Through the kitchen window

I could hear the crows and magpies complaining when I was standing in the kitchen this morning but I couldn't see what they were upset about.  I knew it wasn't the sparrowhawk because the small birds seemed unconcerned.  Then suddenly a buzzard landed right in front of me.  I grabbed the nearest camera and just had time for this photo before it flew off, pursued by the corvids.

This is only the second time I have seen a buzzard in the garden, although they often fly overhead.  The last time was in the very cold winter eleven years ago but that one was at the top of my tallest ash tree so there was no photo.

Buzzards are birds of moorland and farmland and are rare garden visitors, so they don't feature in the data summaries from the BTO Garden BirdWatch.  The population has increased ten-fold over the last 40 years and they are now our most abundant raptors.  This graph is from the BTO Bird Trends.

This graph from the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey shows the population growth in the North East so maybe I won't have to wait another 11 years for the next visit.

BuzzardCam

Another lucky capture on a trail camera.  After the sparrowhawk and the woodcocks last winter the camera has now recorded a buzzard.  One of the great things about remote monitoring is that the bird / animal is completely unaware that it is being watched and behaves normally.  It would be almost impossible to observe a buzzard like this directly. The video is a bit more heavily cropped than the stills and as a result it is a bit less sharp.

The buzzard stayed in front of the camera for about three minutes but after the clip above it didn't do much.  It stood looking about and then walked up the bank out of shot.  Obviously not having a busy day.

A walk round the pond - Week 17

I have been to the pond each week but I didn't post an update for the past three weeks as there wasn't much to report. We have had weeks of cold easterly winds and although last weekend was warm and sunny we are now back to cool easterly weather.  Plants and insects may have been held back but the birds are getting on with things.  When I arrived yesterday this was what I saw.

There are eight chicks, the same number as last year, although they have hatched a few days earlier than last year.

This one is already marked out as an adventurer and was exploring the bank on its own

while the others kept close to mum.

A coot has made a nest in the reeds and is sitting on eggs.

I did my April bumblebee walk for the BBCT and saw five bumblebees, four common carder queens (Bombus pascuorum)

and one forest cuckoo bumblebee (Bombus sylvestris).  You can see she has hairy hind legs (so no pollen basket like a true bumblebee) and a pure white tail making species identification easier (I find the cuckoos a bit more of a challenge). This one is a social parasite of the early bumblebee (Bombus pratorum).

For just a moment I thought I had also found a worker tree bumblebee but on closer inspection it was a female hoverfly (Volucella bombylans var. plumata) which is a bumblebee mimic.  She will lay her eggs in the nests of social wasps or bumblebees where the larvae scavenge on the debris.

I could hear chiffchaff, willow warbler, curlew, buzzard,

yellowhammer,

and blackcap.

At one point a squadron of curlews flew overhead.

Butterflies this week included speckled wood, orange tip, comma, peacock,

and small white.

Last year week 18 saw the emergence of the first large red damselflies so I am keeping my fingers crossed for next week, especially if the weather warms up a bit.

End of year favourites - Aves (elsewhere)

I haven't taken as many bird photos this year as usual, probably because I have been distracted by other things such as dragonflies, bees and hornets.  Here are a few birds I did see.

Shooting buzzards

Twice in recent days I have been buzzed by a buzzard while I was out looking for dragonflies.  I was carrying only a 300mm lens, which is good for dragonflies but wasn't ideal for the buzzards as they flew overhead.  It was useful practice as birds in flight isn't one of my specialities.  Focussing is difficult even with autofocus and exposure is also a problem with a dark bird silhouetted against a blue sky.  Still, it was fun to try.  Here are the best of a bad lot.  All fairly heavily cropped.