Truemors
Camera Panasonic FZ30 with Raynox 2.2 tele converter full zoom =920mm at 150 Meters Distance not the sharpest picture but a great memory !
One of my major hobbies is watching Birds of Prey , i have been watching a particular pair of Buzzards for 5 years now and each year they successfully rear a pair of chicks.On this occasion i was lucky enough to get this hunting shot a very rare sight as they are very secretive around the nest.
The Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) is a big bird of prey, whose range covers most of Europe and extends into Asia. It is typically between 51-57 cm in length with a 110 to 130 cm (48-60 inch) wingspan, making it a medium-sized raptor.
It breeds in woodland, usually on the fringes, but favours hunting over open land. It eats mainly small mammals, and will come to carrion. A great opportunist, it adapts well to a varied diet of pheasant, rabbit, other small mammals, snakes & lizards & can often be seen walking over recently ploughed fields looking for worms & insects.
. As many as 20 buzzards have been spotted in one small area, though usually an average of 30 meters apart from each other, so cannot be classed as a flock in the general term, consisting of those males (& females) without a mate or territory. Extremely territorial, fights do break out if one strays on another pair's territory. Pairs mate for life. To attract a mate (or impress his existing mate) the male performs a ritual aerial display before the beginning of Spring. This spectacular display is known as 'the roller coaster'. He will rise high up in the sky, to turn & plummet downward, in a spiral, twisting & turning as he comes down. To then rise immediately upward to repeat the exercise.
This broad-winged raptor has a wide variety of plumages, and in Europe can be confused with the similar Rough-legged Buzzard (Buteo lagopus) and the only distantly related Honey Buzzard (Pernis apivorus), which mimics the Common Buzzard's plumage for a degree of protection from Goshawks. The plumage can vary in Britain from almost pure white to black, but is usually shades of brown, with a white 'necklace' of feathers.
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at 15:37 on September 16th, 2008
Camera Panasonic FZ30 with Raynox 2.2 tele converter full zoom =920mm at 150 Meters Distance not the sharpest picture but a great memory !
One of my major hobbies is watching Birds of Prey , i have been watching a particular pair of Buzzards for 5 years now and each year they successfully rear a pair of chicks.On this occasion i was lucky enough to get this hunting shot a very rare sight as they are very secretive around the nest.