A Rough morning...

Raptor watching at Northward Hill


Sometimes I love the quiet, homey days when nothing ever happens. 

So not like yesterday, when a colleague and I spent several hours enjoying an impromptu raptor fest off Northward Hill.

Pick of the bunch was a undoubtedly a Rough-legged Buzzard - a largely annual but still rare visitor to Northward Hill. I've only ever seen one once before, briefly and at distance; this individual however posed obligingly on a fence post for a good half hour, enabling me to get some decent ID pointers. The most obvious thing at first was its pale head and streaked breast. Crucially though, during short, occasional flights, its pale upper/lower tail was clearly visible - with a single broad, but partially worn end-band. This confirmed its identity (generally an easier characteristic to spot than the ‘rough legs’ of its name) and suggested it was a juvenile bird at that. In flight it showed the slightly bulkier appearance and longer wings that set Rough-legged Buzzard apart from Common Buzzard.

We enjoyed views of the bird, swooping to the ground, apparently eating something unidentifiable (earthworms?) This was before it surprised us by taking off after what at first appeared to be a rabbit, but turned out to be a Brown Hare. The hare itself was a notable sighting (a shy animal usually more active around dusk) but watching the bizarre stand off between the two was fascinating. It was surely something that can't have been seen too often. For a moment they sat no more than a meter apart before the bird moved off, no doubt realising it had met a formidable match. Fantastic!

It didn't end there though - a short while later, we picked up another raptor on a very distant tree. This bird had even more obvious contrasting pale/dark plumage. Given that there is a great deal of variation in buzzards’ plumage, it needed to be seen in flight to be sure. Eventually a passing Rook obliged, mobbing the bird and causing it to take off. At this point the vivid, dark belly markings and carpal patches (the 'wrist' of the bird) were strikingly clear, meaning we had another Rough-legged Buzzard! The sharp contrast in plumage, in comparison to the first bird, and pale upper tail suggested this bird was mature - an adult female. Eventually the bird came in closer to our position when a female Marsh Harrier moved in and flushed it off. 

Rough-legged Buzzards, autumn migrants to Britain from far northern Europe, are a rare but not unusual site on marshes and low-lying arable land in winter, but two in close proximity is a great result. Over the course of the morning, we also picked up 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Sparrowhawk, two marsh harriers (both female) and a kestrel. Enjoying the birds, I forgot I was numb with cold and after a while headed back for a cuppa. A little while later I saw my colleague again; he grinned and chuckled...shortly after I left an unlikley Red-tailed Hawk had appeared from somewhere and alighted a short distance from one of the Rough-legs! This bird (normally found in North America) was undoubtedly a falconry escapee but incredibly not the only one in the area – that morning a Saker Falcon was spotted at Cliffe Pools  What are the chances?!

Rough-legged Buzzard (Buteo lagopus) in profile (Photo from google images)
Note streaked/pale head, 'rough legs' and pale rectrices with dark band.

A juvenile Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus) passes above a reedbed at Northward Hill