Skip to main content

Kites and Buzzards

Its strange how kites will be so common for ages and then suddenly vanish for weeks. When I came home from holiday on the August Bank Holiday weekend there was one circling over my house which was a lovely way to be welcomed home. I didn't see another for a full month when, heading home from the dentist, I saw one over White Hill in Chesham.

Travelling to work yesterday a large bird of prey flew low across the road being mobbed by several crows. It was too quick for a firm identification but the lack of forked tail or bright russet plumage has me putting it down as a buzzard. I have seen them around here a number of times although they are nowhere near as common as the kites.

Having overstocked on fat blocks at the end of last season I have put one out in the front garden, although I would not normally start feeding for several weeks yet. I haven't seen anything on it and it isn't going down very fast but there are a few beak marks. It certainly isn't prompting me to put out the other feeders for a while.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Finally

 Health issues mean that I haven't been paying any attention to my blogs but I was roused from my afternoon cup of tea today but a most unholy racket. Yes the parakeets have finallyarrived in my part of Chesham with a flock of five in the tree in my neighbours garden. It had to come eventually as they have been in Rickmansworth for years. Not much else happening apart from the usual circling kites and the occasional buzzard. I haven't seen anything eating my rowan berries but the tree is being steadily stripped. Usually its a mix of wood pigeons and blackbirds. Collared doves seem to be back in this end of the village as I saw a pair while waiting for the bus this week. They used to be garden regulars but hadn't seen any near the house for years.
Post a Comment
Read more

Harvest

The arable fields between Ley Hill and Latimer have been harvested over the last couple of days. This morning I saw a group of yellowhammers in the middle of the road by a field gate. From the look of things they were eating spilled grain. Instead of flying into the hedgerow they flew away from me along the road at windscreen height. I haven't seen much else recently apart from a distant glimpse of a partridge and the occasional red kite.
Post a Comment
Read more

Returning to the Garden

High summer and early autumn is always a quiet time for birds in my garden. I no longer feed after my summer holiday as I have ended up throwing away far to much mouldy fat or seed. Normally I would wait until November before putting the feeders back out but a party of long tailed tits appeared in the front garden today so I think that it might be worth while trying a single fat bar for the moment. For the past couple of weeks I have seen a lot of roadside signs saying "beware of deer" in places where I wouldn't normally see them. Last weekend I decided that they might be justified when I encountered a herd of roe deer in the road between Ley Hill and Latimer. While muntjac are seen often enough the roes tend to be shy and this was only the third time that I have had a good look at some in all the years that I have lived here.
1 comment
Read more