to a cacophony of alarm calls from other birds. The peregrine was making repeated attacks at a bird in the gully but each time it went in for a kill, the prey dived below the water (it is possible it had already disabled the bird on its first pass). This happened about three times. The peregrine persisted, first perching on a pole sticking out of the mud, then settling on the mud bank itself adjacent to the gulley. At its final attempt, it actually dived into the water, its wings outstretched to support itself. When it eventually managed to get out, it had the redshank in its talons.  It struggled to carry it up onto the mud-bank where it was harassed by a crow which landed alongside it. After a minute to recover, it flew off with the redshank and headed for a perch above the water in Benton Wood. Amazing stuff! Unfortunately, although binoculars are always at the ready, there was no time to grab my camera.

Staying on the raptor theme, at lunchtime, last Monday, an osprey was fishing just off our house. It was soon after high water so the bird was only a short distance away. In the time it took to grab my camera, it had disappeared. Bob and Annie’s photo of two birds at Slebech is very encouraging. Potential for a nesting platform on one of the islands between Slebech House and Blackpool Mill?