Today started really early as I had to be over in the West End by 8:30, but had no car.  Getting up at 6:30 was made a lot more bearable by a hooting Tawny Owl in the woods next to the house - the first here since November 2010.
Most of the walk took place in darkness, so bird connections were few. However a Wren was singing loudly at Festival Park and a Sparrowhawk yickered unseen nearby before showing briefly against the sunrise.

This afternoon, an opportunity to be dropped off at the other end of the Hawkhead Woodland footpath was too good to miss. The first bird seen was a Buzzard being mobbed by a couple of Carrion Crows. More Carrion Crows were passing north overhead (presumably heading to roost), whilst 30 Rooks headed south. A Roe Deer was browsing calmly but keeping an eye on me. Birds at the top of Hurlet Hill included Redwing, Blackbird, Chaffinch and a flypast Stock Dove. Birds in South Crookston included the usual Starlings and House Sparrows. However a quick loop round the back of the estate (see photo below) produced a real prize in the form of my first Jay for the area (screeching in the woods to the west). Another Buzzard was there, with another Roe Deer, a Great-spotted Woodpecker and a Fieldfare a little further on. By now it was getting pretty dark, but two Treecreepers turned up along the path through Leverndale (with one flying past at head-height). The last bird of the day, glimpsed through the gathering gloom, was a Kingfisher disappearing round a bend in the river.

News from the web is that Cairngorm has opened for skiing following two days of snow (photo below from planetski).