City Centre Raptor

by **oorly gourlay** » Fri Mar 09, 2012 8:08 pm

Over the years I have seen buzzards hunting on the edges of the town and on a couple of occasions at the Meadows playing fields but until today, I have never seen a raptor in the city centre. On my way back to work at lunchtime, I paused to look out to my drying area and there was a fairly large, brown hawk making a meal of a pigeon, probably one of the many that roost in the building on the corner of Main Street and Cross Street.

As stated, it was a quite a large bird, to my mind larger than a kestrel but appreciably smaller than a buzzard and very definitely a raptor. When I returned two hours later it had been a real "blue do" for the pigeon that had been stripped to bare bones. Could this possibly have been a buzzard as I have noticed one doing a pole eagle impersonation recently just at the 30mph limit at Witchburn?

by **Mzz pasico** » Fri Mar 09, 2012 9:42 pm

oorly gourlay wrote:Over the years I have seen buzzards hunting on the edges of the town and on a couple of occasions at the Meadows playing fields but until today, I have never seen a raptor in the city centre. On my way back to work at lunchtime, I paused to look out to my drying area and there was a fairly large, brown hawk making a meal of a pigeon, probably one of the many that roost in the building on the corner of Main Street and Cross Street.

As stated, it was a quite a large bird, to my mind larger than a kestrel but appreciably smaller than a buzzard and very definitely a raptor. When I returned two hours later it had been a real "blue do" for the pigeon that had been stripped to bare bones. Could this possibly have been a buzzard as I have noticed one doing a pole eagle impersonation recently just at the 30mph limit at Witchburn?

Two weeks ago on the Sunday afternoon I was walking to a friend's house and just off High St into Princess St area I witnessed a brown Hawk ? with a live pigeon hanging from it's beak. I, along with other members of the public stood aghast as it mercilessly killed the bird, even thumping it against the bonnet of a parked vehicle. Eventually, it went under the vehicle and ate it's meal! The street looked like it had been covered in confetti which of course was the feathers off the unfortunate wee pigeon.

by **LANDROVER ROGER** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 6:45 am

The buzzard population is increasing since myxamatosis died out according to the RSPB.

by **Martin** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 7:06 am

Two rabbits met up in heaven.
"What got you here?", asked one.
"I got hit by a car", came the reply, "What happened to you?".
"Well, I was hungry one night so I had some cheese on toast, that didn't satisfy so I had sardines on toast. I was feeling a bit bloated by this time but I was still hungry so I had beans on toast. That was the straw that broke the camel's back and I died from mixing my toasties".

by **LANDROVER ROGER** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 9:58 am

Martin wrote:Two rabbits met up in heaven.
"What got you here?", asked one.
"I got hit by a car", came the reply, "What happened to you?".
"Well, I was hungry one night so I had some cheese on toast, that didn't satisfy so I had sardines on toast. I was feeling a bit bloated by this time but I was still hungry so I had beans on toast. That was the straw that broke the camel's back and I died from mixing my toasties".

by **Ship called Dignity** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 10:44 am

LANDROVER ROGER wrote:The buzzard population is increasing since myxamatosis died out according to the RSPB.

Roger, not sure myxomatosis has died out? Well not certainly up here?? You can see some great photographs of birds of prey at http://www.jrmacdonaldargyllbirdphotogr ... ds-of-prey

by **mosslad** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 4:02 pm

I think what you are seeing is a Sparrowhawk, they are fairly common here and have obviously had a good breeding season last year as i am seeing them a lot more often then usual. The Females tend to be noticebly bigger than the males, which is found often in birds of prey, know as reverse sexual dimorphism, this allows them to take bigger prey than the males and they are very fond of pigeons. One (sometimes two) can be seen in the evening around the war memorial and across the green

by **LANDROVER ROGER** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 4:29 pm

The easiest way to tell the difference between a kestrel and a buzzard is to watch them in flight.The wing tips of the buzzard are like out-stretched fingers.

by **campbell** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 8:12 pm

I watched what i think was a sparrowhawk,pluck and eat a pigeon last week in my back garden (calton avenue).it flew away when i tried to get a photo of it.

by **LANDROVER ROGER** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 6:43 am

Probably a Sparrowhawk.I have seen them do the same thing with collared doves in my garden.I have witnessed the way that they attack.They come in at low level over my hedge at an amazing speed.

by **kintyre 46** » Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:19 pm

We have several birds of prey where I live. This year I have noticed an increase and I am scared to let my wee dog of the leash as she may be their next meal.

by **chuckle** » Thu Mar 15, 2012 1:30 pm

We have Bob and Mrs Bob Buzzard living here and we say good morning to them every day, recently i think we may have a brood of baby Bobs as I can hear the chicks in the woods. We love them and they are very much part of the family. The mixi element in our vast rabbit population does not seem to effect them or our awful wild cats - I wish Bob would make a meal of them!

I also know there are Pereguin Falcons nesting nearby but I am not going to tell anyone where they are!! :!: