Buzzard Observations

trebor28

i would presume its got to do with them being scavengers and roadkill.

E39MSport

Slightly related question.

Is the humble badger not on the diet of these birds. I notice that most road kill disappears but any unfortunate badger that gets hit tends to stay in one piece. Is it just a logistics thing or are they possibly not on the menu for some reason?

Mothman

I've never seen a Buzzard at a roadkill and from my experience of them while ploughing fields, I'd question their traffic sense. They don't seem to have much!

E39MSport

I've seen a few on the M4 corridor in England but indeed few and far between.

cuddlycavies

Mothman wrote: »

I've never seen a Buzzard at a roadkill and from my experience of them while ploughing fields, I'd question their traffic sense. They don't seem to have much!

Can confirm, saw one eating a roadkilled rabbit on a lane in Co Antrim

Scotty #

Mothman wrote: »

I've never seen a Buzzard at a roadkill

I've seen them eat it and carry it away with them.

sables2

Cheeky boyo's! I've seen a pair once off the Southern Cross Rd, Bray. HUGE birds of prey!! And very, very smart.

Connacht

Lads,
General question on buzzard sightings.
I understand they are generally spotted over grasslands / woodland edges / lowlands / farmland. But has anyone ever seen one soaring over elevated sites, like over boggy or plantation covered mountainsides of 300 - 400 m + altittude ?

Birdnuts

Connacht wrote: »

Lads,
General question on buzzard sightings.
I understand they are generally spotted over grasslands / woodland edges / lowlands / farmland. But has anyone ever seen one soaring over elevated sites, like over boggy or plantation covered mountainsides of 300 - 400 m + altittude ?

I've seen them soaring over some of the higher hills in mid kildare - Curragh area. They also now inhabit the higher hills on the Kildare/Wicklow border:)

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

trebor28 wrote: »

i would presume its got to do with them being scavengers and roadkill.

No. While they will take roadkill, the motorway (as I already said) has margins rich in small mammals.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Connacht wrote: »

Lads,
General question on buzzard sightings.
I understand they are generally spotted over grasslands / woodland edges / lowlands / farmland. But has anyone ever seen one soaring over elevated sites, like over boggy or plantation covered mountainsides of 300 - 400 m + altittude ?

Certainly!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

E39MSport wrote: »

Slightly related question.

Is the humble badger not on the diet of these birds. I notice that most road kill disappears but any unfortunate badger that gets hit tends to stay in one piece. Is it just a logistics thing or are they possibly not on the menu for some reason?

Buzzards prefer roadkill that they will feed on for a short time and then carry off. Badgers are a bit heavy for this.

mgwhelan

saw a pair circling in the slieve blooms there today, as well as a female hen harrier which was being attacked by what i think was a sparrowhawk.

bigcrow

Has anyone seen the large raptor in the skies on the Bandon to Cork road. for anyone who knows its the newish section of road between the halfway roundabout and the turnoff for the airport. ive seen it twice now. i think its a buzzard because of Its size and the way it soars. ill post a pic later for ID.

Scotty #

Saw a great duel between a Buzzard and a Hooded Crow just north of Ashbourne today. Must have gone on over half a mile.

bitemybanger

Had a read through the thread and there seems to be alot of buzzard sightings around the Meath area.
I see at least one every day on my way to or from work, usually between Clonee and the toll bridge on the M3. saw one sitting alone in a field thismorning and three flying together low over the road on Sunday around the same area.

rambo87

Theres a resident buzzard in the fields next to the house... Three of them were doing acrobatics in the air last week... must be mating season. I the buzzard fighting with a cock pheasant during the snow... not sure if theyre a bit of a pest... they seem to be rapidly spreading over Meath and are now in North Dublin.. theyll be in the city soon. Hadnt seen a single on two years ago

Birdnuts

rambo87 wrote: »

Theres a resident buzzard in the fields next to the house... Three of them were doing acrobatics in the air last week... must be mating season. I the buzzard fighting with a cock pheasant during the snow... not sure if theyre a bit of a pest... they seem to be rapidly spreading over Meath and are now in North Dublin.. theyll be in the city soon. Hadnt seen a single on two years ago

If your a farmer you should be glad to have them since their main live prey are rats and rabbits. The also take corvids such as magpies and young rooks. According to the experts at BASC(British Association for Shooting and Conservation) raptors in general are responsible for less then 5%( mostly Sparrow hawks in this case) of losses to game-birds like pheasants, compared to the main loss factors such as foxes, mink, disease, bad weather etc... .

PS This protected species is still far less common in this country then it is in Europe or indeed the UK

Traonach

rambo87 wrote: »

I the buzzard fighting with a cock pheasant during the snow... not sure if theyre a bit of a pest...

:mad:
Buzzard rarely take healthy adult pheasant and are certainly not a pest.

Buzzards are a native bird and are still in very low numbers in this country and are still absent from large parts of the country. The same can't be said about the non-native alien pheasant.

Scotty #

Saw two soaring high at the back of the Airport yesterday about 5 o'clock. As I looked back down to earth I saw this massive raptor hovering just over the hedge around the next bend. I was like WOW!! What is that?!?!

After about 6-8 seconds I realised it was a kite. :rolleyes:



Errr, that's a kids kite with a string! Not the bird.

rambo87

No, i like seeing them, they do a lot of good killing rats etc. but was just wondering do they kill gamebirds.... Great to know that they dont... you hear all kinds of stuff! Wouldnt want any lads shooting them.
The pheasant won the fight by the way! Ive seen them kill loads of pigeons.. they chase them in flight sometimes..

Birdnuts

rambo87 wrote: »

No, i like seeing them, they do a lot of good killing rats etc. but was just wondering do they kill gamebirds.... Great to know that they dont... you hear all kinds of stuff! Wouldnt want any lads shooting them.
The pheasant won the fight by the way! Ive seen them kill loads of pigeons.. they chase them in flight sometimes..

Buzzards attract alot of attention cos their new on the scene for most people(would have been absent from the Dublin area for at least 200 years before their recent return) are noisy(compared to other raptors) and have a very distinctive, vulture like, soaring flight pattern:)

lolie

Seen three over the house yesterday scowling, either them or cats with wings:D
Doesnt seem to be as many a 2 or 3 years ago.

DM0970

See two of them most days coming off the M50 / M1 roundabout! Circling over the waste ground beside Gateway. The off ramp is quite high and one came to within 15 feet of my car, looked massive close up, incredible.

Birdnuts

Got really close today to a large buzzard airlifting what looked like a plump rat back to its nest - you can't beat natural vermin control:cool::D

V Bull

I have keeping an eye on a pair of Buzzards and what I thought was their nesting tree for the last few months. I was right....now there are 3. Great to watch and listen to their call, soaring and diving.. just fantastic..

lolie

Live buzzard webcam on bbc springwatch, only 1 chick.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/uk/webcams/

Scotty #

Scotty # wrote: »

Saw two soaring high at the back of the Airport yesterday about 5 o'clock. As I looked back down to earth I saw this massive raptor hovering just over the hedge around the next bend. I was like WOW!! What is that?!?!

After about 6-8 seconds I realised it was a kite. :rolleyes:



Errr, that's a kids kite with a string! Not the bird.

I've since discovered these kites are actually being used by farmers and are now all over north Co. Dublin.

E39MSport

Never seen a kite hovering, buzzards a few times though. Good spot.

... actually, are we talking Red Kite? Didn't think they were about Dublin.

whyulittle

Always read the small print Sport.