Bird of prey unidentified

[Amoeba]

Can only really describe:

Wing shape: Wide and spread like a bird of prey's, except slightly bent at the wrists with the wing tips coming to a point and pointing slightly backwards - few visible "fingers", not splayed, but bunched closer together.

Wing colour (underside): Dark grey to black, with a few white strips of speckles - this is the part that's getting in the way of an ID, can't find any BsOP with dark enough wing undersides!

Wing colour (overside): Dark grey/black from what I could see, but not 100% sure.

Belly underside colour: A mixture of dark and light markings, but really can't say for sure if it was brown or grey. It looked almost mottled, like a tortoiseshell cat markings.

Size: Can't be very precise about size, but just comparing against the crows and rooks that were chasing it off I'd say it looked to be about one third bigger than a crow.

Location: City outskirts, sub-urban/farmland location. Amongst trees next to a field. Edinburgh.

Any ideas?

[artdemole]

Probably a buzzard.

[Amoeba]

Thanks for trying but it's not a buzzard.

Wing undersides too dark (about 80% dark grey/black, 20% white), wings too slim and pointed. Too small overall.

I could tell because it was quite low to the ground, and I have seen buzzards as low as that too, they look quite different.

[artdemole]

Try a red kite...

[Amoeba]

Thanks but I don't think so either, there were no big white patches just scattered sparse speckling (seemed to be in rows along the wing, but not very much of it). EDIT: just saw the juvenile marsh harrier illustration and that's about the colour that the wings looked, except the light bits were paler and speckled with a more defined outline for each speckle. Such a white head though would have stuck out in my mind, I don't think it had that feature. I think its head was darker with white stripes near its eyes but I can't say for certain as when I finally got a side-on view, it was too far away.

Though the wing shape is a little closer to the one I saw.

[artdemole]

Might be an Osprey.They have fingers at end of wings.

[Amoeba]

Tried that too but again, too much white on the wing undersides and I think it would be terrible habitat for them for miles around too, I would be surprised to see one around here.

Body is too pale too, this bird I saw was very dark in colour with only a tiny bit pale or white on the wing undersides and scattered pale (not quite white) on underside, could even just have been down from moulting since it was irregular. It was mostly dark on the body too.

Sorry to shoot down every suggestion, I appreciate you trying. Just this one is quite puzzling...

Just to add for further information, I also saw another of the same description in a sub-urban scheme flying over railway tracks and a canal to get to a small, open park.

[artdemole]

Might be a Merlin. Seen a lot in lot in Northern parts

[Ladywell]

Originally Posted by artdemole

Might be a Merlin. Seen a lot in lot in Northern parts

Except that a merlin is not a third bigger than a crow?

[artdemole]

Only got Hen Harrier or Sparrow Hawk left then .