Traffic Scotland caught a great photograph this morning of a peregrine falcon relaxing beside one of their Erskine Bridge cameras.
The feathered friend’s photo op brightened the morning for a commuters and Traffic Scotland staff who have dubbed the bird of prey, Perry the Peregrine.
Perry has been spotted on the bridge several times before.
Populations of the peregrine falcon have bounced back in most parts of the world following a huge decline in the species numbers over the last century.
In Britain, there has been a healthy recovery of populations, greatly assisted by conservation and protection work led by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
The RSPB has estimated that there are 1,402 breeding pairs in the UK.
Peregrines breed in mountainous and coastal areas, and in some urban areas, capitalising on the urban feral pigeon populations for food.
In Southampton, a nest prevented restoration of mobile telephony services for several months, after Vodafone engineers despatched to repair a faulty transmitter mast discovered a nest in the mast, and were prevented by the Wildlife and Countryside Act, on pain of a possible prison sentence, from proceeding with repairs until the chicks fledged.
Peregrine falcons have adapted to urban habitats, nesting on cathedrals, skyscraper window ledges, tower blocks, and the towers of suspension bridges.