Sudden Vanishing Buzzard Syndrome! (1 Viewer)

[Ptarmi]

Has anyone else here suffered from the dreaded Sudden Vanishing Buzzard Syndrome in their area?

On my daily 2 mile dog walk I have gone from regularly seeing between 2 & 5 Buzzards each day, to seeing only 1 on a good day ... if I'm very lucky!

Last winter's hard weather must surely have been a bonus for the Buzzards in this area, with a number of dead sheep being the result. However, living as I do in Sheep country, I am forced to conclude that one or more local Sheep Farmer has taken the law into their own hands & coming up to lambing time, has shot, or more likely used poisoned baits, perhaps primarily against Foxes, but Buzzards have suffered too.

Now this is only guess work on my part, but what else would cause a healthy Buzzard population to suddenly vanish?

Has anyone else come across this sort of illegal activity in their own patch?

Another thing that concerns me is the thought that anyone who may be treating Buzzards with such disdain, may also not be averse to shooting anything else with a hooked beak, like say a Hen Harrier .... assuming of course that they could even tell the difference!

With idiot farmers around, I just pray that the recently spotted Pallid Harrier does NOT head in this direction!

Another worry is the fact that we of course have a White Tailed Sea Eagle in this area too!

How does one approach this problem?

I had thought of writing a strongly worded letter & sending it in to the local press, but being a big farming area, I just wonder if it would even get published.

Cheers
Dick

 

[Andrew Rowlands]

Problem? All I see is a conclusion based on zero evidence. That's going to make you a lot of new friends in your area, Dick.

What's the normal visibility pattern been over the last few years in your area? What ages were the birds that you've been seeing over the last few months?

 

[Simon Wates]

Two scenarios that came immediately to mind on reading this post were:
1.The higher numbers of previously seen Common Buzzards included some wintering or dispersive inds.
2. During incubation birds are much less visible

 

[Ptarmi]

Problem? All I see is a conclusion based on zero evidence. That's going to make you a lot of new friends in your area, Dick.

Yeah I know Andrew, but if something is going on, I feel it's only right to keep a careful eye on the situation.
I know it's almost impossible to get your hands on concrete evidence &/or proof in these matters, but what should one do, what is the alternative, should one just ignore these tell tale signs & hope things get better.

What's the normal visibility pattern been over the last few years in your area?

Same pattern as described above, over the last 3 to 4 years.

What ages were the birds that you've been seeing over the last few months?

I have no idea, but I can't imagine they were all getting on a bit & suddenly all died of old age.

Anyway, I thought I'd just throw my suspicions out here, in the hope that others had come across a similar set of circumstances elsewhere.

Cheers
Dick

 

[Cheshire Birder]

It may be a natural cycle due to the cold winter. I've seen much fewer Buzzards both in my garden (had a pair nesting last year but no seen any for a few weeks) and on my local patch. We don't have a problem with poisoning in our area.

CB

 

[Ptarmi]

It may be a natural cycle due to the cold winter.
CB

I certainly hope you are right CB.
Cheers
Dick

 

[Soba]

I have noticed it too Dick for what it's worth. I can actually tell you how many I seen this year.......one. Far far from normal, I used to see three,four every day last year and my location is pretty rural.

 

[Stevie babe]

I usually see up to eight driving back from West Dorset to Surrey which I do several times a year but this year so far there do seem to be far less.

From the other comments it seems it could be countrywide and therefore nothing to do with localised poisoners / shooters.

As I have been doing the driving I have been thinking perhaps the pesky birds are flying a lot higher than they would do usually especially given the clear sunny weather we have had over the last month or so. Too high to see from the limited vision you get in a saloon car.

Maybe the December snow and the severe lack of rain so far this year has had an impact but I can only speculate. Maybe someone more knowledgable can supply a reasonable answer.

 

[Redpaul]

If anything I am seeing more Buzzards this year. Last year I was driving from Craigavon to Gilford to see them but this year I regulary see them in different areas of central Craigavon. We even have one that visits our estate almost every day.

 

[Irish Kite]

2. During incubation birds are much less visible

That would be my experience in this part of Ireland|=)|

 

[mark apusapus smyth]

I dont see any decline but ...

25th to 29th of April I had Australian visitors so had them out every day. Saw only one Kestrel in 5 days but ...

saw two merlins today