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Buzzard Observations

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  • 01-06-2009 11:03pm
    #1
    eire_dd
    Registered Users Posts: 104 ✭✭


    While out for a game of golf about 4 weeks ago a friend told me that he heard that Mr. Mansfield was keeping Buzzards at Palmerstown house and that the person who told him had seen them, as a nature lover but certainly no expert, I was intrigued to say the least. You see I get excited when I see my local sparrow hawk fluttering around.
    So last Friday I was back at Killeen Golf Club and I spotted them, or what I think is them. It was truly magnificent to watch these creatures circling around at such colossal heights and the wonderful eagle like sound. There were about six to seven in total.
    Has anyone else seen them or can anyone tell me more about them.
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    #2
    jmkennedyie
    Registered Users Posts: 678 ✭✭✭jmkennedyie


    Well spotted. I have also seen 6 buzzards soaring in thermals about a week ago a little North of that part of Co. Kildare. Keep an eye out for them on haystacks, trees, telegraph poles too. Previous threads include some great photos...worth searching for them to find out more.


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    #3
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    Thankfully Buzzards are now a regular sight all along the East and South East. I get a pair perching in my garden every day and the nest is just 100 meters away. It's wonderful to watch them so close by when 20 years ago we lay hidden in wet grass hoping to get a glimpse of one 1/4 of a mile away. Now my kids look out the window and say "Oh! It's ONLY a Buzzard!"


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    #4
    Fredrick
    Registered Users Posts: 275 ✭✭Fredrick


    Noa Agreeable Leakage wrote: »
    Thankfully Buzzards are now a regular sight all along the East and South East. I get a pair perching in my garden every day and the nest is just 100 meters away. It's wonderful to watch them so close by when 20 years ago we lay hidden in wet grass hoping to get a glimpse of one 1/4 of a mile away. Now my kids look out the window and say "Oh! It's ONLY a Buzzard!"

    You lucky git ;)


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    #5
    eire_dd
    Registered Users Posts: 104 ✭✭eire_dd


    Playing again on friday in kileen, will be bringing my field glasses to get a closer look.

    Tell me at what height do they normally soar and why?


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    #6
    Birdnuts
    Registered Users Posts: 9,636 ✭✭✭Birdnuts


    eire_dd wrote: »
    While out for a game of golf about 4 weeks ago a friend told me that he heard that Mr. Mansfield was keeping Buzzards at Palmerstown house and that the person who told him had seen them, as a nature lover but certainly no expert, I was intrigued to say the least. You see I get excited when I see my local sparrow hawk fluttering around.
    So last Friday I was back at Killeen Golf Club and I spotted them, or what I think is them. It was truly magnificent to watch these creatures circling around at such colossal heights and the wonderful eagle like sound. There were about six to seven in total.
    Has anyone else seen them or can anyone tell me more about them.

    Mr Mansfield does not "keep" buzzards. They are wild birds that have settled in woodland at the edge of Palmerstown demesne. I know cos I've been walking the area for the last 20 years, way before Mansfield got his hands on the place and bulldozed most of its woodlands and wetland to make way for yet another elite golfcourse. The buzzards are their despite Mansfield, not because of him.

    PS - Killeen golf course on the other hand has become a wonderfull place for wildlife in recent years with so many new water features added in the form of ponds and lakes since the days when it was know as the "Four Lakes":)


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    #7
    eire_dd
    Registered Users Posts: 104 ✭✭eire_dd


    Birdnuts wrote: »
    Mr Mansfield does not "keep" buzzards. QUOTE]

    Thank you for clearing that up for me, I thought it a little strange when I heard it. Can you recommend a good location to get a better look at these wonderful creatures.


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    #8
    mackeminexile
    Registered Users Posts: 345 ✭✭mackeminexile


    I too played Killeen Castle on Friday and spotted 2 Buzzards on the way out from Dublin (car mate wasn't in the least impressed!) and 2 more while on the course.


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    #9
    eire_dd
    Registered Users Posts: 104 ✭✭eire_dd


    It was actually Kileen Golf club, over at the naas road


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    #10
    Birdnuts
    Registered Users Posts: 9,636 ✭✭✭Birdnuts


    eire_dd wrote: »
    Birdnuts wrote: »
    Mr Mansfield does not "keep" buzzards. QUOTE]

    Thank you for clearing that up for me, I thought it a little strange when I heard it. Can you recommend a good location to get a better look at these wonderful creatures.

