Buzzard Observations

bdo

Very plentiful again in Wicklow after a good season's breeding. Saw two on Sunday on Sugarloaf, soaring. Local hanggliders seem to have caught on, as they're now imitating them by soaring off Bray Head on the last two Friday evenings.

jmkennedyie

Apologies for the quality but I assume this is a buzzard...any other opinions?

Location was...

Howth Head

...last Sunday.

bdo

yes, it is

Sellphone

OVer the Christmas, a flock of about 5 flew over my area in N.County Dublin, and also about 20 or so were seen on the ground in a field in same area later that week.
FYI

TREVOR H

Birdnuts wrote: »

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.:)

Saw one on a fence beside the N7 near Kill the other morning. Might be one of the above.
Know of a very sucessful pair elsewhere in Kildare that have raised at least four sets of chicks.
Have seen them up close in a wood, so big yet so silent!

cuddlycavies

Yep, near kildangan there's a nest site.

davidrafferty

I saw 3 buzzards hovering over Blacarrick Golf Course on Thursday, 4th March .... they have cleaned out most of the rabbits on the course at this stage.

Last year the course had a plague of rabbits but Myxomatosis and the buzzards has changed all that.

Saw a buzzard flying quite low over Broadmeadow Estuary at Seatown yesterday.

magicbastarder

spotted two (what we think were) buzzards on the M2 today, another seen a few days ago (may have been one of the two today, of course).

bogtreader

I was cycling to work this morning i was about 70 yards from a buzzard on electricity pole a really magnificent bird a regular visitor where i work a great thrill when i hear their cry sometimes up to four high up on the thermals

Birdnuts

bogtreader wrote: »

I was cycling to work this morning i was about 70 yards from a buzzard on electricity pole a really magnificent bird a regular visitor where i work a great thrill when i hear their cry sometimes up to four high up on the thermals

I know what you mean - I still get a tingly feeling when I see them - the novelty value certainly hasn't worn off for me at least:)

knealecat

DSC_0778.JPG

DSC_0779.JPG


Couple of buzzard photos from earlier on tonight. Well Happy

baaba maal

Hi
another longtime admirer of buzzards. I live on the Kildare/Dublin border and we have had a good population here for the last six or seven years. I love watching them and am confident of identifying them. Therefore you can imagine the thrill I had seeing two of them circling on thermals high above the Wood Quay offices! It happened about a month ago. There were a lot of stressed (noisy) seagulls circling below them so I am wondering have the buzzards found a source of flying seafood?? Any theories welcome.
A couple of observations- I have frequently seen buzzards drop from low branches onto tilled fields to feed on what must be invertebrates, earthworms etc- hardly the actions of a dog killer:rolleyes:!!
Like many raptors, the males and females are usually different sizes with the females usually being larger. This is thought to allow for the pair to predate on a wider range of prey. So when you see two buzzards together of different sizes, it isn't necessarily parent and offspring. Anyhow, like all of you, absolutely thrilled to see a bird of this size make a recovery without even needing a reintroduction by humans. Long may they fly above us.

A wonderful sight, aren't they.

The size difference between Male and Females is generally inpercetable in Buzzards, unlike Sparrowhawks for instance. Young birds of any species are more or less full size when they fledge.

While Buzzards will take Corvids, their diet is very much made up of smaller prey, some Rabbit but a lot of frog, worms, and small mammals. Hence the tilled field. The Gulls would not be a targeted prey but if the opportunity arose they would take one. They are not the most agile or speedy of hunters - unlike the Peregrine.

Everett

Seen one over my house yesterday,in wicklow.

Bsal

I frequently see them sitting on fences and soaring above fields around Dublin airport, beautiful birds to see.

davidrafferty

Saw 4 buzzards hovering over Broadmeadow Estuary while on Balcarrick Golf Course, yesterday, Thursday, 29th April 2010 at about 5.45pm.

Sellphone

davidrafferty wrote: »

Saw 4 buzzards hovering over Broadmeadow Estuary while on Balcarrick Golf Course, yesterday, Thursday, 29th April 2010 at about 5.45pm.

