buzzard fright

Padd2

:eek::eek::eek: wen decoying pigeon yesterday and just as dusk fell i strolled ovr to the car to pack up when i looked back and here was a buzzard sailing into my pattern and picked up a decoy .. he dropped it soon after when he realised it was a foam dummy not a real bird?? i had 6 dead birds in the pattern and he picked a decoy?? must be good quality decoys ??

Johnny max

Ha ha good one

dodderangler

There's a vid or two of it happening on youtube to a northern Irish lad.
Apparently happens a lot.
But why the decoy instead of the actual pigeons so yeah they must be good decoys

sniperman

buzzards neeed to go to specsavers:D

Padd2

and i had a lad with me too we were astonished he took the decoy not the actuall birds haha

Jimbob79

Simmilar thing happened to me. Shot a pigeon and when dog was about to pick it a buzzard dropped the other side of the bird. There was a standoff between dog and buzzard. Then dog won😜. Amazing to see.

cookimonster

One hit a mates ground level flapper..............

My own experience was with an Owl not a buzzard. I was lamping foxs earlier this year and trying hard to call in a fox that kept hanging around but just won't come in for the shot. Switched over to a bit of glass and board and began squeaking. After a few minutes this unearthly figure swooped over my head and landed 15 feet in frount of me, turned the light on it and there was an Owl looking at me. Pity the fox didn't fall for the call.

Padd2

cookimonster wrote: »

One hit a mates ground level flapper..............

My own experience was with an Owl not a buzzard. I was lamping foxs earlier this year and trying had to call in a fox that kept hanging around but just won't come in for the shot. Switch over to a bit of glass and board and began squeaking. After a few minutes this unearthly figure swooped over my head and landed 15 feet in frount of me, turned the light on it and there was an Owl looking at me. Pity the fox didn't fall for the call.

My father said he was walking with the rifle a while back and said an owl followed him everywhere and when he plugged a bunny he took the rabbit .. He said the wing span was massive .. Always wonderd was it actually an owl tho

Padd2

Jimbob79 wrote: »

Simmilar thing happened to me. Shot a pigeon and when dog was about to pick it a buzzard dropped the other side of the bird. There was a standoff between dog and buzzard. Then dog won😜. Amazing to see.

Did the dog have 4 sets if wings if u get my drift

cookimonster

Padd2 wrote: »

My father said he was walking with the rifle a while back and said an owl followed him everywhere and when he plugged a bunny he took the rabbit .. He said the wing span was massive .. Always wonderd was it actually an owl tho

Most likely a Buzzard. Where I shoot over decoys you have to regularly wave off the buzzards especially during the quieter periods, but have yet had one swoop.

In Spain they have to put their kill (boar, goat, roe) under cover or other wise the vultures will be down by the dozens and pick the carcass clean.

charlie10

during the summer i had a hen harrier attack my spinner ,swooped in and hit it so hard she nearly knocked the whole thing over ,about 8 weeks ago i was shooting crows for a farmer and a buzzard landed 60-70 yards in front of us for a look at what was going on and the shots didnt seem to bother her . cool experience

Padd2

charlie10 wrote: »

during the summer i had a hen harrier attack my spinner ,swooped in and hit it so hard she nearly knocked the whole thing over ,about 8 weeks ago i was shooting crows for a farmer and a buzzard landed 60-70 yards in front of us for a look at what was going on and the shots didnt seem to bother her . cool experience

I don't like buzzard me and a friend were raring 40 pheasants ..one Sunday we caught clipped and tagged every bird and moved into a open top pen hours of work and sore hand been pecked at all day .. Only for a buzzard to come and kill 37 birds only we seen him he woulda had them all the little b****x

dodderangler

Padd2 wrote: »

I don't like buzzard me and a friend were raring 40 pheasants ..one Sunday we caught clipped and tagged every bird and moved into a open top pen hours of work and sore hand been pecked at all day .. Only for a buzzard to come and kill 37 birds only we seen him he woulda had them all the little b****x

37??

Birdnuts

Padd2 wrote: »

I don't like buzzard me and a friend were raring 40 pheasants ..one Sunday we caught clipped and tagged every bird and moved into a open top pen hours of work and sore hand been pecked at all day .. Only for a buzzard to come and kill 37 birds only we seen him he woulda had them all the little b****x

Buzzards and other BOP's do not kill such large numbers of birds in one attack - they only kill what they will eat which is little enough on a daily basis given that they(buzzard) only weigh about 3 pounds. Sounds more like a mink or fox/cat attack after which the buzzard arrived to check out the scene as a scavanger.