    Apparently the strawberry beds in the Liffey Valley near Lucan is meant to be a good place. Also anywhere along the M50 according to the Tolka Valley BWI site.:)

    PS - I forgot to mention another good place, Pollardstown Fen and the nearby woodland/wetland complex between it and the Hill of Allen near Newbridge. Everytime I visit , I always see at least one Buzzard


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    #11
    Gaspode
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Music Moderators, Regional East Moderators, Regional Midlands Moderators, Regional Midwest Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators, Regional North Mods, Regional West Moderators, Regional South East Moderators, Regional North East Moderators, Regional North West Moderators, Regional South Moderators Posts: 8,008 CMod ✭✭✭✭Gaspode


    we have a pair of buzzards along the tolka near Ashtown this year, first time they've nested around here


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    #12
    rwcFM
    Closed Accounts Posts: 17 ✭rwcFM


    mackeminexile wrote: »
    I too played Killeen Castle on Friday and spotted 2 Buzzards on the way out from Dublin (car mate wasn't in the least impressed!) and 2 more while on the course.

    Yep, there's a few around there. Seem to be resident/breeding but I've never seen a nest. Thought they may be have been killed (because a number were supposedly) but saw them again last week.


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    #13
    sesswhat
    Registered Users Posts: 1,177 ✭✭✭sesswhat


    jmkennedyie wrote: »
    Keep an eye out for them on haystacks, trees, telegraph poles too.

    Buzzards might be a common sight here in Donegal but I can't remember when I last saw a haystack:D


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    #14
    The Hill Billy
    Registered Users Posts: 22,748 ✭✭✭✭The Hill Billy


    eire_dd wrote: »
    Has anyone else seen them or can anyone tell me more about them.

    More sightings & info for you in this thread.


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    #15
    eire_dd
    Registered Users Posts: 104 ✭✭eire_dd


    HI again, so i was back in kileen today, watching the sky's through the whole game(much to the annoyance of my partners) on the 14th tee box and bang there it was, it flew right over us. but now i'm not sure if it was a buzzard. Again i know very little about birds but it looked a little dark compared to pics i have seen. Any ideas or comments ?


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    #16
    The Hill Billy
    Registered Users Posts: 22,748 ✭✭✭✭The Hill Billy


    Interesting article here about a jogger being attacked by a buzzard in Cornwall.


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    #17
    boneless
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,487 ✭✭✭boneless


    Hill Billy wrote: »
    Interesting article here about a jogger being attacked by a buzzard in Cornwall.

    I have heard of this happening before. More than likely it is an attack for defence... my own humble opinion.


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    #18
    The Hill Billy
    Registered Users Posts: 22,748 ✭✭✭✭The Hill Billy


    Actually, last weekend I took a trip from Bern to Gruyeres in Switzerland. At a very conservative estimate I saw around 30 buzzards over the 2-hour trip there. There was a lot of hay-making going on in the area that day so I presume the buzzards were around to snatch any birds or animals flushed out by the mowing machines.

    I also saw some manner of eagle (couldn't make a proper ID, just judging on on size alone - it was massive!).


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    #19
    Connacht
    Registered Users Posts: 447 ✭✭Connacht


    Just back from hols in Aveyron, central southern France, where it is harvest time. The amount of buzzards I saw was wonderful. On one occasion, there were 11 hovering and diving over a field being harvested. Hopefully, we'll get to that stage in Ireland soon.
    Does anyone have a max number of buzzards they've ever seen in IRL at one time ?
    On return from hols, saw one standing in a tree near Bridgetown, south Wexford, this Wed. First Irish one I've ever seen - again beside harvested corn field.
    Have yet to see one in the west (very rare over here).


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    #20
    Birdnuts
    Registered Users Posts: 9,636 ✭✭✭Birdnuts


    I think 6-8 were seen over the M50 in March near Clonee:)


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    #21
    The Hill Billy
    Registered Users Posts: 22,748 ✭✭✭✭The Hill Billy


    Connacht wrote: »
    Does anyone have a max number of buzzards they've ever seen in IRL at one time ?
    7 over my back garden (field) in north county Dublin around this time last year. Riding high on the thermals & calling to each other. There was a kestrel circling below them who appeared to be protecting his "patch".


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    #22
    Dusty87
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,920 ✭✭✭Dusty87


    Are buzzards territorial? Like, if a group of them were seen in the one area, are they most likely to be family?


