Buzzard Feeding

As a few of you will know Sue and I moved to North Wales in 2008 and for the first time in our lives we are living in an area where Buzzards are common as they are not persecuted. I have posted on the blog about the "buzzard feeding station" I have set up around 20 yards from my office window in the caravan. I place locally shot carrion crows, magpies and any not too smelly road kill I find. I put something out at least daily now as the locals are using the quieter months for farming to bump off all the crows and magpies on their land. Ravens,Jays, Rooks , Jackdaws and raptors are left alone but crows and magpies are killed on sight due to them attacking free range poultry chicks and weak or sickly lambs (lambing occurs 12 months of the year here).

The other day I spotted "Bertie" one of the regular buzzards appearing to feed on some stale bread I chucked near the feeding station but thought I must be mistaken. Last night I threw some bread out again before going to bed (badgers eat it) and when I got up this morning spotted Bertie on the ground near two dead carrion crows. To my surprise he ignored the crows and started feeding on the bread ! I was certain it was the bread but this was confirmed when he spotted me and took off to his regular feeding spot under some trees at the other side of the field as he had a slice of granary bread clutched in one foot ! Now obviously Bertie could be a one off who likes a slice of granary for breakfast ( I might try him on toast later ) but I would never in a million years expected a buzzard to eat bread and even less likely to ignore dead meat and choose bread instead.

You photographers would LOVE it here as there is something happening all year round. I take point and snap photos and shot some videos on the camera but someone who knows what they are doing would get some stunning video and stills. The bird feeding station around 6-8 feet from my window and we get hundreds of birds on it daily in winter. A Sparrowhawk makes a couple of passes a day trying to grab something and earlier in October we had a Merlin that hung around the field and kept on trying to ambush one of the smaller birds. On several occasions in October it dived into the brambles behind the feeding station trying for a small bird which was hiding and I got superb views of it from no more than 8 feet away.

Seasons Greetings to all in Calderdale from Sue and Paul