Get a buzz from winged masters
Wooded hillsides bursting into leaf are the perfect place to watch one of nature’s most enthralling aerial ballets.
Buzzards in spring produce displays that not only beguile the senses, but demonstrate how imperilled birds can come back from the brink.
A half-century ago, the skies over large parts of England were deprived of these majestic raptors, with their mating rituals that defy the laws of gravity.
With stubby wings and bulky bodies, buzzards appear to lack the sleek, aerodynamic forms of falcons, kites or harriers, yet marking out territories and reaffirming bonds with life-long mates see them perform heart-stopping manoeuvres on calm spring days. Pairs soar on slightly upturned wings, sometimes so high they vanish out of sight before unveiling sky-dance routines that can see birds loop-the-loop before diving at breakneck speeds. Other times, pairs can lock talons and helter-skelter downwards, breaking off seconds before hitting the ground.
Some lucky observers in prime buzzard habitat have counted up to a dozen birds performing simultaneously, a reminder of how these birds are once again part of our natural landscape.
Throughout the past 150 years, buzzard numbers have undulated like their display flights. Persecution by gamekeepers in Victorian times saw birds vanishing from lowland areas of England. The advent of myxomatosis and its impact on the rabbit population – one of the buzzard’s favourite prey items – also brought another period of decline, followed by the tragic effects of toxic sheep-dip chemicals in the food chain.
Since the 1970s, however, a more enlightened view towards birds of prey has seen buzzards return to their old haunts across much of England.
The Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland estimated a population of up to 10,000 pairs in the early 1970s. Conservationists last year put the figure across the UK at up to 87,500 pairs.
With such impressive numbers on the wing, make sure you don’t miss a sky dance near you this spring. ‘‘
Pairs lock talons and dive at breakneck speed before separating