UKC

Just come back from a wee wander on Blackford Hill in Edinburgh. While scrambling about just below the top of the hill, a bird flew past beneath me. It was a bit larger than blackbird size, maybe ordinary pigeon size but not as big (nor as fat) as a wood pigeon. I got quite a good view of it: from above it was sort of sandy-brown colour, with quite a long tail. The profile seemed fairly falcon-like, and it was flying pretty fast. One very noticeable feature was that it showed very bright white flashes under its wings as it beat them in flight - kind of in the armpit area, if you can envisage what I mean. Apart from that the colour was fairly uniform with no obvious bars or stripes on wings or tail.

My first thought at the time was that it might be a rather dowdy cuckoo. Looking in the books on getting home that still seems a possibility. The other bird which I think might fit what I saw could be a female merlin.

For those who don't know Edinburgh, Blackford Hill is mostly scrubby grass, gorse and small trees. However, it's also immediately adjacent to the Hermitage of Braid which is fairly dense mature deciduous woodland, with a wee burn flowing through the bottom of the valley.

Does my description strike an immediate chord with anyone?

In reply to Martin W:
The colour and white flashes under the wings might suggest a nightjar?


Chris

In reply to Martin W:

Jay?

https://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/j/jay/index.aspx

In reply to Martin W:

I've never heard of nighjars flying unless disturbed during he day.
A Jay is pretty distinctive showing lots of markings from underneath - including the tail which most people would not describe as long.

I don't know how many birds you know but your description fits quite well with a collared dove, which I've often initially mistaken for a smaller bird of prey due to its profile and the way it flies. I'd describe it from underneath much has you have.

(if however, you think, 'Bloody hell I'm not stupid', then forgive me - I've no other idea')

In reply to Chris Craggs: Actually, nightjar did briefly cross my mind: the general shape was right ie falcon/cuckoo-ish, and the colour could work, but just about everything else is wrong. It was the middle of the day, and in Edinburgh which is (a) outside their range and (b) a city, albeit Blackford Hill and the Hermitage have quite a rural feel to them. It just seems far too unlikely to have been a nightjar in that location, or at that time of day.

I know what a jay and a collared dove look like and it wasn't either of those. It was too sleek for a dove and didn't have a collar. The flight was much more fast and direct than a typical corvid - and jays' tails are black, with a distinctive white rump which this bird didn't have. Note that I saw it from above, not from underneath.

In reply to Martin W:


Can't find the dowdy cuckoo in any book