A great day for natural connections today. On the way back from breakfast at the Italian Deli down the road, heard a gull calling loudly above my head. Looking up I saw a Sparrowhawk trying to gain height (spiralling upwards, alternating between short spells of flapping and soaring) while being mercilessly mobbed by the gull and a couple of smaller birds (? Swifts). Eventually it was just a speck in the blue sky (although the gull continued to screech). In the afternoon, watching out of the kitchen doors I saw 9 female / juvenile Mallards flying down stream in a tight flock. Then this evening (about 10 pm), parked on Paisley Road West, a tight group of 8 Swifts screamed over the car and away over the rooftops.
Oh, and a Red Fox at midnight takes my garden Mammal list to 3...