Capercaille

charlie10 wrote: »

during the summer i had a hen harrier attack my spinner ,swooped in and hit it so hard she nearly knocked the whole thing over ,about 8 weeks ago i was shooting crows for a farmer and a buzzard landed 60-70 yards in front of us for a look at what was going on and the shots didnt seem to bother her . cool experience

The dog was probably at the nest of the harrier, hopefully you dog didn't destroy the nest. Hen harrier are sadly only barely hanging on in this Country. Hen harrier feed mostly on small birds like meadow pipit and small mammals like field mice. They would be barely able to kill a juvenile rabbit not to mind a dog like spaniel.

Birdnuts

Capercaille wrote: »

The dog was probably at the nest of the harrier, hopefully you dog didn't destroy the nest. Hen harrier are sadly only barely hanging on in this Country. Hen harrier feed mostly on small birds like meadow pipit and small mammals like field mice. They would be barely able to kill a juvenile rabbit not to mind a dog like spaniel.

I think you misread Charlie's post - he said spinner (as in pigeon decoy device) not a spaniel

Capercaille

Birdnuts wrote: »

I think you misread Charlie's post - he said spinner (as in pigeon decoy device) not a spaniel

I thought spinner was a spaniel. my mistake.

Padd2

dodderangler wrote: »

37??

37 just 1 more than 36
Found all the dead birds explcept for one must of been a fox it mink so

dodderangler

Padd2 wrote: »

37 just 1 more than 36
Found all the dead birds explcept for one must of been a fox it mink so

As bird nuts said it was more than likely another animal like a fox or mink and the buzzard flew down to view the aftermath and have a free meal.

coolhandspan

I think Buzzards are fantastic addition to Irish Landscape,also heard that red kites released in Fingal were reared on magpies. the adults now love/hate magpies and grey crows. I think this is brilliant...:D:D:D

dodderangler

coolhandspan wrote: »

I think Buzzards are fantastic addition to Irish Landscape,also heard that red kites released in Fingal were reared on magpies. the adults now love/hate magpies and grey crows. I think this is brilliant...:D:D:D

What most people don't realise is that buzzards diet has a lot of corvid in it.
Most think they're scavengers ( including myself at one stage) but I've seen them hunt pigeons in pairs as well as a crow or two

kinelly

They also specialize in hunting leverets. I have watched them pick up leverets from thistle patches on a couple of occasions. We have found pheasant tags in the regurgitated pellets they leave behind too.

blackpearl

they will take pheasants on a regular bases,i had seven adult hen pheasants coming into my back garden now their is one left I seen 3 of them been killed by buzzards so I don't want to here this bull about them eating rats and worms they are the worst thing that has happened to the irish countryside and shame on the people who are releasing them.they are a menace you think magpies and grey crows are a problem they are nothing compared to buzzards I hate the sight of them around the place.

dodderangler

blackpearl wrote: »

they will take pheasants on a regular bases,i had seven adult hen pheasants coming into my back garden now their is one left I seen 3 of them been killed by buzzards so I don't want to here this bull about them eating rats and worms they are the worst thing that has happened to the irish countryside and shame on the people who are releasing them.they are a menace you think magpies and grey crows are a problem they are nothing compared to buzzards I hate the sight of them around the place.

Seriously are you taking the piss????
Worst thing to happen to this countryside??
<Snip>

Birdnuts

blackpearl wrote: »

they will take pheasants on a regular bases,i had seven adult hen pheasants coming into my back garden now their is one left I seen 3 of them been killed by buzzards so I don't want to here this bull about them eating rats and worms they are the worst thing that has happened to the irish countryside and shame on the people who are releasing them.they are a menace you think magpies and grey crows are a problem they are nothing compared to buzzards I hate the sight of them around the place.

A couple of things - buzzards re-colonised under their own steam and research to date on their diet does indeed show that their live prey is mainly vermin species.

http://duhallow.blogspot.ie/p/buzzards-in-duhallow.html

The above findings are in line with studies from the UK. Comparing them to magpies and Grey Crows is simply off the wall and is not a view that reflects well on the hunting community, which is unfair since the majority are thankfully better informed on these matters.

pfizer

I went out to photograph a Buzzard but there was five turned up in the field,the lads in the gun club had no idea that we had so manny

Birdnuts

pfizer wrote: »

I went out to photograph a Buzzard but there was five turned up in the field,the lads in the gun club had no idea that we had so manny

They sometimes gather in small flocks - our only raptor species which does this to any extent. However these flocks will include birds from many miles around and does not reflect a permanent local population. Indeed during the breeding season the resident pair will not tolerate other buzzards on their territory.

Cass

Okay lads. The nature and bird watching thread is that-a-way (<

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This is a hunting forum and as hunting these birds is illegal, and discussing them is more suited to N&BW, i'm closing the thread. If the OP wishes i can edit and move to N&BW (to make it more friendly to that forum). Please PM if you want it moved.