Unwanted Buzzards

A large part of the buzzard diet will be worms, but a significant part is rabbits. Same with foxes - much of their food is simply obtained by noseing around in grass.
Providing nest sites won't upset the balance of nature, but it might get it closer to what it should be. Buzzards were severely persecuted. However the limiting factor is food supply. Many raptors defend territories, mainly because that is their food supply. So you won't get overrun by raptors - any surplus have to move elsewhere to find their own territory.
I think its fantastic the way buzzards have increased. while I have been living in my town it has become a common sound to hear buzzards mewing in the sky above my garden.I used to have to go to South shropshire to hear that at one time. Hope the red kites will get this far soon.
Buzzards would not be much of a threat to tits, they are too big and clumsy. Try and get a feeder that is contained in a cage. Gives the little ones some protection.

 

We have buzzards flying high overhead in the valley and I enjoy watching them circling on the thermals an calling to each other.
Given the wide area over which they range I can't see them having any very significant impact on wildlife in any one small area. Though I suppose if one had decided my garden was a nice local pit stop for a snack I migh feel differently

Over the last three years we've lost one complete nest of unfledged bluetits, two fledgling bluetits, two fledgling thrushes, one blackbird and a hedgehog (quite possibly more) and if a buzzard would kindly come and remove the fat grey hooligan cat that killed them I wouldn't be terribly upset.

The wild world is a tough place no matter where you are in the food chain or however 'rare' you are.
Here's a local news story from this month -

The rare red-rumped swallow, normally a Mediterranean native, was spotted in Lunan Bay, near Montrose, Scotland. Excited birdwatchers flocked to the site to catch a glimpse of this bird to watch it fly over the beach.The swallow should have kept flying though. It decided to land on a roof of a nearby farm building. At the twitchers' disbelief, a sparrowhawk appeared, grabbed the swallow with its powerful talons and flew off to feast on the tasty morsel.
"We had just phoned local birdwatchers to tell them of this rare occurrence. Then we had to ring them back and tell them it had been eaten,...."

 

Blinking heck Paladin have you got a peregrine visiting? I am dead jealous. Wish I had one....I have loads of big fat juicy collared doves they would love.

 

I know its a fact of life the food chain, but lets be honest about it we protect the best in our neighbourhoods and iff i had doves in my garden i would do anything in my power to protect them against predators, we would have more to worry about iff we lived in the usa

 

I love buzzards and we are getting some now. Also the red kites have reached the Chilterns and I hope they will be here soon.

You can't decide that some birds are nuisances or menaces because they eat other birds or animals. Those cuddly grey (and red) squirrels are the biggest bird and egg eaters. It's the same sentimental deluded view that is now surfacing in the press from outraged viewers who are complaining that the BBC showed a pack of lions hunting and killing an elephant on Planet Earth. Animals must do their thing without interference from us. WE are the only predators that hunt and kill for fun and not for food.

Not going to respond to Mac's comment.

 

I saw that story Dave, from a while back - black humour indeed!

I always feel that when I hear and see buzzards I'm in the country - so, although I now regularly see one (Mr D christened him Kevin, for some reason) on our way to B+Q, and even above our own garden they soar and circle - it still feels like that. It's an unmistakeable sound.

I'd agree that the best way of dealing with them if they're taking birds in your garden is to provide the birds with this type of feeder for protection, and hope the buzzards, or whatever other raptor you might have around, isn't just waiting for them to come out, rather plumper than when they went in....

http://shopping.rspb.org.uk/mall/productpage.cfm/rspb/R0062/76564

 

I am amazed that you are seeing Perigrine Falcons in your gardens taking birds as we have been bird watchers for over 30 years and the only time we see Peregrins are when we go out to the cliffs,because that is where they live and breed picking off stray racing pigeons and Rock Doves.i think you are getting them mixed up with Sparrowhawks.
Red Kites are also a bird of beauty,and luckily for us they are out our way and starting to breed so increasing the numbers

 

I tend to agree with you Kandy. I've only seen peregrines on western coastal cliffs. But now I understand that they are colonising city skyscrapers and using the high window ledges for nesting

 

Yes I too have seen programmes about them I had forgotten about that.So we might in years to come see them in peoples gardens but not I fear at the moment.I suppose if food gets scarse out on the cliffs then they too like the Seagulls and Cormorants will start to colonise the towns and city's just like the Red Kites did many years ago.We are also seeing Egrets now breeding in this country and we have seen Oystercatchers at the West Moorland Serives on the M6 which is quite a way from their usual habitat,such is the changing of things

 

I was most chuffed to have a visit from a sparrow hawk. Especially as they like to hunt in 'dense foliage' as my bird book put it, which is what I was going for in my Jungle. Nothing quite like a bit of approval and credit from the wildlife :D

 

I don't think you will get that many more peregrines. They have recovered well from the population crash that nearly wiped them out and I think they are not far off what would be their peak. They will always be rare cause they are specialists. They tend to pick out fast moving birds such as pigeons. In a garden with lots of foliage it would be a dangerous place for such a bird - too many obstacles, so that is the haunt of the sparrow hawk with the shorter wings. We have had one or two visits and I found the remains of a bird on a tree stump at the bottom of the garden. Thats nature i suppose. We cannot expect predators to be able to obtain their food from a supermarket and to be honest there is probably less distress caused when they kill than when animals are killed for our consumption.
I would agree with the objections to cats. Its not the animals fault, just the fact that as a predaters they are kept in extremely high densities. Wild cats would have several miles between competing cats. I have lost several clutches of eggs and chicks due to cat predation. That stopped when we started keeping dogs.

 

The bird that took a dove in flight over our garden and slamed it into the house wall was quite big and inspired me to carve a likeness..See the Carved in Stone thread. Could be wrong!

 

had a look Nick.Yours looks like a Sparrowhawk in stone,and not a Perigrine

 

Hmm I went looking through Flickr to get pictures of both...they were too similar. When you see both in the flesh you don't mistake them. I have seen more peregrines than sparrowhawks even though the latter does hunt in our locality.
In flight there is no mistaking them - the peregrine really does have swept back wings like a jet fighter and really rapid wing beats as it gains height. I was watching one in South Shropshire that was displaying to its mate...absolutely fabulous.
Its a fact of life though that blue tits etc are there to provide food for those further up the food chain. Just as gazelles and zebra are hunted by lions in Africa.
Large numbers of small birds will atrract the predators. All you can do is give them a fighting chance. I would consider using feeders within cages, so the birds don't get plucked off while feeding. I also position mine ab0ove ground so cats cannot strike easily but close to cover so birds can dive in quickly. If you postion a feeder in the middle of a wide open lawn then they are sitting targets for a sparrowhawk whipping over a roof top or hedge. My garden has plenty of cover and lots of little birds. The fact I don't get visited that often by a raptor is probably because they are not easily taken by surprise.

 

Just to add a bit more confusion - couldn't have been a merlin, could it? I've seen them in Bucks occasionally, when on my way to work. I was used to seeing kestrels on my wandering around Herts, Beds and Bucks, and have very occasionally heard and seen buzzards, but in one particular area between Chesham and Great Missenden I saw one a few times.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/m/merlin/index.asp
as opposed to
http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/p/peregrine/index.asp
as opposed to

http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/p/peregrine/index.asp