Buzzards and Kestrels

 When I first came to Durham 45 years ago, it would have been a rare pleasure to watch a buzzard soaring overhead. I could only be sure of seeing them if I crossed the Pennines into Cumbria or travelled into Wales. Now, I see them here almost every day. No less that eight circling overhead at once when I was walking near Wolsingham in Weardale last week. Maybe easy access to road kill, and the plentiful rabbit supply locally, are factors that have led to an increase in numbers?

While buzzards bred successfully and became established here, kestrels seemed to go into decline over the last couple of decades, although they seem to have done much better lately. 

I photographed this young bird hunting along the sea cliffs at Dawdon near Seaham, on the Durham coast. It must have hovered a dozen times without stooping on prey and it didn't make a successful kill while I watched. Perhaps still perfecting its hunting kills. They seem to expend a lot of energy for small, infrequent rewards.

Out of an empty sky.....

Thinking back a decade or two, there was a time when I very rarely saw a buzzard on the north eastern side of the Pennines. These days its rare to go out for a day, especially in spring, and not see at least one here. They seem to be commoner than kestrels. That perception might have something to do with the fact that buzzards are so much more vocal, with their mewing cries, than kestrels and so attract attention. A couple of years ago I watched no less than eight buzzards circling over St.John's Chapel in Weardale.

Today we were over on the western side of the Pennines, near Kirkby Stephen in Cumbria, where buzzards have always been more plentiful.

This pair appeared from nowhere just at the moment when the clouds parted and the sun broke through - and as always it was that mewing call that made us look upwards. I could watch the effortless soaring of these birds for hours - they cover such large distances with just a few shallow wing beats.

They were joined by this tatty-looking individual which had moulted its outer primary feathers, although that didn't seem to have impaired its soaring ability in any way.

Harassment...

Yesterday, when we were walking along the river Tyne at Wylam, a cacophony overhead drew our attention to this gang of crows mobbing a buzzard. Birds of prey must get fed up with this constant harassment but this raptor had the situation well under control. It soared higher and higher in tight circles then, when the crows got too close, threw in a wide circle that left them cawing at each other in the centre, wondering where their victim had gone. 

Wonderful to watch - a masterclass.

A Quiet Walk.........

I imagine most nature bloggers have their favorite, regular paths on their 'home patch.' There are plenty to choose from in Weardale but for me one of the best is a circular walk that follows the path uphill from St. John's Chapel, alongside Harthope burn. It's  the subject of today's Guardian Country Diary. The burn descends in  series of cascading steps, cutting a ravine that's flanked by a larch plantation, where we recently watched what may well be one of the last red squirrels in Weardale. 

The path emerges through the trees onto the flanks of Chapel Fell, where .....

.... the view westwards towards the upper dale continues to improve as you climb further up the fellside. I'm always struck by how quiet it is up here, once you leave the sound of tumbling water behind. You suddenly become aware of the sound of your own breathing as you labour higher up the hill, and the sound of the wind in your ears. Quietness - or at least freedom from mechanical noise - is a rare commodity these days. There are, of course, plenty of  natural sounds here - the mournful calls of golden plover in spring (especially spooky if its a misty day and you can't see them), wild calls of lapwing and curlew in April, and last weekend...

... our attention was drawn skywards by the mewing of buzzards. No less than eight were circling overhead at one point, drifting slowly down the dale until they disappeared into the blue ....

Sometimes there are shepherds and border collies up here, rounding up sheep, and even falconers that bring their birds up here to train. 


There are other native raptors here too - last weekend, we watched a wandering hen harrier, slowly quartering the rough pastures. 

It's a tough place to farm, a weathered landscape ....

... bearing the traces of earlier generations of farmers ....

The view northwards across the dale reveals farms that are aligned with the natural springs that flow down into the river Wear ....

.... and when you get back down to the bottom of the valley at Daddry Shield you follow the river, through the hay meadows, until you reach the ford and turn back into St. John's Chapel. A perfect Sunday morning walk, in any season of the year.


More pictures of the same walk in another season  here and here.