April Fool's Raptorama!

It's been a part of the last few year's obsessional local patch-watching here in deepest urban Hackney to steal away to one of the nearest open spaces in spring to look for raptors overhead; while it's hardly Eilat or Falsterbo, the spectacle of seeing large birds of prey over inner London (google map search 'Clissold Park, Hackney') amplifies the pleasure.

Yesterday's high pressure, sunny intervals, easterly winds and scattered cumulus clouds looked perfect for an early spring flyover, and with a day off to burn on local birding, I decamped to the park for a few hours sore-necking.

And what a pay-off - six species in two hours. As well as the expected Kestrels and Sparrowhawks, and a Peregrine sparring with a Common Buzzard, two five-star raptors made it a red-letter day. An Osprey headed high and north-west at 1320, and then, incredibly, a Goshawk circled several times before dramatically dive-bombing feral pigeons and disappearing from view (see below).

(Mark)