Where do Buzzards go in winter?

[Red_is_best]

For the first time in weeks, I got out into my garden today and noticed the absence of the wheeling, mewing and soaring of three buzzards that seem to always be above during the summer weeks. It was strangely quiet and boring without them. Led me to randomly musing: where do they go? They must be locally resident when I see and hear them almost daily.

 

[Fattyfoggon]

We have lots near us and a few Red Kites have still been knocking about all winter love watching them btw quite often see them on the ground in fields where they just look like big chickens

 

[Red_is_best]

We have lots near us and a few Red Kites have still been knocking about all winter love watching them btw quite often see them on the ground in fields where they just look like big chickens

They are fascinating, aren’t they? I think I need an I-spy book

 

[Fattyfoggon]

They are fascinating, aren’t they? I think I need an I-spy book

Yeah love them got whacked on the back of the head by one a few years go whilst out running through a forest in the Mourne mountains. I am guessing it had young near by it cut the back of my head open, but weirdly it was a fantastic experience to get so close to them actually felt like an honour lol

 

[pierrequiroule]

The common buzzard is only a partial migrant and in the UK is usually resident. The reason you don't see them so much is the lack of thermals (not the warm clothing) in the winter months.

 

[Lemmy_kilmister]

We used to see Honey Buzzards when we lived in Gibraltar.

 

[johnmfc]

For the first time in weeks, I got out into my garden today and noticed the absence of the wheeling, mewing and soaring of three buzzards that seem to always be above during the summer weeks. It was strangely quiet and boring without them. Led me to randomly musing: where do they go? They must be locally resident when I see and hear them almost daily.

They don't really go anywhere, but in the winter they do change their foraging behaviour, so will tend to hang around farmland, and large open fields and eat worms and other insects. Same with red kites i often see them quartering really low around fields looking for worms. Worms are very high in protein so helps them through the winter while the smaller rodents hibernate/less active than in the warmer times.

 

[johnmfc]

We used to see Honey Buzzards when we lived in Gibraltar.
View attachment 52304

Would love to see one, but are very rare over here.

 

[MolteniArcore]

For the first time in weeks, I got out into my garden today and noticed the absence of the wheeling, mewing and soaring of three buzzards that seem to always be above during the summer weeks. It was strangely quiet and boring without them. Led me to randomly musing: where do they go? They must be locally resident when I see and hear them almost daily.

Awww, I thought this was a joke and you were going to tell us an amazing punchline!

 

[Laughing]

We have a red kite all year round and it often lands in the garden eyeing up the rabbits. She has a name, kitty which confuses the cat.

Buzzards, sessional said above change their feeding habits and stay closer to the ground. Kites not so much as they like a bit of carrion which can be spotted better from the air.

 

[Fattyfoggon]

when buzzards attack lol

 

[Norfolkred1]

Early morning winter jaunts onto the Brecon Beacons watching them sitting on fence poles to see what has passed throughout the night, normally a sheep or Lamb.

 

[Red_is_best]

Awww, I thought this was a joke and you were going to tell us an amazing punchline!

Sorry Molten! Did you think it was going to be about a three bird finish(ed). As you can see, I have no punchline at all, never mind a good one

 

[Norman_Conquest]

I was telling guisborough_rob on our visit to Kirkleatham that I use to keep birds of prey and had a Buzzard that didn't know how to fly. I had rescued this bird from a bloke who had a pub in the Hemlington area and it looked dreadful. He had been flying it only in the pub and it would jump from table to table.

I managed to get it back to feather perfect and when I use to take the other birds out to fly, the buzzard would walk behind me. I managed to get it to hop from tree to tree (that's how they hunt) and later loaned and then sold it to Kirkleatham Owl Sanctuary to breed from - They changed its name to Dazzle and managed to breed from it for several years.

 

[Red_is_best]

I was telling guisborough_rob on our visit to Kirkleatham that I use to keep birds of prey and had a Buzzard that didn't know how to fly. I had rescued this bird from a bloke who had a pub in the Hemlington area and it looked dreadful. He had been flying it only in the pub and it would jump from table to table.

I managed to get it back to feather perfect and when I use to take the other birds out to fly, the buzzard would walk behind me. I managed to get it to hop from tree to tree (that's how they hunt) and later loaned and then sold it to Kirkleatham Owl Sanctuary to breed from - They changed its name to Dazzle and managed to breed from it for several years.

Brilliant. You had me in raptors reading that

 

[Norman_Conquest]

Brilliant. You had me in raptors reading that

You are really funny, I wish you were my nest door neighbour.

Toucan play at that game.

 

[Red_is_best]

You are really funny, I wish you were my nest door neighbour.

Toucan play at that game.

Oh hell, I can’t work out a tone in your reply, so don’t know if you thought my reply was off. I genuinely loved your buzzard tale. Didn’t mean to ruffle your feathers.

 

[Norman_Conquest]

Oh hell, I can’t work out a tone in your reply, so don’t know if you thought my reply was off. I genuinely loved your buzzard tale. Didn’t mean to ruffle your feathers.

I understand your fear, but you are one of the early birds on this thread and I don't want you to chicken out.

 

[sparkins]

It seems like a lifetime ago, but I kept kestrels as a kid. My headmaster was a keen falconer and was brought road casualties and he couldn't keep up. I grew up on a farm so we had space and a willing dad to build a couple of aviaries, so I ended up with a couple of injured kestrels at a time and nursed them back to health where I could. Incredibly satisfying but such hard work, especially gaining trust of wild birds. I ended up with a buzzard too, which for a 12 year old lad seemed enormous at the time. Gradually as time went by I couldn't devote enough time to the whole thing and gave it up as a hobby - would love to have the time to get back into it again at some point.

 

[Norman_Conquest]

It seems like a lifetime ago, but I kept kestrels as a kid. My headmaster was a keen falconer and was brought road casualties and he couldn't keep up. I grew up on a farm so we had space and a willing dad to build a couple of aviaries, so I ended up with a couple of injured kestrels at a time and nursed them back to health where I could. Incredibly satisfying but such hard work, especially gaining trust of wild birds. I ended up with a buzzard too, which for a 12 year old lad seemed enormous at the time. Gradually as time went by I couldn't devote enough time to the whole thing and gave it up as a hobby - would love to have the time to get back into it again at some point.

My passion for birds of prey started as a young lad after seeing the film Kes and soon got myself a female kestrel that I trained to fly to the lure. When I got my house in Normanby, there were already aviaries and I soon converted these to house kestrels, sparrowhawks, barn owls, and of course the buzzard I mentioned above.

Work started to take me away from home and I could not give them the time they needed. That is when I loaned and then sold the buzzard to the owl sanctuary. I still have my falconry glove and only recently got rid of the scales I had to weigh the birds. Somewhere in the house will be the diaries of each bird I have flown, documenting their weight, how much they had eaten and how they had flown that particular day. The weather would also play a huge factor in that.

I know I have video footage of me hand feeding the sparrowhawks using a pair of eyebrow tweezers, but I must also have photos of the birds with my two sons.