Spot the bird

Apparently this young kestrel had just flown from the nest while high up on a ledge in a tower his (her) sibling was still plucking up the courage to fly. From his perch on the ruined castle window he turned to watch me before resuming his gaze from Castle Campbell in the Ochils towards the lowlands around the Forth. Meanwhile Mum was keeping an eye out from another window ledge and probably watching the walkers as they reached the end of their steep walk up to the castle.

Until 1489 the castle was known as Castle Glume and it stands on a promontory high above two gorges through which the Burn of Sorrows and the Burn of Care tumble towards the Dollar Burn below. (Perhaps a blipper knows how the streams got their names.)

There will be plenty of food for the kestrel around on the nearby hills, local woods and distant fields but fortunately the swallows which were around would be swooping too quickly to be caught unawares.