Hello again! Today, I want to talk to you about birds of prey. About Buzzards, or rather the lack of Buzzards, in the Waresley area.
In early summer three years ago I saw a Red Kite circling over land to the north of the village, near the Collings Brothers site. This caught my eye, because it was unusual for this bird to be around. Whilst there has been a breeding pair of Buzzards in the area for some time there had never been Red Kites. The buzzards appeared to be nesting either in Waresley Woods or in The Spinney, which is located directly to the north of Manor Farm, which is located, unsurprisingly, halfway up Manor Farm Road.
The buzzards patrolled quite a large area; from Waresley to Abbotsley and up to Eltisley and across to the Gransdens. They could frequently be seen soaring high on thermals on warm days. A lovely site. Sadly, I had never seen these magnificent birds when I was young. It was great to see large raptors back in the English countryside. I felt that they were most likely here to stay as there would be little objection from the local farming community. After all they were all arable farmers with no livestock to be threatened. Although of course, there are the pheasants, lots of pheasants!
Last summer I noticed three birds circling over the field behind the Duncombe Arms. Nothing unusual about that, you might say. No, except that one of them looked like a Kite. I watched more closely. The buzzards were clearly not impressed by the kite’s presence. Unusual, as the two species normally get on OK.
Anyway fast forward to 2020, coronavirus and all. There are two red kites circling over Waresley woods, over The Spinney and many other places, but no buzzards. Kestrels, sparrow hawks, yes, but no buzzards. Clearly they felt that they could not co-exist with the kites and have moved on. To where? Does anyone know.
S.
UPDATE 16th SEPT :- When I was out this morning, two buzzards were seen circling over Weaveley Wood near Low Farm, on the Tetworth Hall Estate, in the valley behind Waresley Park Stud. Have they have been pushed out of their old hunting grounds by the arrival of the Red Kites?
S.
Click here for more information on Red Kites.
Click here for more information on Buzzards.
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