Wake of Buzzards?

[beejay]

Sitting in the afternoon sun outside The Withies pub in Compton, Surrey I counted at least 15 Buzzards circling in a blue thermal [no visible cloudbase] They spiraled upwards and were specks in just a few minutes.

In the Surrey Hills south of Farnham I have noticed many Buzzards over the last few years but I have never seen so many at one time.

Anyone else find this unusual or am I just not outside a pub looking skywards at the right time?

[Anty Patty]

There seem to be loads of buzzards about - we saw so many recently as we travelled to Scottish Highlands from Sussex Coast, using the motorways. Looking out for wildlife when the passenger - makes a very long journey interesting - not while I was taking my turn driving though! Not to be undertaken at any price - driving with one hand on the wheel and the other holding the bins! I highly value other peoples' lives and my own!

[Tringa]

Thought this was a bit unusual.

Yesterday Mrs Tringa an I drove to from east London to close to Nottingham via the M11, A14 and M1.

On the way Mrs T spotted 2 buzzards (M11 near Stansted and M1 in Leicetershire) and 2 kites(both from the A14 between Kettering and the M1).

Great to see these birds but interesting that in the whole journey from and back to London we saw only one kestrel, which a few years ago was a very common sight from motorways.

Dave

[artdemole]

Not so unusual to see 30-40 buzzards circling round here Peasedown st john. It even made the local press last year.On a walk to Midford yesterday groups of three and four seen a few times.

[darrenm]

agree that the Common Buzzard is now becoming a much more common sight in lots of areas of the UK but this is perhaps down to tolerance by landowners, when in the past they were persecuted like anything else with a hooked beak and talons because they were percieved has a threat. Some on this forum will be upset by this but i dont want to get into another debate about if they have a place or right to be in our countryside in any number.

The decline of the Kestrel which a lot of us have noticed in recent years could be linked to the availability of food and a series of very wet winters and springs and now two very cold winters on top and this may have affected small rodent numbers and populations. The devlopment of motorways may have also done its bit to increase Kestrel populations through the creation of a managed habitat in which the Kestrel took advantage of and that it was suitable for them to find prey items and i wonder if land management programmes alongside motorways had changed in recent years??? and if this may now be having an affect on Kestrel populations alongside motorways or if natural succession was having an affect through short well kept grass now being replaced by taller plant growth and bushes. Nature also goes through natural boom and bust cycles over long periods which we may not understand at first or readily find an answer to.

I dont think we can start placing the blame of the decline of the Kestrel on an increase in the population of the Common Buzzard or do i feel that they are out competing each other for food or nest sites. It may also be best to enjoy seeing the Common Buzzard in good numbers before the musings of some out there really start pressing for new legislation and legal control measures to be brought in to reduce their numbers.

[RKB]

Originally Posted by darrenm

agree that the Common Buzzard is now becoming a much more common sight in lots of areas of the UK but this is perhaps down to tolerance by landowners, when in the past they were persecuted like anything else with a hooked beak and talons because they were percieved has a threat.

agri-chemicals probably played just as large a part (dieldrin etc), as it was the arable east where they were absent from for so long.

Originally Posted by darrenm

The decline of the Kestrel which a lot of us have noticed in recent years could be linked to the availability of food and a series of very wet winters and springs and now two very cold winters on top and this may have affected small rodent numbers and populations..

It seems more fundamental than that, as they've been declining for a long time (c.40 years). Current thinking is that agri-intensification might have a hand in it. Motorways are a miniscule area of the landscape, so I doubt verges have much to do with kestrel populations on a national level (plus mortality alongside motorways is pretty high!).

Originally Posted by darrenm

I dont think we can start placing the blame of the decline of the Kestrel on an increase in the population of the Common Buzzard or do i feel that they are out competing each other for food or nest sites.

Don't think anyone is making that link

[darrenm]

i agree with you RKB that agri-chemicals was one of the main reasons for the absence and decline of a lot of our farmland bird species but i grew up in Lincolnshire where only in the last few dacades have BOP species been more widely tollerated and have also seen that in other parts of the country and this must be having some sort of affect on BOP populations.

In areas like the Lincoln Limestone Ridge and the Lincolnshire Wolds it was common practice to illegally shoot any BOP species on sight or to destroy any nests other than that of the Kestrel and this carried on right up until the 1990's and i knew some landowners and keepers in both areas who were proud of what they did and some were willing to openly boast about it over a pint in the local pubs when they thought the local police were not in ear shot.

It is good to see the Common Buzzard back in the skies of some parts of Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire and i hope it continues.

[thebeard]

i love seeing buzzards and now see them regularly at two local areas. they've recently appeared at NTU brackenhurst campus, don't know if they're commonly there each spring, but there's 3 or for of them and they've been displaying a lot recently. still see plenty of kestrels there too, along with the other location, although they were much commoner in winter.

darren, if you can get down to attenborough NR, there's a couple of kestrels taking up residence in the raptor nest box in the wheatear field. well worth a look and i'll be keeping an eye on it for the next few weeks

[darrenm]

Thanks for the info on the Kestrel's at Attenborough but have got a more local pair to watch at present but it's fantastic to know that there are Common Buzzard doing well around Brakenhurst now and wonder if they are the offshoots from the Oxton breeding birds which were the first pair to do very well in that area of Nottinghamshire for a very long time.

Common Buzzard have also bred in the Burton Joyce area in the last few years and up to three to four birds can be seen around Gedling Pit Top on most sunny days riding the thermals. Gedling pit top can be also be a good site for wintering Short-eared Owl if the vole population has done well and it is also a fantastic vantage point for observing visible migration and have seen Honey Buzzard, Marsh and Hen Harrier from there in recent years. Its also a cracking place to be on for Common Snipe and Jack snipe on the very highest point in late autumn early winter and it has been levelled and looks more like tundra than a Nottinghamshire landscape and has a very good Skylark population most spring's. Well worth a look if you havnt been there and before it becomes a fully managed country park.

[animartco]

Originally Posted by darrenm

Thanks for the info on the Kestrel's at Attenborough but have got a more local pair to watch at present but it's fantastic to know that there are Common Buzzard doing well around Brakenhurst now and wonder if they are the offshoots from the Oxton breeding birds which were the first pair to do very well in that area of Nottinghamshire for a very long time.

Common Buzzard have also bred in the Burton Joyce area in the last few years and up to three to four birds can be seen around Gedling Pit Top on most sunny days riding the thermals. Gedling pit top can be also be a good site for wintering Short-eared Owl if the vole population has done well and it is also a fantastic vantage point for observing visible migration and have seen Honey Buzzard, Marsh and Hen Harrier from there in recent years. Its also a cracking place to be on for Common Snipe and Jack snipe on the very highest point in late autumn early winter and it has been levelled and looks more like tundra than a Nottinghamshire landscape and has a very good Skylark population most spring's. Well worth a look if you havnt been there and before it becomes a fully managed country park.

High Darren; well actually we are in agreement here! I am particularly interested in what you say abot seeing a wildlife habitat BEFORE it starts to be managed for public access. Am I right in thinking that you recognise that such management is not good news for wildlife?