THE Glen is again home to the familiar screech of peacocks as seven of Dunfermline's iconic birds have settled in to the park.

The park has been a sadder place since Dunfermline's most famous peacock, Clive, died last year, but thanks to the efforts of a small band of volunteers, the town's famous peacocks can be spotted in Pittencrieff again.

Six of the new members of the Glen’s peacock family made the journey from Tullibole Castle recently with a peahen and her five chicks now nicely nestled into the refurbished peacock enclosure. Bruce, the seventh new arrival, made the trip from Blairgowrie to his new home a few weeks ago.

The new peafowl are a gift from the owners of Tullibole Castle, Rhoderick and Alison Moncrieff, who became involved in Central Dunfermline Community Council’s efforts to improve the lives of our existing peacocks in 2017.

After publication of Caroline Copeland’s 'Peacocks in the Glen Again' book, which depicts a peacock travelling from Tullibole Castle to Pittencrieff Park, Rhoderick got in touch with the community council and offered to help with the project.

The Moncrieffs have been pivotal in providing expertise on the care of the existing peacocks and swelling the ranks.

Jim Stewart, chairman of community council, said: “This really is a case of real life imitating art, as these new peacocks followed the path of Andrew the peachick from Peacocks in the Glen Again.

"The peahen will be called Mrs P and one of the chicks, Andrew, after the book's characters.

"Another of the new peachicks will be named after Caroline (the book's author), but we’ll be running a competition in the next few weeks to name the other peachicks.

"We want as many people as possible to feel ownership of the peafowl and we hope that in the coming weeks, more volunteers will come forward to help with their care.”

Soon, the new peafowl will be able to join Malcolm and Louise, the two existing peacocks in the Glen.

Dunfermline peacocks have the freedom of Dunfermline and are being cared for by volunteers headed by Dunfermline’s very first peacock warden, Suzi Ross, who has turned an almost derelict facility into a safe haven for the birds.

"We hope that visitors and locals will give them a warm welcome to Dunfermline," Jim added.

"We have a peacock wellbeing plan that is being delivered by the volunteer group and look forward to expanding the birds towards the 25 that Dunfermline once had.

All proceeds from the sale of Peacocks in the Glen Again have been used to improve the habitat and lives of Dunfermline’s peacocks and the book can be purchased from Waterstones, Dunfermline Carnegie Library and Galleries gift shop, the Abbey gift shop, and the Peacock Rooms.

If you would like to be involved in caring for the peacocks, email cdunfcc@hotmail.com.