Birds of prey.

cotton

Saturday I was taking the photos of Keith Jewellery outside. Ray & his brother Declan were out the front & they started shouting a me to come quick. They could see what they thought were 2 sparrowhawks flying in the field at the end of the cottages.
We ran up to the field & saw these pair. They are no sparrowhawks, these were bl%#dy huge!! Never seen anything as big. They kept soaring & then swooping down to the field & back up again.
There was no sign of them at all yesterday. Anyone any idea what they are? The photos are woeful but I was hoping some expert might have an idea from the shape, etc.


There's one to the left of this pic & one to the right.

Mr. Presentable

Kind of looks like a Buzzard to me. Was there any cry from the birds? What part of the country were they in?

cotton

I'm in wicklow. Bray head is right beside the field & the sea below it if that helps. Can't remember any noise.
I know nothing about birds, are buzzards common?

Mr. Presentable

The Common Buzzard is not common, except where it occurs, if that makes any sense. I think there was a program in the 80's to reintroduce them here after they had been all but eliminated, and Bray Head is, I believe, the site of one of the more successful colonies. However, I am not expert in this and I'm sure someone better informed will clarify.

Occidental

Definitely a Buzzard and i'd be 90%+ on Common Buzzard.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Definate Buzzards. I live within 200mts of a site where Buzzards have bred for the past 11 years and they are now a common sight passing over the garden at very low altitudes. No doubt whatso ever - you saw Buzzards

boneless

The buzzard is more common than people think... from around 10 pairs in the far north to around 300 pairs all along the east coast in less than 20 years.

There was no re-introduction... the ban on farmers putting out poison bait for vermin helped this recovery. Buzzards will feed on vermin and carrion.

Alun

Again definitely buzzards. I'm surprised you didn't hear them though, they're usually quite vocal, especially at this time of the year. Plenty of them about in the UK where I was last week.

myjugsarehuge

I've seen many buzzards in the UK but the head shape on these, particularly photo 2, is more reminiscent of a Marsh Harrier ? Also there appears to be a white rump on the left hand bird in the last photo ? hen harrier. Juvenilles are hard to distinguish and it is difficult to tell from still photos. I believe there are Marsh harriers in the locality occasionally.

The soaring and swooping behaviour is not typical buzzard either, they tend to drift along on the thermals, not swooping and going back up again ?

Hezz700

Hi lads,

I'm in south kildare and i have been lucky enough to have a resident breding pair on my land into their third season. I've got some great footage of the pair and their three offspring circling above me last summer. at that time they were quite unafraid and would come very close overhead. I am of the opinion that they Yellow legged Buzzards. I will try to upload some of the clips, as they are very clear and really show these fine creatures in all their majesty.

Hezz.

Roen

Nice one Hezz, would love to see that. Don't hesitate in posting a link.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Jeez Roen! 1am. Don't you ever sleep?
These have to be the least used boards on the net. Is there anybody else out there?

Roen

Esperanza Scruffy Bookcase wrote:

Jeez Roen! 1am. Don't you ever sleep?
These have to be the least used boards on the net. Is there anybody else out there?

I usually check here after I get home from the pub. Which is normally 3am btw.

boneless

myjugsarehuge wrote:

I've seen many buzzards in the UK but the head shape on these, particularly photo 2, is more reminiscent of a Marsh Harrier ? Also there appears to be a white rump on the left hand bird in the last photo ? hen harrier. Juvenilles are hard to distinguish and it is difficult to tell from still photos. I believe there are Marsh harriers in the locality occasionally.

The soaring and swooping behaviour is not typical buzzard either, they tend to drift along on the thermals, not swooping and going back up again ?

I see what you mean by the white mark on the rump but is this just a mark in the photo? It did make me think again but I am sure they are buzzards.

When hunting buzzards will also "quarter" and swoop like hen harriers... I have often been fooled in the Slieve Bloom area into thinking I had a harrier in the scope!!

On a positive note though... at 13.00hrs today in UCD Belfield, myself and a few others had the pleasure of watching a pair of buzzards soaring on a thermal for the best part of half an hour. To our amazement, they were joined by a peregrine!!! It don't get much better than that!!!

colmranger

I have never seen Buzzards in the Slieve Bloom area only Hen Harriers all the time.

I work up there a lot surveying for the Wildlife Service.

What area do you think you see the Buzzards?

boneless

colmranger wrote:

I have never seen Buzzards in the Slieve Bloom area only Hen Harriers all the time.

I work up there a lot surveying for the Wildlife Service.

What area do you think you see the Buzzards?

I've seen them in Glendine a few times and on occaisions near Kinnity. I don't know if they are nesting there or if they were just passing through... as I said, I was fooled into thinking I had a harrier in sight a few times.

I've also spotted merlins in Glendine.