A silly question but thats the choice I found myself having to make this morning. I had my camera set up and pre-focused on the log and I was quite sure a Buzzard would eventually fly in. I had been waiting for an age, already one of the darker Buzzards had been to check out the Rabbit carcass, was content knowing that I had already been successful this session. Suddenly the resident Wren was in front of me and posing nicely as you can see.
Should I divert the camera on to the Wren? I made the choice and literally in the three seconds that it had taken me to point the lens towards the smaller bird.... there was the Buzzard! Unbelievable! I had been waiting for well over an hour and had I any idea that it was about to land, I would have ignored the Wren and concentrated on the bigger bird for certain. However, it may have been worth it because I am very pleased with the picture. A little bit later the same Wren came back again and this time found a prey item. I have no idea what it was, it's either a caterpillar or larva of some kind that it dealt with by shaking and thrashing until all the innards spilled out and looked very like a worm.
But now, let me tell you about the Buzzard. I have got in to a routine this last few days. It involves baiting with frozen day old chicks which I strategically place on to the fence posts planted in front of the hide. The idea is s to capture the Buzzards (and Jays) in flight as they come in for the " freebies" to which they seem very partial. They fly in, settle on the post, pick up the chick and depart, all in the time it has taken to write this sentence. It's virtually impossible to have the camera pointed elsewhere and hope to photograph the action because you literally don't have time to focus before it's gone again. The camera needs to be pre-focused and trained on the right spot in anticipation. When I arrived I had also placed a nice fat, thawed out rabbit carcass on the log just 15 paces from the hide. I had then retreated back inside and began to wait. I amused myself by watching the Nuthatches and Tits who were coming in a constant stream to the peanuts that I had placed around the drinking and bathing pool (which incidentally hasn't been used as such yet)!
After what seemed like about an hour, (you really need to have some patience), suddenly there on the rabbit carcass and very close, was a Buzzard. It was one of the darker ones, I wasn't sure if it was the same individual that I had seen yesterday, probably. Knowing that at this stage of events any sudden movement from me would be detected, I froze in the hope that it would start feeding and then I could start to photograph. The Buzzard was wary, very wary but eventually it picked up the rabbit and dropped it on the grass in front of the log. I expected it to feed then but instead, it flew to one of the posts and posed beautifully for me but all the time staring intently in my direction.
It could probably hear the camera's shutter. Unfortunately at that moment the post collapsed under the birds weight and it flew off to safety. It had't fed though and I expected it to be back very soon but it seems the falling post must have frightened it and it unfortunately didn't return until much later when it flew back in to grab the chick which I missed as I photographed the wren!
Before I left and in the early afternoon, a Sparrowhawk flew in to the wood nearby and to my right and very close. I waited in the hope that it would try to hunt but it didn't. This species is one that I am expecting sooner or later at the hide, sooner I hope. I also had a fleeting visit from a white rumped bird, could only be a Bullfinch which would be magnificent if I was correct.
Recent Comments