Just took the dog for a spin and spotted this bird of prey en route. Do the forum's hawk twitchers recognise it?
It doesn't look like the type with which I am familiar . . .
"Ha Ha Ha, Boom! Boom!"
Difficult to be sure, but possibly a peregrine falcon.
Thanks, Eric. They all the look the same to me. It was very timid. When I spotted it, I spun the car round at the next junction, drove back, but the bird soon took fright.
Most birds of prey are nervous of humans, except when their nests are being threatened, when they can get quite aggressive.
I reckon it's a female buzzard looking at a close up of it.
One of buzzards favourite "survey" spots are the tops of telephone poles which give an unobstructed view of potential meals.
Thank you, Oranged. Maybe it wanted some food. Where's a small child when you need one?!
Strangely buzzards eat quite small items, worms are one of their favourites on newly ploughed fields; mice and voles....things like that....dogs are safe unless they're the type that get carried around in handbag !!
But their real favourite is carrion......uughhh!
True, but they do a valuable service in that way, by cleaning up carcasses which would otherwise rot and spread disease. There's a terrible example of this in India, where the widespread veterinary use of dichlofenac has resulted in the near extinction of Indian vultures, with the result that there are rotting carcasses all over the place.
Although Im no fan of vultures, thats really sad - Asia vulture crisis.
I wonder if it works with sea-gulls?
Srsly I sometimes wish the council would introduce contraception in baited carrion around here.
Yes its that time of year again when the gulls start to go mental and dive-bomb everything in sight, as I found out earlier today.
If you go down the natural rather than chemical route, Peregrines and Harris Hawks are used for pigeons but it would take an Eagle Owl or Golden Eagle for seagulls !