Peregrine Falcon M8??? Perhaps!

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Peregrine Falcon M8??? Perhaps!

Postby Knightmare » Thu Oct 15, 2009 8:22 pm

I drive on the M8 most mornings and late afternoons. Last week I spotted what looked like a very large hawk type bird (certainly a bird of prey). I spotted it at Ballieston Interchange and it looked very distinctive light brown and dark brown with a destinctive yellow beak. It stood out a mile with a huge wing span and looked very graceful in flight.

Then on Tuesday evening i spotted it again flying next to the Fort shopping centre following the line of the hard shoulder.

What made it so striking was the size of this bird.

Now i'm watching a nature programme on STV about Peregrine Falcons and i'm pretty sure the bird i'm watching looks very similar to what i saw on the M8.

Please note...i'm not saying the bird is Peregrine Falcon, but rather i'm asking the question.....Has anyone else spotted this bird and if so, any thoughts on what it could be other than the obvious Sparrow Hawk (which is comparitively a much smaller bird)?
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Re: Peregrine Falcon M8??? Perhaps!

Postby Delmont St Xavier » Thu Oct 15, 2009 9:30 pm

Yes, I've seen it as I drive out to Airdrie every day - but only seen it twice - and forgot all about it until you mentioned it. I have seen more birds of prey recently in the urban areas and there is a huge bird, like a Heron that flies into Victoria Park, Whiteinch each night around 11pm and then again around 2am. It's also been spotted sitting in the pond during the day, but I have never seen it except at night.
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Re: Peregrine Falcon M8??? Perhaps!

Postby purplepantman » Thu Oct 15, 2009 9:32 pm

From your description, I'd imagine it's a buzzard. Quite common now. Big muvva's too!

I've seen them quite a lot round my bit, sometimes hunting (circling) in pairs.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdgui ... /index.asp
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Re: Peregrine Falcon M8??? Perhaps!

Postby Knightmare » Thu Oct 15, 2009 9:53 pm

Thanks for the replies. Yep, i think the Buzzard sounds promising. Didn't know what a buzzard was to be honest, however it looks similar to what i'm seeing.

Its flying very close to the motorway so it must be looking for mice or small birds that are being startled by the traffic. Lets hope the traffic doesn't get the better of the Buzzard.

Would be good to log sightings for the next couple of weeks. Perhaps we could confirm the species using descriptions from anyone else who sees it.

Thanks Delmont St Xavier for qualifying my post and Purplepantman for the Ornathological input! :D
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Re: Peregrine Falcon M8??? Perhaps!

Postby Glesga_Steve » Fri Oct 16, 2009 1:50 am

I regularly see fairly large birds of prey along the M8 corridor - the section between Baillieston Interchange and Shawhead is particularly good for spotting them. On occasion I've been lucky enough to see them sitting on the fence posts just off the verge (almost always on the southern side; my guess is because the fields are on that side).

It's strange that Knightmare mentioned seeing one next to the Fort as I had never spotted one there up until about a fortnight ago - it wasn't flying though, it was on the grass verge and seemed to be eating something so my guess is that it had just caught a mouse or some other unfortunate wee bugger.

My best encounter was around 2.5 years ago though. I had not long moved into my current house (which backs onto the Glasgow-Drumgelloch railway line near the Monklnd Canal pipeline intake) and was sitting in the living room (which is at the back of the house) and a large bird of prey landed on the top of my garden fence with what looked like a small bird (do they eat other birds?) in it's beak. It sat there for around 10-15 seconds and then flew off (much to my disappointment as I was fascinated and had wanted to grab a photo).

I wouldn't have known what breed it was but the buzzard pictured in PPM's link does bear a striking resemblance to the ones I've seen around this area.

There are a couple of other sections that I've found over the years are good for spotting them...

One is on a West Lothian section of the M8 corridor - not along the motorway itself but on the A706 between the roundabouts junctions with the B8084 and A801. I used to drive along that section of road regularly when I lived in Armadale and it was rare not to see at least one along that stretch - believe it or not, it wasn't unusual to spot up to 5 or 6 of them.

The other stretch is the part of the M8 between Newbridge and Hermiston Gait, though I don't get along there too often. I have seen more varied birds of prey along that section though, including very large owls (no idea which breed but fairly light brown in colour) and, on one occasion, what can only be described as an eagle of some sort - it landed at the side of the motorway and was flapping its wings while on the ground; the wing span was far bigger (about 7 or 8 ft I'd estimate) than any other bird I've seen in the wild. I remember telling a colleague from our Edinburgh office about the 'eagle' and he said there was some sort of falconry establishment in that area and that that was probably where the eagle had came from. I've no idea if there is any truth in that though.
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Re: Peregrine Falcon M8??? Perhaps!

Postby BrigitDoon » Fri Oct 16, 2009 7:10 am

Buzzard at the RSPB >>
I've seen Buzzards over Calderglen Country Park near East Kilbride. I used to see a lot of them when I lived in Somerset. They wheel around, riding on thermals.

