There's a home turf walk that I take Molly out on occasionally - she loves it as it takes us into open farmland which is natural spaniel territory, the very environment they were bred for. However this is farmland on the very edge of town - turn to the North or East and you're firmly set in the twenty first century landscape of the Ricoh Arena, the Gallagher Business park and the M6/Pheonix Way interchange with all its associated hurry but turn toward the Church of St Giles Exhall in the West and if it weren't for the relentless grind and rumble of gears and wheels you could fall effortless into the timeless landscape of the English Middle Ages.
I wanted to see if the local buzzards were using this tract of land as I had ideas that their territory would include it. I walked along the edges of some arable land and entered a horse pasture and there found the first feather fluttering below the scrubby bushes at the edge of the field, a tail feather that looked as if it might well be from the very same bird using the Hawkesbury oak as a perch as it seemed to match the ones found under that ancient tree.
Primary found under the oak
At the end of the meadow there was a large old oak and beneath it I found a finger primary too though ascertaining whether or not it once belonged to any particular bird would be impossible as the wing feathers seem to be quite indistinguishable from each other except perhaps in size which would denote either male or female, the female being a little larger on the whole.
A stark old stump
As we crossed into the next meadow I heard the unmistakable mewing of a buzzard some way to the North and went over to investigate. I saw the bird perched high in another oak and then the partner flew past just twenty yards away heading for another oak on the opposite side of the field. I just caught a picture of the first bird before it flew off the perch to join its mate, the first half-decent picture I have managed to obtain of a Longford Buzzard.
One of the pair at distance
We walked around this set of meadows for an hour or more until I came across the next set of feathers, three secondaries and all within yards of each other, one out in the field a little and two by the hedge, as usual. Just around the corner from these I then came across a spot around a fallen hawthorn where there were numerous feathers including a couple more primaries.
Buzzard secondary in amongst the horse dung
By the time we'd completed a first search of most of the field edges available I had nine feathers in my hand including a second tail feather from a different bird than the first found earlier in the session. We then crossed over into the arable fields to see what we could see.
The stench of death halted us at a certain point and the source was soon found dead in the hedgerow, a fox who'd been there a little while and fast decaying ~
Fox's end...
A little further along I came across the remains of a meal. This was a grey wagtail and had been reduced to a spread of feathers without any trace of bones - I'd guess the bird was pulled apart by either a buzzard or more likely the sparrowhawk I saw fly past just a little later in the day. It couldn't have been a fox who would have certainly eaten such a tiny bird fluff, feathers and all.
Feast site - the remains of a grey wagtail
As we completed a circuit of the field edges of the arable land without anything else to show for it I finally came across more buzzard feathers and all within 100 yards of each other and as usual all in the field edge and ditch area. The first was a primary covert and the second yet another finger primary...
Another primary at the edge of an arable field
I took a picture of the days haul and then found a third tail feather, the match for the second bird tail found earlier. I also realised then that I'd managed to drop a secondary somewhere out in the fields and we went back to find it. We never did...
The haul minus the lost secondary and a tail yet to come
So, a total of twelve of the larger feathers found in a couple of hours and a few breast and flank. I'd suppose many of them had been out in the field for some time for there to be so many around to find. I don't expect the second trip in a week or so to produce nearly as much material for study.
I wanted to see if the local buzzards were using this tract of land as I had ideas that their territory would include it. I walked along the edges of some arable land and entered a horse pasture and there found the first feather fluttering below the scrubby bushes at the edge of the field, a tail feather that looked as if it might well be from the very same bird using the Hawkesbury oak as a perch as it seemed to match the ones found under that ancient tree.
Primary found under the oak
At the end of the meadow there was a large old oak and beneath it I found a finger primary too though ascertaining whether or not it once belonged to any particular bird would be impossible as the wing feathers seem to be quite indistinguishable from each other except perhaps in size which would denote either male or female, the female being a little larger on the whole.
A stark old stump
As we crossed into the next meadow I heard the unmistakable mewing of a buzzard some way to the North and went over to investigate. I saw the bird perched high in another oak and then the partner flew past just twenty yards away heading for another oak on the opposite side of the field. I just caught a picture of the first bird before it flew off the perch to join its mate, the first half-decent picture I have managed to obtain of a Longford Buzzard.
One of the pair at distance
We walked around this set of meadows for an hour or more until I came across the next set of feathers, three secondaries and all within yards of each other, one out in the field a little and two by the hedge, as usual. Just around the corner from these I then came across a spot around a fallen hawthorn where there were numerous feathers including a couple more primaries.
Buzzard secondary in amongst the horse dung
By the time we'd completed a first search of most of the field edges available I had nine feathers in my hand including a second tail feather from a different bird than the first found earlier in the session. We then crossed over into the arable fields to see what we could see.
The stench of death halted us at a certain point and the source was soon found dead in the hedgerow, a fox who'd been there a little while and fast decaying ~
Fox's end...
A little further along I came across the remains of a meal. This was a grey wagtail and had been reduced to a spread of feathers without any trace of bones - I'd guess the bird was pulled apart by either a buzzard or more likely the sparrowhawk I saw fly past just a little later in the day. It couldn't have been a fox who would have certainly eaten such a tiny bird fluff, feathers and all.
Feast site - the remains of a grey wagtail
As we completed a circuit of the field edges of the arable land without anything else to show for it I finally came across more buzzard feathers and all within 100 yards of each other and as usual all in the field edge and ditch area. The first was a primary covert and the second yet another finger primary...
Another primary at the edge of an arable field
I took a picture of the days haul and then found a third tail feather, the match for the second bird tail found earlier. I also realised then that I'd managed to drop a secondary somewhere out in the fields and we went back to find it. We never did...
The haul minus the lost secondary and a tail yet to come
So, a total of twelve of the larger feathers found in a couple of hours and a few breast and flank. I'd suppose many of them had been out in the field for some time for there to be so many around to find. I don't expect the second trip in a week or so to produce nearly as much material for study.
One of the many wood pigeon meals seen out in the arable fields
As you might expect there were numerous feast sites of the ubiquitous wood pigeon dotted here and there and especially in the arable fields. The work of the Longford Buzzards perhaps?
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