Frozen waterfalls & well fed Peregrine

Today was probably the coldest one on record for this winter and was generated by ' The Beast from the East'  It even managed to freeze one of our south Cornish coast waterfalls within the territory of a pair of our local Peregrine and Peter Tonkin and I were there to record a bit of the action before we were driven off by the bitterly cold easterly winds.

The peregrine appeared unfazed by the freezing conditions and after spending a short time on the frozen cliff ledges both birds departed to hunt for their breakfast.

It was an hour or so before both birds returned empty handed. One moved on along the coast out of sight but the second bird settled down on to a favoured cliff ledge and this was when Peter first noticed that its beak and talons were all blood stained  and I soon picked up on its extended neck area which I had to assume to be a crop that was brimming with consumed prey,

After a while the Peregrine showed obvious signs of flying, launched itself off of the cliff to start flying in a large loop only to change its mind and return to the same ledge to settle down again to digesting its prey,

Today was the first time that I have seen a frozen waterfall in Cornwall or a Peregrine with such an obvious extended crop and to finish our observations the bird added another first by lowering itself into a lying position and remained there almost out of sight perhaps to support the weight of the prey that she must have consumed earlier