Thursday, August 18, 2011

Buzzard revisited

In the weeks since my last morning with the buzzards we had seen them twice feeding on dead rabbits in the same area.  Sadly there is a fair bit of myxy around at present and that morning whilst walking the dog I'd seen one of the rabbits out feeding in broad daylight, eyes fully closed.  So I had fewer reservations about looking to try the baiting out again.  Having found another fresh roadkill - very near where the other had been - I went back to the same field.  I wanted to try and get some closer shots , but to get the right angle my last vantage point wouldn't work, as it was about 6 feet above the field.  So this time I did use a hide, but my 'low level' one (home made from a cloche frame and less than 3 feet high).
The birds did seem more wary, not just the hide, but the rabbit was only about 20 paces away this time, probably half the previous distance.  Eventually though one glided down from the big oak tree, not a single flap of it's wings until it landed.  


It was a superb experience to watch this beautiful bird at such a close range - just right for full-frame shots too (although I'm frustrated that I clipped the wing in the first shot).  
One surprise though was the number of wasps down feeding on the carcass.  Never seen that before - although thinking about it you could see a few flying around on some the last set of pictures.

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