Backyard and Beyond

On our very first day in Edinburgh, we wandered about the Royal Botanic Garden in a jet-lagged daze. An accipiter profile high overhead was one of the day’s first birds. Sparrowhawk presumably. A Kestrel made an appearance, but more on these anon. And a Buzzard (Buteo buteo) was seen twice, the second time being mobbed by corvids. Meanwhile a Dunnock (Prunella modularis) crumbed about around our snacks. An old name for this species was Hedge Sparrow.Grey Herons (Ardea cinerea) were a daily sight, starting with two on our first day.Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) youngster being fed.Another Corvidae clan member, a Common Magpie (Pica pica). Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus), like a giant cousin of the more familiar:The Rock Pigeon (Columba livia), a.k.a. Feral Pigeon, on more or less native ground.