Discussion
I noticed an extremely large bird of prey sitting on a fence post in the back garden,
I recognise most of the usual suspects but this was bigger than any I have seen round here!. We have a large window that looks out over a field and the bird was no more than 6 feet away and it looked approx 3 foot tall and quite stocky. It had a huge hooked beak that was yellow with a black tip. The claws were enormous.
We live on the edge of the peak district so it's pretty wild, I have looked on the usual guides and it didn't really tally with the usual buzzard or hawk it had a caramel front and dark brown wings,
It was a wild bird and had no transmitter rings ot tags.
It certainly wasn't afraid of my presence but by the time I had found my camera it had gone.
Any one offer a suggestion as to what it could be?
I recognise most of the usual suspects but this was bigger than any I have seen round here!. We have a large window that looks out over a field and the bird was no more than 6 feet away and it looked approx 3 foot tall and quite stocky. It had a huge hooked beak that was yellow with a black tip. The claws were enormous.
We live on the edge of the peak district so it's pretty wild, I have looked on the usual guides and it didn't really tally with the usual buzzard or hawk it had a caramel front and dark brown wings,
It was a wild bird and had no transmitter rings ot tags.
It certainly wasn't afraid of my presence but by the time I had found my camera it had gone.
Any one offer a suggestion as to what it could be?
Had wings so the first ones out, and I am pretty sure there were no afterburners.
It didn't look like the pictures I found for a red kite, it was just too large, The beak was wrong and the colouring just didn't match, it was quite a surprise as it was so close and wasn't spooked at all.
It didn't look like the pictures I found for a red kite, it was just too large, The beak was wrong and the colouring just didn't match, it was quite a surprise as it was so close and wasn't spooked at all.
But they don't give sizes.It had the eagle shape but the colours looked slightly different, that or a buzzard was the first thing I thought. The shape is right but I was close enough that I was not mistaken on size or the colour.
We are used to seeing birds of prey here and it was so unusual I wondered if it was an escapee from a zoo or breeder.
I know it was approx 3 feet from head to toe it was quite an intimidating bird, the size of the wings was staggering,
And actually something I had noticed was a patch in the snow that looked like a rabbit had been taken at first I thought a fox but now I wonder if the bird had fed.
We are used to seeing birds of prey here and it was so unusual I wondered if it was an escapee from a zoo or breeder.
I know it was approx 3 feet from head to toe it was quite an intimidating bird, the size of the wings was staggering,
And actually something I had noticed was a patch in the snow that looked like a rabbit had been taken at first I thought a fox but now I wonder if the bird had fed.
Edited by kieranasaurus on Saturday 11th December 19:26
kieranasaurus said:
It had the eagle shape but the colours looked slightly different, that or a buzzard was the first thing I thought.
We are used to seeing birds of prey here and it was so unusual I wondered if it was an escapee
The colours of both eagles and especially buzzards vary greatly and any reference source can only cover a small range.We are used to seeing birds of prey here and it was so unusual I wondered if it was an escapee
Your shape/size description suggests eagle. The behaviour is almost certainly buzzard.
If either are hunting in your area, the chances are you will see them in silhouette high up. An eagle has square wing tips and a much squarer tail than the rounded buzzard's. But the real give away is the head/neck. The eagle has a very pronunced head/neck in front of the wings whereas the buzzard has little head/neck similar to the raven/carrion crow and fulmar/gull.
HTH
HTH
Well I am six foot and I know from the fence post it was sitting on it was 3 feet tall, it was huge bigger than any buzard I've seen before, it just doesn't look like the pictures of the buzzard, I will see if I can find any feathers at the scene of the attack as you can clearly see on the grass where something has struggled.
Whatever critter it was it was impressive to see that we still have such magnificent beasts in the wild, if it is any use there is a large substantial reservoir just down the road
And also I have been feeding all the little birds lots and have noticed sometimes they get massively spooked, something scared a blackbird so much it flew into the window and died
But there were some rabbit or hair trails in the snow and a few days later there was a lot of snow and soil disturbed but no real footprints, so the bird could be a culprit
Whatever critter it was it was impressive to see that we still have such magnificent beasts in the wild, if it is any use there is a large substantial reservoir just down the road
And also I have been feeding all the little birds lots and have noticed sometimes they get massively spooked, something scared a blackbird so much it flew into the window and died
But there were some rabbit or hair trails in the snow and a few days later there was a lot of snow and soil disturbed but no real footprints, so the bird could be a culprit
Edited by kieranasaurus on Saturday 11th December 23:48
I've been in Macclesfield 20 years now and the amount of large raptors has increased massively.During spring/summer I do my marathon training runs
around Wildboarclough and Macc Forest and quite often can run for an hour or more without seeing anything other than hawks,buzzards,deer and (ahem)sheep .No cars,
humans etc,mostly just big birds.It's very hilly and the fun is not knowing when you crest a hill what bird you will see and you can get VERY close.Fantastic.
around Wildboarclough and Macc Forest and quite often can run for an hour or more without seeing anything other than hawks,buzzards,deer and (ahem)sheep .No cars,
humans etc,mostly just big birds.It's very hilly and the fun is not knowing when you crest a hill what bird you will see and you can get VERY close.Fantastic.
I know there are a lot of birds, it is a stunning place however this particular beast wasn't one of the usual suspects, maybe it was just on a day trip!
I was quite surprised to see it stay as long as it did it looked very regal sitting there, guaranteed now I have a camera placed it won't show!
I don't even think I could use a piece of meat or something as a lure because of foxes
Just as an edit more I look at buzzards I just don't think it was that, the beak was different , larger and more hooked if that makes sense more prominent, and it stood more upright than a buzzard it has certainly pricked my interest as to what's lurking around the garden
I was quite surprised to see it stay as long as it did it looked very regal sitting there, guaranteed now I have a camera placed it won't show!
I don't even think I could use a piece of meat or something as a lure because of foxes
Just as an edit more I look at buzzards I just don't think it was that, the beak was different , larger and more hooked if that makes sense more prominent, and it stood more upright than a buzzard it has certainly pricked my interest as to what's lurking around the garden
Edited by kieranasaurus on Sunday 12th December 02:37
kieranasaurus said:
I know there are a lot of birds, it is a stunning place however this particular beast wasn't one of the usual suspects, maybe it was just on a day trip!
I was quite surprised to see it stay as long as it did it looked very regal sitting there, guaranteed now I have a camera placed it won't show!
I don't even think I could use a piece of meat or something as a lure because of foxes
Just as an edit more I look at buzzards I just don't think it was that, the beak was different , larger and more hooked if that makes sense more prominent, and it stood more upright than a buzzard it has certainly pricked my interest as to what's lurking around the garden
Hmm ok then you sound pretty sure..check local RSPB,plod etc to see if there are any other sightings/reports of escaped large raptors?I was quite surprised to see it stay as long as it did it looked very regal sitting there, guaranteed now I have a camera placed it won't show!
I don't even think I could use a piece of meat or something as a lure because of foxes
Just as an edit more I look at buzzards I just don't think it was that, the beak was different , larger and more hooked if that makes sense more prominent, and it stood more upright than a buzzard it has certainly pricked my interest as to what's lurking around the garden
Edited by kieranasaurus on Sunday 12th December 02:37
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