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Birds - Buzzard Page 11

Image Taken on 21 Jul 2017 at 16:32    Image of day on 06 Sep 2017

The Buzzard then turned towards the camera and from detail in the cloud edge we constructed this accurate montage. The first 5 images (from the left) are at about 7fps, but the remainder are alternate frames to avoid too much overlap.


Ref: 20170906_df3_20170721_1632_022-038 buzzard in flight turning toward camera 01-05+07+09+11+13+15+17 of 18 (accurate montage @ 7fps)(r+mb id@1024).jpg


Image Taken on 13 Jan 2017 at 11:12    Image of day on 18 Feb 2017

The local Buzzard took off from a nearby Ash tree but turned back on itself in flight and then made this abrupt change in direction in only about a third of a second. Bird positions are arbitrary here, but the first 6 frames (moving downwards) are contiguous over about 1 second.


Ref: 20170218_df3_20170113_1112_026-031+033 buzzard in flight twisting in air towards camera 05-10+12 of 12 (impression montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 05 Mar 2012 at 12:31    Image of day on 04 Apr 2012

One of the buzzards flew over us viewed through the branches of a Black poplar tree on our access track.


Ref: 20120404_df1_20120305_1231_051 buzzard in flight viewed through black poplar branches 1 of 5 (crop 2)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 27 Feb 2013 at 16:03    Image of day on 05 Apr 2013

After weeks of absence in the dull weather 3 Buzzards made an unexpected appearance. 2 flew off but the third bird did a few loops a few hundred metres away before flying off in another direction.
First a pair of a single wing flap with alternate wings lit by the lowering sun (2 images about 300mS apart but correct spacing unknown)


Ref: 20130405_df1_20130227_1603_107+109 buzzard in flight with alternate wings lit 1+2 of 2 (arbitrary montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 05 Jun 2011 at 11:17    Image of day on 18 Jul 2011

Next day a Buzzard carried a rabbit along the line of the brook. The bird was flying into wind (making poor progress) but we noticed that it was doing the Osprey trick of lining up the prey with the direction of flight to reduce drag. A brief skirmish with a rook had it back in it's normal feet together position, but quickly reverted to the aligned position here. 7 days later we saw a similar flight but the rabbit was just hanging down as we usually see.


Ref: 20110718_df1_20110605_1117_098 buzzard in flight with rabbit in talons aligned with body (crop @576)(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 04 Jun 2011 at 13:51    Image of day on 18 Jul 2011

One advantage of birds feeding young is that rather than eating what they catch immediately, they carry some of it back to the youngsters and give us a chance to see it.
Firstly a Buzzard carrying a rodent. It never got close enough to identify the prey accurately.


Ref: 20110718_df1_20110604_1351_041 buzzard in flight with rodent in talons (@432)(r+mb id@432).jpg


Image Taken on 25 Apr 2018 at 09:03    Image of day on 12 Jun 2018

A Buzzard made a few lowish passes as a couple of Rooks made it very clear it was not welcome near 'our' Rookery


Ref: 20180612_df3_20180425_0903_023 buzzard in gliding flight 3 of 3 (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 07 Mar 2017 at 08:48    Image of day on 17 Apr 2017

The mass ploughing of the previous pastures inevitably changes the habits of the creatures that occupy the land. Buzzards and other large birds make the most of the freshly disturbed soil. Here the Buzzard is perched in a young hedge-line tree we have never seen him in before.


Ref: 20170417_df3_20170307_0848_239 buzzard in small tree at edge of freshly ploughed field (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 28 Feb 2018 at 09:16    Image of day on 05 Apr 2018

A Buzzard about 100m away at the brook not quite as lost in the confusion of branches as usual.


Ref: 20180405_df3_20180228_0916_093 buzzard in tree by brook (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 09 Dec 2011 at 12:05    Image of day on 14 Jan 2012

A cold but sunny and still middle of day unexpectedly had this buzzard flying right over us in the characteristic circle and climb indicating it had found a 'thermal'. Of course it is a local temperature difference that creates the thermal, rather than warmth.


Ref: 20120114_df1_20111209_1205_017 buzzard in unexpected thermal over our plot on cold still sunny midday(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 06 Oct 2016 at 10:39    Image of day on 21 Nov 2016

This juvenile Buzzard was flapping as hard as buzzards ever do, and was making very little headway into the steady but strong easterly wind, and losing height at the same time. Birds often drop to near the ground to make progress against strong winds.


