The Buzzard
Today I had the unusual need to go right to the back of my Handbook on Irish Garden Birds, to the section on identifying Birds of Prey. They are seldom, if ever seen in Gardens, but I was lucky to spot this one perched in the trees behind our house.
With Northern Ireland not really sporting any Eagles, I could see by the large size of this bird that it must be a buzzard; but a guidebook is always a good place to confirm a sighting after getting a few photographs.
The hedgerow beneath these trees has an abundance of rabbits, and I'm sure I have seen a large bird or buzzard flying away from the trees before, although in Summer it is harder to spot them perched in the foliage.
I have a 300m VR lens on my Nikon DSLR, which provided the perfect shots of the bird as it decided to move position to another nearby field. Sparrowhawks are the other main birds of prey in the area, but they are much smaller.
For some reason, I cannot think why, the buzzard seems to only inhabit the counties of Ulster; that being Northern Ireland, Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan (inland and coastal). It appears to be entirely absent from southern Ireland.
RSPB Illustration
With Northern Ireland not really sporting any Eagles, I could see by the large size of this bird that it must be a buzzard; but a guidebook is always a good place to confirm a sighting after getting a few photographs.
The hedgerow beneath these trees has an abundance of rabbits, and I'm sure I have seen a large bird or buzzard flying away from the trees before, although in Summer it is harder to spot them perched in the foliage.
I have a 300m VR lens on my Nikon DSLR, which provided the perfect shots of the bird as it decided to move position to another nearby field. Sparrowhawks are the other main birds of prey in the area, but they are much smaller.
For some reason, I cannot think why, the buzzard seems to only inhabit the counties of Ulster; that being Northern Ireland, Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan (inland and coastal). It appears to be entirely absent from southern Ireland.
RSPB Illustration
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