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| Sparrowhawk |
With Saturday's visit to Riverside Nature Park being so downheartening I really struggled to get motivated on Sunday. With Whooper Swans and Ospreys still on the 'wanted' list I eventually decided to wander up to the top of the Law again in the hope that at least one of the two species might be seen from there. My expectation levels were low, though with the time already approaching 1045 when I headed out, I figured I would probably see a few displaying raptors if nothing else.
Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon and Carrion Crow got things underway as I stepped outside with Woodpigeon, House Sparrow, Starling, Blackbird, Wren and Dunnock all noted before I reached the junction of Main Street and Isla Street. A pair of Lesser Black Backed Gulls were stood out in the open on the site of the former Norco supermarket site. A Song Thrush could be heard singing loudly as a Magpie flew past. Continuing on up to the Law I noted Goldfinch and Chaffinch before I stopped to photograph a Grey Squirrel attempting to run along the barred wire fence at the allotments.
Great Tit, Robin and Chiffchaff were soon noted as I made my way up the steps to the top. There were a few cars and a few people around but something very noticeable was that the top of the hill seemed to have been transformed into a makeshift cemetery with a pair of floral tributes on shaped plastic stands rather in the way to the benches from where you can see the football grounds. A number of bunches of flowers in various states of decay were attached to the fence around the rear of the hill, with their plastic wrapping still in place, where it will remain even once the flowers have decayed away - unless someone removes it (probably left for the council). In addition, there was a large pile of cardboard rubbish from a set of 'Spirit In The Sky' fireworks (apparently for distributing someone's ashes) just left by another of the benches. Not too far away was an actual pile of someone's ashes - not scattered, just poured out and left among the grass. I picked up the cardboard and put it in the bin, which wasn't very far away. A bit later on, someone let a couple of foil balloons go too. When did remembering someone become quite so litter intensive?
Anyway, back to the birds.... It took a while for the birds to actually start to appear with a clash between a Sparrowhawk and a Carrion Crow followed soon after by a pair of Buzzards. A single Sparrowhawk was seen displaying before another pair were also noted. 4 Meadow Pipits went north before a trio of Buzzards circled up. A skein of Pink Footed Geese overflew. There was a bit of a tussle over Balgay with a Herring Gull, Carrion Crow and a Buzzard involved. A trio of Rooks passed high overhead shortly before a a pair of Sparrowhawks displaying high over the hill were overflown by a third bird. A 'kettle' of 5 Buzzards were seen a little to the southwest as they circled higher into the sky, with a 6th Buzzard overhead the hill. More Pink Footed Geese then headed north. The 6 Buzzards seen earlier were topped by a trio of pairs and another single all visible at the same time around 20 minutes or so later.
A Blue Tit and Oystercatcher were both heard. The next few hours proved to be a bit quieter though there were still enough sightings of Buzzards and Sparrowhawks to keep me occupied. I picked out a Peregrine on Cox's Stack around 1330 with both male and female birds seen displaying around 45 minutes later. Unfortunately they remained rather distant. A trio of Buzzards were watched at around 1535 and half an hour later as I was contemplating heading for home, I spotted a trio of raptors circling out to the east. These turned out to be a pair of Buzzards and the escaped Saker Falcon which flew west past the hill, a bit to the south before diving in the direction of the railbridge. Unfortunately, as I was watching it from behind, its low cross-section was too easily lost against the backdrop of the Fife hills across the Tay. Another 3 Buzzards were noted as I headed for home. I added Jackdaw as I neared home taking my total for the day to 27 species.
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Grey Squirrel
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Magpie |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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Pink Footed Goose
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| Sparrowhawk |
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Herring Gull & Buzzard
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| Sparrowhawk |
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Carrion Crow
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Buzzard |
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Buzzard & Carrion Crow
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Buzzard & Carrion Crow
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Saker Falcon (escape)
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Saker Falcon (escape)
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Monday ended up being a very similar sort of day though with more sunshine and an earlier start, so I'll combine both day's reports into just one single post. I headed out at 1000. The earlier start did seem to affect the number of species noted initially at least with Feral Pigeon, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Oystercatcher, Blue Tit, House Sparrow and Starling quickly noted. However, the initial rush quickly wore off with only Magpie, Carrion Crow, Goldfinch and Lesser Black Backed Gull seen before I reached the hill. A Buzzard was seen as I headed up Law Road and the first Meadow Pipit of the day headed over northwards. Chaffinch and Robin were in the bushes behind the toilet block.
I soon added a Sparrowhawk to the list once I was organised atop the hill. Wren, Chiffchaff and Goldcrest were all heard as I scanned the skies. There was a relatively steady stream of Meadow Pipits passing over, with distant birds (likely of the same species) also being seen regularly through the binoculars as I searched for distant raptors. A Peregrine was spotted on Cox's Stack around 1025 but it had vanished when I checked again a little later. Buzzards and Sparrowhawks were both rather plentiful throughout the duration of my stay with a 'kettle' of 5 together again at one point, once again between the Law and Balgay Hill as they had been the previous day. A Pied Wagtail overflew around 1050. There were a few skeins of Pink Footed Geese seen moving, but no Whooper Swans once again.
A slight surprise was a pair of Greylag Geese which overflew from the north. Another aerial battle took place around 1300 when a male Sparrowhawk started pestering the female Peregrine near Cox's Stack. Eventually they arrived almost directly overhead before going their separate ways. The female Peregrine returned to fly around with the male near Cox's Stack again before I managed to lose sight of them against the backdrop of buildings and distant hills. More Meadow Pipits, the odd skein of distant geese and a few Lesser Black Backed Gulls seemed to be the only definite migrants unfortunately. A Sparrowhawk was seen displaying over Caird Park and a Peregrine was seen tucking into a meal on the Stack around 1500, shortly before I called it a day and headed for home, having managed a smaller total than the previous day of only 23 species. The lighting conditions did make for slightly improved photos though.
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Feral Pigeon & Sparrowhawk
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Pink Footed Goose
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Buzzard |
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| Magpie |
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Greylag Goose
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| Peregrine |
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Sparrowhawk & Peregrine
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Peregrine & Sparrowhawk
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| Peregrine |
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Sparrowhawk & Peregrine
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| Sparrowhawk |
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Pink Footed Goose
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Herring Gull
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Birds (2/4/23) - Blackbird, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Cormorant, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pink Footed Goose, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, [Saker Falcon], Song Thrush, Starling, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Mammals (2/4/23) - Grey Squirrel.
Birds (3/4/23) - Blue Tit, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch,
Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull,
House Sparrow, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Magpie, Meadow Pipit,
Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Pink Footed Goose, Robin, Feral Pigeon,Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Woodpigeon, Wren.
