A glorious October day in Perthshire. Woke to misty conditions and a blanket hanging over the River Tay but gradually little pockets of blue sky appeared. Too good a morning to waste, so on with the cycling togs and off to Little Glenshee. There is always wildlife to see on this bike ride - and I really mean always!
First up a couple of jays before I've even got to Little Glenshee. A few hares, and the ever present roe deer, pheasants scuttling about at the side of the road, crows and rooks lurking in the fields. But no buzzards, which is unusual. But then just after crossing the ford a bird hops out of the banking and 'bounces' across the road. It's a bird of prey and I stop to see what's wrong. A couple of steps off the road and I'm confronted by a hen harrier. It lets me approach and something is clearly wrong. I can touch it's back but anything more would I think bring a sharp peck. A beautiful bird.
Unfortunately I don't have any mobile reception here and so I have to complete the cycle home before I can call the wildlife rescue people. It takes us a few hours before we can meet and see if we can find out what's wrong. Unfortunately - or perhaps - fortunately the bird has gone. It's a thick area of scrub with plenty of water and stunted shrubs. The verdict of he SSPCA chap is that the harrier might have mis-timed a dive or swoop and been stunned. Hopefully it recovered in the period between me finding it and managing to get back to the spot with the SSPCA.
I've always wanted to see a hen harrier, but this was at rather closer quarters than I would have liked.
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