From April 2007 in Somerset:

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Re: Peregrine Falcon M8??? Perhaps!

Postby cheesemonster » Fri Oct 16, 2009 10:34 am

Delmont St Xavier wrote:there is a huge bird, like a Heron that flies into Victoria Park, Whiteinch each night around 11pm and then again around 2am. It's also been spotted sitting in the pond during the day, but I have never seen it except at night.

When I worked at the Jordanhill campus of Strathclyde Uni there was a heron who appeared most days to feast on the frogs in the wee pond. Occasionally you would see him flying off with legs sticking out of his beak...

There must also be easy-prey along/near the motorways. Maybe the noise of car engines masks the sound of a buzzard approaching?
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Re: Peregrine Falcon M8??? Perhaps!

Postby davadvice » Fri Oct 16, 2009 1:49 pm

Hi,
there is a a large bird (sparrow hawk i've been told) that flys up near dawshomle. from what i'm told it's a guy thats contracted to the council to reduce the volume of gulls in the area because of the clenny. the one in witeinsh park is also flown by some guy. someone was telling me that the met them when out with the dog and he let him hold the bird.


I have pics of the one flying over the kelvin just at skaythorn road, i will see if i can get them uploaded when i get back from work.
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Re: Peregrine Falcon M8??? Perhaps!

Postby Glasgogirl » Fri Oct 16, 2009 3:58 pm

Hi,
there is a a large bird (sparrow hawk i've been told) that flys up near dawshomle. from what i'm told it's a guy thats contracted to the council to reduce the volume of gulls in the area because of the clenny. the one in witeinsh park is also flown by some guy. someone was telling me that the met them when out with the dog and he let him hold the bird.



In terms of raptors, the Sparrowhawk is a small bird.
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Re: Peregrine Falcon M8??? Perhaps!

Postby Knightmare » Fri Oct 16, 2009 4:09 pm

The buzzard pics are great and look exactly like what i saw (apart from the yellow beak) perhaps this is linked to the sex of the bird.

From your photos, its clear that although the buzzard is very big, it does have quite a small short beak to tail tip length in comparison to its wings span. I'm not an expert by any means but when i saw the one at Ballieston Interchange/The Fort, I actually remember thinking that it looked kinda small in the middle

I remember a few years ago I saw a sparrow hawk take a pigeon out of mid air right above my head 8O . The hawk got hold of the poor Doo and when it got it to the ground near my car, i could actually see it pressing its talons into the pigeons body....the pigeon got away and the hawk gave chase...leathal beastie.
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Re: Peregrine Falcon M8??? Perhaps!

Postby Glasgogirl » Fri Oct 16, 2009 5:45 pm

yeah, I used to keep horses, & had a barn. In the loft of the barn were pigeons, or doves (as they were all white). I did witness a hawk taking out a pigeon in mid flight... but again, not a sparrowhawk as they really are about the size of a pigeon, (or possibly smaller). I'm sure what took out the pigeons here was a red tailed hawk, common in these parts and a skillful killer.
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Re: Peregrine Falcon M8??? Perhaps!

Postby lordbarneth » Fri Oct 16, 2009 9:11 pm

you will easily spot herons at pilmuir holding's in newton mearns.
there is also a man i see from time to time in newton mearns walking with an owl on his big glove thing, i wonder if it is the same owl i hear every fucking night......
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Re: Peregrine Falcon M8??? Perhaps!

Postby Josef » Fri Oct 16, 2009 10:38 pm

lordbarneth wrote:there is also a man i see from time to time in newton mearns walking with an owl on his big glove thing


Now, now, less of the obscure technical terms, please.
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Re: Peregrine Falcon M8??? Perhaps!

Postby cheesemonster » Sat Oct 17, 2009 9:55 am

cheesemonster wrote:
Delmont St Xavier wrote:there is a huge bird, like a Heron that flies into Victoria Park, Whiteinch each night around 11pm and then again around 2am. It's also been spotted sitting in the pond during the day, but I have never seen it except at night.

When I worked at the Jordanhill campus of Strathclyde Uni there was a heron who appeared most days to feast on the frogs in the wee pond. Occasionally you would see him flying off with legs sticking out of his beak...

What I meant to day but somehow missed the point entirely, is that it's probably the same heron!
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Re: Peregrine Falcon M8??? Perhaps!

Postby MacotheIsles » Sat Oct 17, 2009 12:47 pm

Ah well... All these birds of prey once had their own particular place in the social pecking order in days of old when a man's standing was measured by the size of his raptor. Roughly speaking it was something like Sparrowhawks for the likes of cooks and footmen; Merlins for Barons; Buzzards for Dukes; Falcons for Princes; Kites for Kings and Eagles for Emperors. Something along those lines although species and rank may vary. I can only presume that Lord Garrowhill , 16th Duke of Showcase (noblesse oblige) has been exercising his ancient prerogative on the verge of the M8). Anyway I'm buggered if I can be bothered googling the actual species-vs-social-rank as I've just sunk a half bottle of Lidl's finest Port, but you get the gist.
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