Aye folks
I went for a walk through my local patch today. Weather was wonderful realy felt like Spring time has finley hit Aberdeen! (At last)
Through Seton park I was watchin :-
Pied Wagtail
Robin
Chaffinch
Blue / Great and coal Tits
Treecreepers (nesting)
7 Mallard drakes ganging up on one poor Duck ( Thought she was gonna drown at one point!)
Gooseander
Golden eye
Wrens (Nesting)
Blackbird (colecting worms)
and 5 Roe Deer. real beaut of a Buck with them Antlers covered in Velvet.
Down at the Mouth of the Don :-
First sand martins of the year for me 6 in all
Common Terns are back too. Fantastic to watch them dive.
Huge raft of common scoter over 1000 I would have thought!
Gannets Diving off the Mouth of the river.
Eider
Herring / Grater Black back/ Blackheaded and common Gulls
Shag
Cormorant
and the sight of the day has to be the female Sparrow Hawk take a Squirrel right in front of me as I walked back up through the park. Never seen that happen before. I was gobsmacked!!!
All in all it was a fantastic days birding.
Cheers
AL
If its no fun Yer no doin it right!
Hi Al,
Your Squirrel predation isn't unknown, but it is rare. Other recorded prey items are:
Voles, young Rabbits and Hares, shrews, rats, bats.
Very rarely: lizards, amphibians, carrion and insects.
(Ferguson-Lees & Christie; 2001)
Cheers pal:-)
MC
Hi Sparrow, I think your tortoises are safe. They're taken regularly by Golden Eagles in Greece though!
MC:-)
Hi AL,
Sounds like a great day out.
Regards Buzzard
Nature Is Amazing - Let Us Keep It That Way
What a fantastic day AL, I'm glad you enjoyed it - like you never thought a Sparrowhawk would take a squirrel. I remember a few years back when in our garden there was a collard dove sitting on our roofed bird table on its own, I turned round to face the other way for some reason and when I turned back, all I saw were feathers gently floating in the air - never even saw it happen. More amazed that the sparrowhawk came in while I was there.
Regards
Kerry
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kezmo6310/
Aye Kezmo
I feel real honoured to have watched it . I dont think I will ever see that again in my life it was just one of those moments that take your breath away.
And the funny thing was there were other folks in the park and dident know what was going on.
Its amasing
Wow!! What fabulous sightings Al! Never seen scoters before! Must have been something to see a thousand of them! Incredible to see the sparrowhawk with squirrel too! There's a thread on here somewhere about the same thing... will see if I can find... Hope you get a camera soon! :-)
Edit: here's that thread: http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/forums/p/8974/64727.aspx#64727
"All weeds are flowers, once you get to know them" (Eeyore)
My photos on Flickr
Thanks Al, Sounds like an ideal birding day. What a sight, to see the sparrowhawk take the squirrel. I would think the squirrel put up quite a fight and be screeching very loudly.
OK
I got the loan of a camera
Its a Canon DXUS 8015 .. What ever that means!!
Has a 12 times zoom on it and a few other bells and whistles. (Wonder if it can make the tea?)
Gonna have a wander down to the park tomorrow and see what I can see with it .
Glad it has a big strap on it or I think I could easy lose this thing lol.