Saw one near Rolestown on Friday 7th May, majestic!

ProGolfer82

Hi, I worked in Palmerstown House for the last 5 years and there are buzzards on the estate, last year a greenkeeper found one that had fallen from its nest and was injured. We rang the local bird sanctuary and they nursed it back to make a full recovery. The bird was brought back and released on the estate about 2 weeks after and can be seen regularly flying across the golf course.

Great to hear a success story.
About 10 years ago we had the first nesting pair in our locality. 3 chicks hatched but, like that,it fell from the nest. Despite several attampts to get it back to the nest we ended up hand rearing it and teaching it to fend for itself. We released a fine fit adult birds but unfortunately it was found poisoned 4 months later. What a waste!

ThunderCat

Magnificent Birds. Funnily enough, most of the buzzards ive seen in Ireland have been when I was playing golf. Most impressive of all were the 3 I saw circling overhead when playing headfort new golf course in Kells, Co.Meath. They were in the air for a long long time and were just circling constantly, barely flapping their wings. They seemed to take different positions in height (ie) One was 300+ feet up, another 150 feet and another about 80 feet etc. In all the time they were in the air I didnt see them dive once. For any golfers amoung the forum, I suggest a trip to Headfort golf course - never seen so much wildlife in one place in all my life.
The most recent buzzard ive seen was at Ardee golf club in County Louth. It was just talking off from the trees and flew overhead very low. Wonderful colours, and unmistakeable calls.

ThunderCat

ThunderCat wrote: »

In all the time they were in the air I didnt see them dive once..

They don't actually dive that often. They are quite slow and seldom dive from any higher than a high branch of a tree.
County Louth is a great spot for tham with many nesting pairs.

Feargal as Luimneach

eire_dd wrote: »

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 ?

Buzzards vary in colour alot: dark, light, intermediate, juvenile There is no set "correct plumage type" ( a common feature among many raptor species) unlike a bird like a robin for example..........

Birdnuts

Relieved to see my local pair of buzzards yesterday after a few weeks of no sightings - i was beginning to get paranoid given the sheer amount of bad news concerning birds of prey in this country recently.

LostCovey

Birdnuts wrote: »

Relieved to see my local pair of buzzards yesterday after a few weeks of no sightings - i was beginning to get paranoid given the sheer amount of bad news concerning birds of prey in this country recently.

Very normal breeding behaviour for Buzzards.

They go very quiet and low profile after the first eggs are laid, you would think they had vanished.

LostCovey

Birdnuts

LostCovey wrote: »

Very normal breeding behaviour for Buzzards.

They go very quiet and low profile after the first eggs are laid, you would think they had vanished.

LostCovey

Don't both parents incubate the egg??:)

LostCovey

Birdnuts wrote: »

Don't both parents incubate the egg??:)

They do, but they just get very discreet, with the birds slipping in and out of the breeding area very quietly.

LostCovey

I can't agree that they go quiet after the first eggs are laid. I have watched Buzzards closely for over 15 years, including a 3 year project on them, and live within sight of a nesting pair. Their calls actually increase once the mating bond is renewed and continues until sometime after the young have fledged. The birds call as they approach the nest throughout the day.

E39MSport

I went for a walk on Monday morning and was drawn by very loud calling coming from a wood.
Turned out to be an incubating Buzzard on a nest calling for food. It's partner showed up with food and then departed. All went quiet.
I got very close. Stunning. Hadn't got my bins with me though.

LostCovey

E39MSport wrote: »

I went for a walk on Monday morning and was drawn by very loud calling coming from a wood.
Turned out to be an incubating Buzzard on a nest calling for food. It's partner showed up with food and then departed. All went quiet.
I got very close. Stunning. Hadn't got my bins with me though.

Ours slip in and out very quietly, unless you go near the nest, then they are very vocal and circle overhead. They were the same last year.

LostCovey

LostCovey

LostCovey wrote: »

Ours slip in and out very quietly, unless you go near the nest, then they are very vocal and circle overhead. They were the same last year.

LostCovey

Yours seem to buck the trend on the calling front.:)