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    #23
    Birdnuts
    Registered Users Posts: 9,636 ✭✭✭Birdnuts


    Buzzards appear to be doing very well in my part of Kildare(near Kill Village) - see them almost everyday - local farmers enjoy having them too given their appetite for rats and rabbits:)


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    #24
    Connacht
    Registered Users Posts: 447 ✭✭Connacht


    1 buzzard seen in NW Mayo last week. Very interesting, because they're very rarely seen in Mayo or as far west as this in Galway.


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    #25
    Birdnuts
    Registered Users Posts: 9,636 ✭✭✭Birdnuts


    Connacht wrote: »
    1 buzzard seen in NW Mayo last week. Very interesting, because they're very rarely seen in Mayo or as far west as this in Galway.

    Knowing Erris quiet well this is indeed truly historic - Buzzards have not been seen here for at least 200 years going on historical records of its occurrence in this country tracing its massive decline from the 17th centuary to the early 20th centuary through to its slow recovery from the 1950's onwards

    PS: There is strong evidence that Buzzards are now breeding in eastern parts of Co. Mayo!!


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    #26
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    Birdnuts wrote: »
    Knowing Erris quiet well this is indeed truly historic - Buzzards have not been seen here for at least 200 years going on historical records of its occurrence in this country tracing its massive decline from the 17th centuary to the early 20th centuary through to its slow recovery from the 1950's onwards

    PS: There is strong evidence that Buzzards are now breeding in eastern parts of Co. Mayo!!

    Buzzards declined in Mayo, as in the rest of the country, through the 1800s but were recorded as late as the early 1900s. They have been back (and breeeding) for a few years now. It's worth checking the records of the Mayo Branch of Birdwatch Ireland.


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    #27
    Birdnuts
    Registered Users Posts: 9,636 ✭✭✭Birdnuts


    Noa Agreeable Leakage wrote: »
    Buzzards declined in Mayo, as in the rest of the country, through the 1800s but were recorded as late as the early 1900s. They have been back (and breeeding) for a few years now. It's worth checking the records of the Mayo Branch of Birdwatch Ireland.

    According to Gordon Darcy's excellent book "Irelands Lost Birds" buzzards by the 1850's were already restricted to Northern Parts of Ulster only and died out completly on the Island of Ireland by the the early 20th centuary. That along with other sources I have looked at would suggest they had vacated Mayo many decades before the 1850's.


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    #28
    davidrafferty
    Closed Accounts Posts: 87 ✭✭davidrafferty


    I had 2 recent buzzard sightings whilst playing golf in Balcarrick Golf Club, Donabate, Co. Dublin.

    The first was of just one bird on Sun. 4th Oct. 2009 at about 11am and the 2nd was five birds hovering over the course on Thursday, 4th Oct. 2009 at around 12.30pm. They disappeared when the sun became blocked by clouds.

    I’ve also noticed that the rabbits population around the course, which had grown dramatically in the last year or so has now shown a huge decrease in numbers.


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    #29
    ereg
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3 ✭ereg


    I seen 5 buzzards yesterday and one was picked up in my village today with a broken leg by the D.S.P.C.A, they were rarely seen but seem to be more active over the last 6 months. Their call is so distinctive, they are turely beautiful birds


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    #30
    Birdnuts
    Registered Users Posts: 9,636 ✭✭✭Birdnuts


    ereg wrote: »
    I seen 5 buzzards yesterday and one was picked up in my village today with a broken leg by the D.S.P.C.A, they were rarely seen but seem to be more active over the last 6 months. Their call is so distinctive, they are turely beautiful birds

    Indeed they are - great to have them back gracing Irish skies after such a long and sad absents. Had two circling and calling over the house near Kill Village Co. Kildare only yesterday.:)


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    #31
    Alun
    Registered Users Posts: 21,421 ✭✭✭✭Alun


    I saw loads of buzzards over in the UK recently. I walked the Coast to Coast footpath from west to east and I don't think a day went by when I didn't hear at least one, and saw plenty, many in groups of 3 which I assume were parents with their young.

    Possibly the best sighting of all was one that was quite close by near the ground, apparently trying to catch something in the grass, but eventually gave up and flew over the top of us towards a small abandoned quarry we'd just passed by. The rate at which it circled and climbed in the thermals over the quarry, without so much as even a flap from it's wings was incredible, and it was to all intents and purposes out of sight in no time.


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