The Fenland Buzzard on the Telephone Pole.

I was driving along the country lane in the Fenland between Manea and Upwell. I turned onto the bridge over the Sixteen-foot river, where the sign said to March. I was returning to the work depot after finishing my day's work. As I trundled along the uneven tarmac of the lane towards March town, I was looking out over the fields. There is nothing but fields and criss-cross networks of canals that drain the Fens. It is peaceful, rural and I absolutely love it all. Especially when my work day is over and I can take a comfortable drive back to the council yard and clock off. 

It was then that I saw her on a telephone pole. I say 'her' but in truth, I was not sure of the buzzard's gender. The reason I decided the buzzard was 'her' as opposed to 'he' was because of the colouring. I had seen a Common Buzzard with a similarly mixed fleck at Sandringham a year before. On this occasion, a falconer was holding the wonderful creature and he told me the buzzard was female. Therefore my buzzard on the pole was a female too. Just a whim but there you have it.

My heart always leaps every time I see a bird of prey. The Fenlands is full of them and their numbers are increasing. This beautiful creature was staring at me from the telephone pole and did not move off as I drew nearer. It just looked at me as I drove past. Her plumage was lovey and I cursed to myself. 'Dam and blast! I never have the camera when driving.' 

I trundled on listening to the audio novel on my mobile that was placed on a charger stand. All of a sudden my mind clicked into gear. 

"Mobile!" I exclaimed to myself. 

Better than no camera at all. I pulled into a layby further down the road and checked no vehicle was coming along behind me as I turned around and went back to the buzzard's location. As I rounded the bend I could see the creature in the distance and slowed the van down. I knew she would get spoked as soon as I moved for the camera. They have spectacular eye-sight. I stopped the van picked up the mobile and put to camera settings just as she got spooked. I managed a couple of clicks but she took off as I was snapping away.

"Never mind," I told myself as I looked at two shots I thought I could put in the blog. I drove on passed to the next layby and turned around again to resume my journey back to the yard. As I passed the telephone pole again, the buzzard had returned and she was staring down at me as I passed. Just like the first time - almost déjà vu.

I Love the Birds of Prey Over the Fenland.

I was on the computer doing the multimedia thing when my wife came in from the garden and said there was a raptor over the fields to the front of the house. A raven was trying to harass the raptor. I was not sure if it was a Common Buzzard or a Marsh Harrier. It's beak looked like that of a Marsh Harrier.

The duel in the sky was short and the raven eventually flew off. The raptor tried to confront the more manoeuvrable carrion bird and I think that did the trick. Usually, the ravens and crows harass in numbers and the raptor retreats away from the air space. This one turned and twisted and tried to face the raven.

If a raven was struck by the talons it would be ripped from the sky. Ravens and crows are more manoeuvrable and can get into positions above or to the side, but they can only intimidate. They can't strike. The raptor can and that is the one advantage it does have. One blow of the talons and it is game over. This raptor tried and the raven decided that he who turns and runs away lives to fight another day.

Joy of the Fenlands and the low flying Buzzard.

We sat in the bird hides for a long time waiting for a raptor. Sometimes a Marsh Harrier, sometimes a Common Buzzard. Also a Short Eared Owl. There were some in the distance but they were too far for a clear photo shot. Paul, Carole and I chatted away and watched many of the water birds on the flooded fen. Our dog, Dotty was beginning to go dotty sitting in the bird hide. She wanted to get out and run along the bridal path of the dyke. In the end, we gave in to her desires to walk along to the next hide.

It was a good call because a Common Buzzard glided majestically across the clear blue sky at a close level for me to get a few shots. My son, Paul enjoyed the sight and has been speaking of falconry for some time now. 

Is a Marsh Harrier Hunting the Fields in Front of Our House?

I'm sure this was a Marsh Harrier. It could have been a buzzard or Sparrow Hawk, but there is a black line going around the white of this bird of prey's head. A bit like a Lone Ranger or Tonto mask. However, I'm no expert and could be wrong. This hawk was in the fields across the road from my home. It was some distance and the 300mm lens captured it, though not as good as a more powerful lens.

If it is a Marsh Harrier, it would mean that the bird of prey is also using our fields as a hunting ground. This is exciting as birds of prey numbers are increasing rapidly in the Fenland.

The Buzzard Above Our House.

There was actually two buzzards circling each other when Carole called to me. I came out with the camera and began trying to use the zoom lens as they drifted away. At first I thought the lower one had something in its beak? However as I studied the photos, the raptor's wing feathers look damaged. Perhaps it had been in a fight of some sort. 

Some of the creature's flight feathers appear to be missing. I think the pair are nesting by some trees across the Fen, close to the river. 

The Buzzard and the Crow in Air Battle

Turning off to the beach at Brancaster in Norfolk I was met with a fantastic sight. I was on the way to Holkham Hall Estate for a day out, but I always bring my camera for the birds of prey. I don't know why but they fascinate me. As the car went along the rough road, Carole called my attention to a bird of prey. It was either a buzzard or a marsh harrier.

I stopped the car and quickly got out my camera. The two birds were at some distance but this was no courting of birds of prey. It was an Ariel battle between a crow and, I think, a buzzard. 

I'm no lover of crows because they are everywhere. As a dustman, I see them in large numbers at the landfill site when we empty the Fenland's rubbish. The tips are full of all sorts of carrion birds. Crows, ravens, rooks and various types of seagull too. To me they are dirty. Yet they are also necessary for our ecosystem. They clean things up and it is perhaps, us that are dirty with our refuse.

I think a buzzard or marsh harrier could hold it own against a crow. They are hunters with sharp talons. However, in the air, the crow seems more manoeuvrable and intelligent. It always seems to fly behind the bird of prey to harass and worry the raptor. It's as though the crow knows to keep its distance but to swoop nearby and from the rear to annoy the larger hunting bird.

The buzzard will glide and try to manoeuvre alongside the carrion crow but there always seems to be a way of twisting and turning to fall back behind the buzzard. Eventually, the buzzard gets driven off.