Peregrine Falcons have been nesting at Symonds Yat Rock for many years now and as a result of a fantastic view point, their activities have been studied there for a long time too. We know everything from where the likely nest places are and also where they store their food. The hole in which they store their food is called a larder and it's usually the right hole in the cliff which you can see in the picture... What you may have already seen though is something very strange inside... It is in-fact.. a Canada Goose! I was shocked when someone pointed this out to me, I honestly thought it was just a kill or something but cropping in closer you can see the Canada Goose sat on her eggs! What will happen to the chicks when they hatch you say? Well, they will have to jump! and fall all the way down where hopefully they will have a few obstacles to break their fall. This is actually common for certain species of Geese, especially Barnacle Geese, but this is the first time I've ever seen a Canadian Goose nest this high. Any day now, they'll hatch and will have to endure the drop. Good luck Goose, you're braver than I am. Why nest so high? well, believe it or not, this is actually much safer than nesting on the ground where the eggs will be vulnerable to predators like Foxes, Rats, Badgers and much more on the forest floor or river banks.
The bird that the Canada Geese may have to deal with at some point is the Peregrine Falcon who is probably pretty annoyed that their larder is occupied by a grumpy goose. This was 1 of the 2 female birds I saw flying around the cliffs but the male also showed for a little while, landing on the cliff for a rest and flying back out to hunt. Their activities should pick up soon when their own chicks hatch.
Below is a telephoto landscape of one of the iconic views from Yat Rock. I've tried to make it look like a Tilt Shift effect to add a little depth of field. Below that is a picture of a Song Thrush which was happily picking for worms around peoples feet at Goytre Warf to feed his/her young.
