[tired_boy]

Sorry i cant give you much to go on.......

At the beginning of the month we went fly fishing at a place north of Kircowan. In the distance i could see 2 crows/rooks hassling a bird in the sky just like they do with Kestrels/Buzzards. From a distance all i could see of the bird was a flashing a white. It was so white you could say it resembled a white dove.

Through the binoculars i could see that the white was underneath its body. My memory might not be too good but i seem to remember that nearly all of the underneath of its body, i couldnt really make out any distinguishable markings. On the top of the wings and its back was similiar to a Kestrel but i would say that the bird appeared to be slightly larger than a Kestrel. It was definately not as large as a Buzzard.

Its tail was fanned out nearly all of the time. It didnt fly away when it was being hassled, it actually gave them a little bit back. It carried on going around in a circle, maybe going a little bit higher too. Altogether the 3 birds were there for about 2/3 minutes. I dont think it had 'fingers' at the end of the wings like a Buzzard has but we were quite a distance away.

The most memorable thing about it was that when you looked at it with or without the bino's - underneath was so white - maybe the sun was catching it and making it more noticeable.

The surrounding area is very typical of Dumfries and Galloway, open areas with rivers/lakes close to woodland.

[dubs1967]

Sounds like a white bellied woozem bird!

[tired_boy]

Well thats another tick for me then........

[david kelly]

Peregrine Falcon

David

[tired_boy]

Peregrines arent completely white underneath though are they? Also they arent very similiar to a Kestrel on the tops of the wings or back.

[baphomet]

What about a sparrowhawk, pretty pain underneath. Or maybe it was the elusive white bellied woozem bird, although this time of year they tend to frequent the southern areas of this fair isle.

[tired_boy]

The top of the wings and its back were not all one colour, it was similiar to the markings of a Kestrel but not underneath.

[lostinjapan]

Well..at a distance a White-bellied Woozem can appear very white bellied..however a young Peregrine or Sparrowhawk can appear quite pale at a distance, with the barring not clearly visible.

The fact that it didn't appear to have fingers might favour Peregrine though..

Sean (formerly of Sheffield)

Hiroshima

[Claymore]

Sounds like a large female kestrel they can look pretty large from certain angles, if you had travelled appprox 4 miles north of there you can often see Eagles, whe we were house hunting up here we went to look at a farmhouse and along the 5 mile track to it we saw 2 Eagles and 1 barn owl approx 80ft away from the car. Unfortunatly the house was unsuitable for us as it needed way too much work, but we still found this place and have most wildlife on our land so no worries!
Cheers and hope you enjoyed your visit to Scotlands best kept secret Galloway!
Brian

[tired_boy]

Claymore - we went to a place a few miles north of the A75 with 3 large lakes next to a caravan site. One of the lakes was called 'Heron', its signposted off the 75. Whats that area called? How close is this to eagle territory? Saw a nice otter there too !

[MattM]

Last weekend, at a local site (Charnwood Lodge, near Leicester) I watched (for about 15 minutes, at fairly close quarters), what appeared to be a leucistic kestrel. It was almost entirely white underneath, except for a black band on the tail and black wingtips, had a very pale grey head, and elsewhere was roughly the colour of a Collared Dove. I saw it in strong sunlight and in much duller, overcast conditions, and from several angles, so was pretty sure of what I saw, and two other birdwatchers also saw it.
Maybe what you saw was something similar?