Thursday 23rd. June 2011

I arrived at the Common Buzzard nest site at a bit after 8 o'clock , unsure what to expect . The views we had yesterday were very poor , mainly because of the conditions , but I must say that I wasn't expecting to find two juveniles in the nest , and looking as if they could fledge any minute . My first reaction was to get a couple of hand held shots , just in case they actually did .Having got a couple of shots , I then decided to pass under the nest and set myself up on the other side of the tree , which I hoped would be better for the light . The two youngsters took absolutely no notice of me as I passed below them or when I set up the tripod and camouflage screen . I even took a folding garden chair with me , which came in very handy over the next five hours . To begin with , everything was very quiet in the nest , that was apart from the many flies that could be seen and annoying the pair . Every now and again , a bit of activity , when the more dominant of the pair got in a bit of wing exercise , which it seemed to do with every decent gust of wind . The only other movement was when one or the other defecated over the side of the nest , I won't post that shot , and when the dominant one had a struggle to regurgitate a pellet , which it finally managed , hitting the ground with a thud . Adults were heard calling at regular intervals , but then , without a sound , this adult arrived at the nest , not bringing food , it looked like it was just to check that everything was OK . After about 2/3 hours , an adult did bring in food , arriving unexpectedly at the back door , and appeared to just toss something small into the nest , then dropped down out of sight as silently as it arrived . The dominant one grabbed whatever it was and appeared to make short work of it . Then it was back to the hanging around bit again , and of interest , whilst I was there , neither the youngsters or the adult that arrived , made any call at all . During the time there were a couple of showers , but all the youngsters did was to cower down in the nest , presumably so that the feathers on the back would run the rain off . It would have been nice to have got a shot of the adult with food or the youngsters begging as the adult approached , but I came to the conclusion after five hours that the youngsters had probably eaten a hearty breakfast and it could be some time before they needed topping up .As I packed up my gear , the two youngsters still sat quietly , looking as if it could still be some time before they needed feeding .

The only regret of the visit , that I didn't have a second camera with me , because , as I sat quietly watching the youngsters , many Tree Creepers were seen , some only a couple of metres away , one flying down to the bottom of a tree I could reach if I stretched out my hand . Also seen , at least one family group of Marsh Tits , good to know they were successful again this year in the area .