Buzzing a buzzard

The other day John Salloway managed to get photos of the female peregrine driving off a passing common buzzard....and here's the evidence!

The buzzard clearly had to turn on its back to fend of the attacking peregrine. John commented:

"The Falcon did seem to have the upper hand. The buzzard was nearly always upside down in the pictures I managed to get. It would be a good fight if the birds had locked talons but thankfully the buzzard got the message without any harm to either bird. What highlighted us to the event was that the Falcon flew from the cathedral screeching in a straight line of attack. By the time she got to the Buzzard they were a good 300m away, making it difficult to hear any noise.The Buzzard was no match for the agile falcon. These birds are truly masters of the skies. Fantastic to see."

Buzzards do pass across Derby quite frequently but only when they are low and close to the tower does the falcon feel the need to drive them off.

Buzzards are a species that has re-colonised Derbyshire in the last 10-14 years having been previously 'excluded' by gamekeeping and shooting interests and also by the decline in rabbits from myxomatosis.

Unlike peregrines, buzzards take a wide range of food items including worms, small mammals, rabbits and in summer, the young of many birds (including crows, magpies and other corvids).

Of course they are much slower birds in flight (with large rounded wings for soaring and gliding). They are certainly not designed to hunt on the wing but do so exclusively on the ground or by taking young birds from nests.

Other birds of prey that sometimes fly past the cathedral include sparrowhawks, kestrels and once only, a hobby and a honey buzzard.
Nick B (DWT)