Unwanted Buzzards

Merlins are quite small. On the balance of probability I reckon that a sparrowhawk is most likely.

 

Nah, Golden Eagle for sure ! :D

Never heard of a Merlin, looks beautiful.

 

Get a rookery. The rooks mob all raptors that come near their nesting sites and protect smaller birds that take advantage of this by nesting in the rookery and hedge below it. I've also seen thrushes mob buzzards. Magpies are the worst culprits during nesting time as they work in pairs, one goes in first to draw off the rooks whilst the other raids the nest. All part of nature and wonderful to observe.

 

Dendy,thanks for the links..It's interesting to see there is a Peregrine watchpoint at Symonds Yat which is only about 30 miles away from here.

 

Excellent advice - now how do we do that? :confused:

Yes, Pal, isn't it surprising how close we are to all this nature!! And in terms of a peregrine, that distance is nothing at all! They cover a lot of territory. I've watched eagles and tourist eagles aound the hillsides and mountainsides up here, and they cover a massive area. Glorious to watch...

 

Tourist Eagles? we are back to Buzzards again. :D

 

We have nesting buzzards all round us, never seen one take a small bird, they are not really built for that kind of hunting. They seem to live on things they pick up from the ground plus some roadkill. the sparrowhawk visits about once a month and takes one of the sparrows. They completely ignore it and carry on feeding. The first proper strike of a hawk, kills the prey. We have seen birds escape when that first strike is faulty.
The hens ignore both buzzards and sparrow hawks and the very rare kestrel visit, but there is something which flies over which gives them trouble. They crouch down and try to burrow into the ground. Never managed to see what it is though.

 

Coming up the M6 one day somewhere about Shap (J36 -39) happened to look off to the left and saw a buzzard taking off with a magpie in its tallons. If I had looked just a second sooner I would have probably seen it grab the magpie.The magpie was part of a group of about 6 or 7 and the rest were following the Buzzard and having a go as if to try and get it to drop its catch.
Absolutely great to see.

 

It must have been a smart buzzard or lucky to get a magpie out of a group. Their usual technique is to glide in and strike. I have seen them come low in over the brow of a hill so they have the element of surprise.
To go back to the original post I think he should consider either relocating his feeders or putting something in the way to stop the buzzard having a direct route in to strike. Kestrels normally hit from above so whether he can do something about that i am not sure. My feeders are under a tree canopy so that stops that hunting technique.
With small birds you need to arrange it so that they break cover for as short a distance as possible. I remember either hearing or reading about how useful in ecological terms things are. For instance a tree isolated in a field is poor value because the little birds have to break cover to use it. Out in the open they cannot outfly or out manouvre hawks or crows. I have used this principle when getting kids at school to plant trees. We planted trees in broad swathes down the field boundaries in stretches up to 1/4 mile long. The trees are now up to 15-20 feet and have connected the existing mature trees together. You never see tits etc flying in the field but the planted areas are absolutely full of them. The small birds can even move from the town gardens down our boundaries and into an area of mature trees round the back of the school with only small distances of open space to fly across.
When locating feeders people know about how to keep them away from cover hiding cats but forget that if you entice them into too open an area you will get raptor strikes.

 

It's a balance to be struck there, Geoff, between cats and raptors....

Yes, Strongy - I like to try to get back on thread! :D

Palustris - you must have some ideas about what the threat is, I'm sure. What do you think is likeliest?

 

Taffy has gone very quite - perhaps we've scared him off. To get back to the point - I said it a while back and Geoff has said it more fully above:

Move the bird feeders nearer the house or under a tree canopy. That will deter the buzzards and Taff said nothing about cats did he?

 

We have kestrels and the like hovering here all the time but that's life in the country here!

 

Originally posted by Dendrobium re rookery

Try Ebay? :D

 

We live on the edge of fields with a nearby wood and get visits from merlins, peregrine falcons and sparrowhawks. They mainly catch pigeons.. three years ago I was apinting my garage doors, heard a large thump and turned round to see a sparrowhawk has banged into the doors - complete with pigeon in its claws. Pigeon flew away. Sparrowhawk looked disapprovingly at me - it was only 3 meters away .. and then flew away in disgust.

We place our bird table near trees and grow lots of low shrubs - pyracantha , holly etc in borders to give small birds protection and cover. So we get lots of small birds.. wrens, all types of tits, robins, the occasional greater spotted woodpecker, goldcrests ,etc who come to the feeders.. but because of our close ground cover and trees can escape quickly under cover if a hawk comes by.

Judging by the feathers the local collared dove and woodpigeons feed the hawks very well....