The Elusive One
This is generally the closest that I can manage to get to a Marsh Harrier, as this raptor gracefully glides and levitates, surveying the margins of the lake for prey…he’s always there…always spectacular…yet always keeping his distance… 😉
Cry of the Hunter
In springtime buzzards are rarely heard at all on the marsh, maybe due to nesting in more wooded areas…yet in the summer the buzzards’ call soon becomes a familiar sound again…
Buzzard Country
As you can see, you really don’t want to mess with a buzzard….you wouldn’t want to be a shrew or a mouse either.
These raptors have a good life here in the Frisian meadows…and there are a multitude of convenient perching posts to enable them to survey their territory. It’s worth bearing in mind to move slowly when they are around too because they do have a habit of attacking people during nesting time…especially cyclists and joggers.
These photographs were taken last August just in case you are wondering about the lush green meadows and the obvious difference in the light…it’s been more than 6 months since I’ve been there, yet I do hear some vague rumours (spread by the hopeful songs of great tits and blackbirds) that the winter will eventually give up…
Until that fine day I have only an archive of memories to share, which in turn prove to me that spring and summer really do exist, so you’ll have to forgive my random indulgence. 😉
Underneath is the best view I had of a marsh harrier the same day I met the buzzard….the harriers’ speciality is flying slow and silent, almost levitating at times.
First Steps
Crocuses are to me a sign to start moving about outside again, to shake off the shackles of a long, cold winter and make a start on the garden…I leave all last years growth and leaves until this time to clear up so I have quite a task to get everything ready for the year.
On top of everything I decided to attack the privet hedge with a serious prune…the sparrows were shocked by my sudden change in behaviour, but they could still feed when my back was turned so everything was alright 😉 . As I was working on the hedge I heard a lot of commotion behind me and as I turned I witnessed a sparrowhawk heading straight for me :O ….it landed on the hedge about a yard from me, looked at me briefly then effortlessly took back to the wing (they make it look so easy). No photos of the incident unfortunately as I don’t generally expect a hawk attack when I’m pruning the hedge…
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?
It was early evening…I was just starting to open my eyes and get breakfast ready, I’d already catered for the garden birds…I suddenly heard a woosh and the familiar chirp the sparrows use to signal the presence of a sparrowhawk.
This is a regular occurance which I have learnt to accept, I mean, I was just about to boil a couple of eggs and a hawks got a right to eat too….it’s just difficult when it’s my sparrows right in front of my face…it was empty talons this time for old hawky but that is not always the case…
a heartical view 