Ref: 20161121_df3_20161006_1039_465+467+470 buzzard juvenile flying against strong east wind 1+3+6 of 6 (impression montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg


Image Taken on 06 Oct 2016 at 10:23    Image of day on 20 Nov 2016

A juvenile Buzzard passing over.
This is a particularly light individual, apparently not particularly unusual.


Ref: 20161120_df3_20161006_1023_132 buzzard juvenile in flight 1 of 3 (crop)(r+mb id@1024).jpg


Image Taken on 06 Oct 2016 at 10:39    Image of day on 21 Nov 2016

This 'approximate' montage is very close to reality - the wind was blowing all the birds sideways when they tried to fly across it!


Ref: 20161121_df3_20161006_1039_485-488 buzzard juvenile in flight about 5fps 1-4 of 4 (approximate montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 10 Nov 2016 at 12:17    Image of day on 20 Dec 2016

Birds landing on perches are difficult to represent because the landing speed is so controlled that everything overlaps. This is one way of representing this Buzzard landing.


Ref: 20161220_df3_20161110_1217_092+095+098 buzzard landing in ash tree 06+09+12 of 13 (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 01 Aug 2016 at 07:38    Image of day on 18 Sep 2016

This bird landed in a willow tree at the brook.
Image 1 (left): The Talon are extended to grip the branch a few centimetres away.
Image 2 (middle): The landing was accompanied by a call - this is the 'noisy Buzzard'.
Image 3 (right): Is from a changed camera position were we could see the Buzzards eye peering between the leaves.


Ref: 20160918_df3_20160801_0738_352+355+360 buzzard landing in willow tree @ 6fps 1+4+9 of 9 (impression montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg


Image Taken on 18 Nov 2016 at 09:06    Image of day on 28 Dec 2016

Another 'dice with death as the buzzard lands on the 11kV crossbar. Our neighbouring farmer told us many years ago that he saw a bird 'flash into nothing' between an earlier incarnation of these high voltage wires. Many years ago we found an immaculate drake mallard lying dead below the 240V power pole on our patch, and can only think it was electrocuted at the much lower voltage, not leaving any visible burns - this perfect bird dead in our hands has made an indelible impression on us.


Ref: 20161228_df3_20161118_0906_045 buzzard landing on 11kv crossbar(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 13 Sep 2019 at 18:00    Image of day on 04 Nov 2019

We missed the take-off from the crossbar 100m left, but guessing the destination had the camera focussed and running to catch this landing at the next one along.
We sometimes cringe at how close these birds come to an explosive death on the 11kV cables, once seen and described to us by a local farmer.


Ref: 20191104_df3_20190913_1800_009+011+015 buzzard landing on 11kv crossbar 1+3+7 of 9 (accurate montage @7fps)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 06 Aug 2009 at 12:15    Image of day on 11 Sep 2009

Heard a buzzard calling and arrived for a view just as it appeared rising up toward a dead branch on a black poplar and landed on it for a few seconds. This is an accurate montage of two shots about 1 second apart. The black speck was one of a number of insects apparently dislodged by the draft.


Ref: 20090911_db1_20090806_1215_090+_094 buzzard landing on dead branch at top of black poplar at track end 2+6 of 13 (accurate montage)(r+mb id@576).jpg


Image Taken on 27 Jan 2016 at 13:18    Image of day on 28 Feb 2016

A couple of days later we disturbed the Buzzard while hunting in our woodland section, and thought we wouldn't see it again for days. But only 2 hours later, with no disturbing humans about, the Buzzard makes an unexpected visit to the Woodland camera site, unusually left active all that day in the dreary weather. It looks like the bird wing probably broke the IR beam over the log to take his portrait - the first time a buzzard has been photographed at any of the ground level cameras or the tree stump, though it was seen on one occasion in Feb 2015 at the kitchen window perch (see 2/3 down page http://www.moorhen.me.uk/imgofday/arch 2015 mar.htm)
Jan 2016 and Feb 2015 have been our only Buzzards seen inside our patch - maybe the Parents are kicking out the youngsters ready for a new batch.


Ref: 20160228_e64_20160127_1318_131_fb2 buzzard landing on ground (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg


Image Taken on 09 Feb 2019 at 09:35    Image of day on 08 Mar 2019

A Visit by the Buzzard starts with a wings-spread arrival, both Alula (anti-stall feathers sticking up half-way along the wing) fully extended for the slow approach.


Ref: 20190308_d01_20190209_0935_031_fb6 buzzard landing on meadow post (crop)(r+mb id@1024).jpg


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