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Let's hope the weather stays reasonable this year for them. It was so distressing to watch last year when the parents were covered in snow trying to keep the babies warm.

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as the weather has been so nice this last week we have been out and about a bit in the car this week and have been surprized at the amount of kestrels and buzzards we have seen over head or in nearby trees ,they seem much more abundant than they were a few years ago.

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We had a car ride in the Shropshire countryside today and noticed there seems to be quite a lot of Buzzards about, we also saw kestrels and a battle with Crows chasing the Buzzards. They were quite low down in the sky, we could see all the facial detail. I think the nice weather is bringing the wild life as well as the people out to enjoy it.

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thats somthing i have seen a lot carni crows chasing of the buzard they are probly trying to raid the nests for early chicks not much greenery to hide them at the moment

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It certainly seems to be a bumper year for the Buzzards around Shropshire. It's not many years ago that we hardly saw any. They seem to be thriving this year. I was very surprised how big they were. The crows were really attacking the Buzzard! I was glad I was in the car.

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The wife and I were once walking by a wood where a buzzard had a nest with young, I suppose. As we walked, it followed us from tree to tree until it thought us out of range to cause interference. It was quite wierd!

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I'm having problems with a sparrowhawk stalking my bird table at the moment. I saw him perched on it last week. I have tried to move it out of his line of attack, but he has obviously frightened all the birds off, just one blackbird and a gold finch have visited in the last three weeks...that I have seen. The food remains virtually untouched.

Back on topic, just had a peek at the falcons. Mum is on the nest. Does anyone know if she laid any more eggs, or is it still just the one?

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Falcons on three eggs now...And yes,Sparrow Hawks can be a damn nuisance when it comes to disrupting garden birds.At least Kestrels and Buzzards tend to stay away from gardens.

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Thanks poohbear, I will keep watching the nest.

My latest idea for keeping the sparrowhawk away is to hang things off the apple trees to break his line of escape, as I read somewhere (probably the RSPB site) that they like a quick in and out route of attack. The table is under the trees, but as there are no leaves at the moment it seems a bit open and vulnerable.

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I'm afraid you'll need more than things dangling...Sparrowhawks are woodland birds and well used to obstacles..they are incredibly agile.Look at this one flying through a narrow gap.It's head stays perfectly straight and it's eyes never leave it's objective...incredible.

jfb82f.jpg

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As I was writing the last post the cheeky B*****r flew in and landed on top of the table again....that's twice in half an hour. At least this time I saw which direction he came from and where he flew to.

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It was something I read that you should have things to break his view. Apparently balloons are good for it, but I don't fancy that. The only other option is to discourage other birds and take the food away for now so that hopefully he'll realise there's nothing available for him. He has had some prey from my garden, there's a photo of him on here somewhere with a blackbird. He was just feet away from me when I took the photo from a bedroom window (I live in a bungalow) a couple of years ago. Never saw him last year but now he's back with a vengeance.

I'm torn between the pleasure of seeing him and the knowledge that he is scaring the other birds away. Used to have such a diverse selection of visitors to the table.

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Poohbear, on the Falcon Blog I read that there are 4 eggs. I haven't seen more than 1, when that first one was laid, but I haven't watched very much yet.

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There are now 4 eggs and both birds in attendance at 0700hrs this morning your time.

Streets look pretty quiet down below.

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Still 4 eggs at 0455hrs this morning your time.

Witnessed the change of shift between the two birds re egg warming duties.

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Whenever I check in one or the other is sitting on the eggs. I admire their patience and fortitude, it looks a bit blowy up there today.

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  • 4 years later...

RR. The breeding pair had some eggs but they failed to hatch even though they sat on them for weeks!  The male carried off the last egg last week - don't know what he did with it....

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  • 9 months later...

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