Republic Square - Dendropark

As this time around I was cautious about going further than the city's boundaries (due to potential bad weather) i have decided to take a walk in the square. On the way there i have popped over a "lone birch-tree" site at an abandoned construction site, but this year does not encourage much - there were no birds there. The square was quite lively with people, but no birds were seen at the initial scanning. The first to be seen was a common bustard (sitting at the flagpole). Later another one flew over, looking exactly the same. It tried to hunt twice near the Independence monument, but both times was attacked by the crows. The birches and the bushes with berries were full of white-winged grosbeaks. They were scurrying from the bushes to the fir-trees. A note - here the adult males seemed to be more confiding, unlike the ones in the Botanical Gardens. A goldcrest was was also hanging out in the birch tree. As I did not have much time, and the pedestrians walking by were constantly disturbing my photo-session with the white-winged grosbeaks I have decided to go over to the Dendropark. So here I am, walking in the Dendropark, thinking in my head - What's going on? I have already covered half the park, all sweaty and a bit tired (as nobody cleaned the park walkways from yesterday's heavy snowfall) and only saw one magpie. I have already reached the fence, furthest from the entrance and finally i see the first red-fronted serins on the birch tree. Not many, around 8. I prepared for filming, not in any rush, "saving the film" as they are sitting quite high up and i already have enough pictures of the tummies. And here, wham! A sparrowhawk slams into the little birch grove, flies out of it almost straight to my face and goes away. I follow him, take not-so-great pictures but the hawk flies away and I go back to the birches. The darn hawk, though, scares off all the little guys and there is no subject for my photography. The other little flock i found just a tad to the south of the eastern park corner, but not so many. About a tenner. There was one siskin in between the serins but was thinking too much of itself so i flung a snowball at it. The serins were also not so happy to be models and after they decided to lounge in the top of the tree i left them to their devices. A mistlethrush was chirping in the distance. The clouds came over the sky and i have finished my photo-shoot for the day.

1. White-winged Grosbeak

2. Eastern Buzzard

3. Red-fronted Serin

4. Common Sparrowhawk