Where Have All The Buzzards Gone ?

Till you round a corner hauling arse and there are 4 or 5 of them dining on road kill

 

They maybe got shoved out of the West Midlands because their high pitched kee kee is not ‘dead noisal’ like the locals?

 

I was driving along the M180 a couple of years ago and there was a buzzard, seagull and magpie fighting over a roadkill and the first thought I had was








that would make a great pie (not including the roadkill)

 

There was a time I thought I'd have to go to the Red Kite feeding station in Wales to see them. Then there was a release program in Oxfordshire quite a few years ago, and I still remember the first time I saw Kites soaring over a village near Henley. Had to pull over to watch them.

Now we get them soaring over our garden - and I still have to watch - they are so skilled at feeling and using the air currents (I'm a glider pilot, and well jealous). I get a great kick out of sharing a thermal with a Kite or Buzzard, though they leave quickly if you get too close.

We do also get Buzzards over the garden, and I love their call. It reminds me of a holiday in Dumfries and Galloway years ago, when there were Buzzards roosting near the cottage. It's an evocative sound.

 

I think most of the UKs Buzzard population live in Norfolk....i reglarly see up to 6 in the sky over the village...along with the odd Red Kite, lots of Kestrals and some other massive buggers that i am not quite sure what they are.

 

Tell you what's been bothering me this year - where have all the Swallows gone? There's a few around, but not nearly as many as there should be. At the airfield, we usually have dozens and dozens flying low over the grass getting bugs and insects, but this year I've seen one. Very few in our area of the country, though on holiday in Scotland, there were more around (Dumfries and Galloway).

I don't know if it was bad weather affected their migration, or lack of insects. There is a worrying decline in insect mass. I've noticed it for at least 10 years. It used to be that I'd clean my visor at a fuel stop, but never need to do that now. Maybe half a dozen bug strikes total on the screen, headlight and visor together after a run out on the bike.

 

Apparently "their annual migration is disrupted by global warming. Chemicals, insecticides and pesticides have reduced the swallow population by 30% over the last decade."

https://www.ompe.org/en/what-happened-to-swallows/

 

Sorry but I don’t buy the new religion nonsense.

The probable answer is much simpler.....
https://www.birdlife.org/europe-and...l-killing-and-trapping-57-million-birds-egypt
And not just the Egyptians but across the Mediterranean. Cyprus is much the same.....

 

Apart from the global warming bit, which I don't buy either, it could well be a combination of both catching and accumulated poison.

 

lots of buzzards here also red kites. sparrow hawk regularly swoops in our garden and takes small birds off the bird table. the last few warm days we have had lots of butterflies in our garden. Also got a pair of Owl's that keep us awake hooting at night. we are in the country, not in a village. Somerset.