Huge brown bird near Athy

One_Of_Shanks

Feel a bit silly posting this coz it's hard to describe and might be nothing special.

But twice in the last fortnight while driving towards Athy I saw a huge brown bird fly overhead.
Colour would be a very pale brown and when it was in full wing-span it was utterly massive.
But it didnt appear to be gliding coz it did a couple of flaps as it went over but seemed to do it in slow motion if that makes sense.

So basically, a bird big enough to cast a shadow over a car as you drive under her and pale brown and moved in slow motion.
Very impressive. Is it a hawk or eagle or what?

OpenYourEyes

It would have been a Buzzard:

http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/IrelandsBirds/Raptors/Buzzard/tabid/396/Default.aspx

Snow Crash

I had a Great Egret glide over my head when I went out for an early morning run down at the beach last year, scared the sh*t out of me as it's shadow looked like a plane about to crash into me...lol.

One_Of_Shanks

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

It would have been a Buzzard:

http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/IrelandsBirds/Raptors/Buzzard/tabid/396/Default.aspx

Thank you. Yep that's the fella alright. Had never seen one before. Quite impressive to see.

corks finest

One_Of_Shanks wrote: »

Feel a bit silly posting this coz it's hard to describe and might be nothing special.

But twice in the last fortnight while driving towards Athy I saw a huge brown bird fly overhead.
Colour would be a very pale brown and when it was in full wing-span it was utterly massive.
But it didnt appear to be gliding coz it did a couple of flaps as it went over but seemed to do it in slow motion if that makes sense.

So basically, a bird big enough to cast a shadow over a car as you drive under her and pale brown and moved in slow motion.
Very impressive. Is it a hawk or eagle or what?

Buzzard

corks finest

One_Of_Shanks wrote: »

Feel a bit silly posting this coz it's hard to describe and might be nothing special.

But twice in the last fortnight while driving towards Athy I saw a huge brown bird fly overhead.
Colour would be a very pale brown and when it was in full wing-span it was utterly massive.
But it didnt appear to be gliding coz it did a couple of flaps as it went over but seemed to do it in slow motion if that makes sense.

So basically, a bird big enough to cast a shadow over a car as you drive under her and pale brown and moved in slow motion.
Very impressive. Is it a hawk or eagle or what?

Buzzard,o h just saw the pic,egret

thelawman

are buzzards common these days, I see them in a variety of spots when out cycling

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

thelawman wrote: »

are buzzards common these days, I see them in a variety of spots when out cycling

More and more so throughout the country.

baaba maal

One_Of_Shanks wrote: »

Thank you. Yep that's the fella alright. Had never seen one before. Quite impressive to see.

You will often see them perching along the fence on that link road onto the N9 and on the motorway itself. All the arable land in the area means a lot of rodents for the local buzzard population there!

diomed

baaba maal wrote: »

You will often see them perching along the fence on that link road onto the N9 and on the motorway itself. All the arable land in the area means a lot of rodents for the local buzzard population there!

Last week driving towards Dublin near Kinnegad I saw a buzzard (?) gliding over the M4 motorway with what looked like a rat in its claws.

gzoladz

diomed wrote: »

Last week driving towards Dublin near Kinnegad I saw a buzzard (?) gliding over the M4 motorway with what looked like a rat in its claws.

I started participating in some birdwatching forums in spanish (so need to learn the bird names, as although I am a native spanish speaker, I started with this in ireland) and the word for buzzard translates like "rat hunter hawk" or something like that.

amber2

Just found this thread & wondered is that what these birds are, they seem to be living in the field next to us & regularly see them out hunting.

Edit tried to attach a video in which you could hear their call but it won't upload.

stevensi

They are Buzzards...

corks finest

One_Of_Shanks wrote: »

Feel a bit silly posting this coz it's hard to describe and might be nothing special.

But twice in the last fortnight while driving towards Athy I saw a huge brown bird fly overhead.
Colour would be a very pale brown and when it was in full wing-span it was utterly massive.
But it didnt appear to be gliding coz it did a couple of flaps as it went over but seemed to do it in slow motion if that makes sense.

So basically, a bird big enough to cast a shadow over a car as you drive under her and pale brown and moved in slow motion.
Very impressive. Is it a hawk or eagle or what?

Buzzard,I'd say,all over cork recently