| Re: Wildlife memories
I have so many memories that I could go on for a very long time but following is an account of one amazing experience I witnessed.
One very cold day in Mid January a few years ago the ex missus & I visited a place called Belvide just north of Wolverhampton. The Reservoir was virtually covered in ice with the exception of a small patch of clear water in the middle. All the wildfowl and geese, etc had congregated in that small place and it was heaving with birds.
Suddenly pandemonium broke out. Birds were flying everywhere, some were diving and the noise was deafening and screaming out of the sky was a Peregrine at full pelt.
Birds scattered everywhere but a few were left on the water. Amongst them was a Little Grebe and it was obvious that the Peregrine had taken a fancy to this bird. The Little Grebe dived just as the Peregrine made its attack. The Peregrine just missed. The falcon then seemed to do a loop de loop and came back for another try, again the Grebe dived. This went on 7 times and each time the falcon timed his attack that little bit better until on the 7th attack the falcon clipped the head of the Grebe and either knocked the bird out or killed it outright. The Peregrine came back and deftly plucked the bird out of the water and onto the ice.
You would have thought that that was it, but oh no. 2 Buzzards appeared on the scene and landed quite close to the Peregrine. Straight away the Peregrine seemed to sit back onto its tail, grab hold of the Grebe and stretched out its remaining talons towards the Buzzards, as if warning them to stay clear. One of the Buzzards edged closer and the Peregrine seemed to hop backwards, still holding the Grebe, still with outstretched Talons. This went on for quite a few minutes when two Ravens (yes I know - what more can go on) appeared and started to harrass the Buzzards by flying just over their heads. The Peregrine seemed totally distressed by now and dropped the Grebe and flew off, whilst the Ravens drove home their attacks on the two Buzzards. Eventually the Buzzards got the message and took off, with both Ravens chasing them, leaving behind the now dead Grebe on the ice.
Definitely a moment in time I will never forget.
John |