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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/14/country-diary-peregrine-is-on-the-chase-but-i-cant-make-out-the-prey
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| Version 5 | Version 6 |
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| Country diary: peregrine is on the chase, but I can't make out the prey | Country diary: peregrine is on the chase, but I can't make out the prey |
| (30 days later) | |
| Wepham Down, West Sussex Most hunts happen in the early morning or just before dusk – except in winter during the short days | Wepham Down, West Sussex Most hunts happen in the early morning or just before dusk – except in winter during the short days |
| Rob Yarham | Rob Yarham |
| Tue 14 Nov 2017 05.30 GMT | Tue 14 Nov 2017 05.30 GMT |
| Last modified on Wed 14 Feb 2018 17.02 GMT | |
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| Skylarks are chasing each other over the fields, their sharp calls piercing the air. Two of the birds climb overhead. The second, having seen off the first, circles back, and begins to hover, singing snatches of its bright, vigorous territorial song. The brown, falling leaves are a reminder that it’s November. | Skylarks are chasing each other over the fields, their sharp calls piercing the air. Two of the birds climb overhead. The second, having seen off the first, circles back, and begins to hover, singing snatches of its bright, vigorous territorial song. The brown, falling leaves are a reminder that it’s November. |
| Shadows drift across the hillside. The evening sun, reaching between the breaks in the moving cloud, lights up patches of undulating ground so they glow golden brown and yellow-green before falling into darkness again. A group of white gulls is heading back from the coast to the open fields to find somewhere to roost for the night. The sun catches each one as they pass, and they shine brightly like silvered pearls. | Shadows drift across the hillside. The evening sun, reaching between the breaks in the moving cloud, lights up patches of undulating ground so they glow golden brown and yellow-green before falling into darkness again. A group of white gulls is heading back from the coast to the open fields to find somewhere to roost for the night. The sun catches each one as they pass, and they shine brightly like silvered pearls. |
| Three dark birds spiral high above them. At first, I think they’re gulls as well, but they are still dark when the sun catches them, and then I see their pointed wings. Peregrine falcons. I watch them soar in climbing circles, two about 100 feet (30 metres) above the third. The lowest one begins to flap its wings faster, picking up speed. It hurtles low, towards the trees, in a stoop. It pulls up, then flaps again, banking left, then right. It is chasing another bird, but I can’t make out the prey. The hunting peregrine flies down, below the treeline. The two falcons that have been shadowing the hunt from above drop down into the valley and out of sight. | Three dark birds spiral high above them. At first, I think they’re gulls as well, but they are still dark when the sun catches them, and then I see their pointed wings. Peregrine falcons. I watch them soar in climbing circles, two about 100 feet (30 metres) above the third. The lowest one begins to flap its wings faster, picking up speed. It hurtles low, towards the trees, in a stoop. It pulls up, then flaps again, banking left, then right. It is chasing another bird, but I can’t make out the prey. The hunting peregrine flies down, below the treeline. The two falcons that have been shadowing the hunt from above drop down into the valley and out of sight. |
| Most peregrine hunts happen in the early morning or just before dusk – except in winter during the short days – and are rarely witnessed. I wonder if any of the three birds were among the young I had watched fledge in the summer. It seems surprising the family would still be together – the young have usually moved on, or the adults have chased them away from the territory, by this time of year. | Most peregrine hunts happen in the early morning or just before dusk – except in winter during the short days – and are rarely witnessed. I wonder if any of the three birds were among the young I had watched fledge in the summer. It seems surprising the family would still be together – the young have usually moved on, or the adults have chased them away from the territory, by this time of year. |
| Perhaps two are still learning to hunt from their parent. It was impossible to make out any markings at this distance and in this light – immature birds would still be brown and streaked. The peregrines don’t reappear. I consider searching for them, but it’s turning dark and cold. | Perhaps two are still learning to hunt from their parent. It was impossible to make out any markings at this distance and in this light – immature birds would still be brown and streaked. The peregrines don’t reappear. I consider searching for them, but it’s turning dark and cold. |
| This article was amended on 15 November 2017 to add the location of Wepham Down, West Sussex. | This article was amended on 15 November 2017 to add the location of Wepham Down, West Sussex. |
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