Return to moorhen home page
Return to section index
Image-of-the-Day by Subject
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
Comments and requests for image use
To make a comment, ask for information or to request a full
resolution image, send us an email including the reference or
the date for the image you are interested in.
All initial contacts should be made using the icon below:-