Just for fun - how often do you see birds of prey? (1 Viewer)

[liverpool_bob]

I've calculated how often I've been seeing raptors on my patch this year. It's nothing special, just a few square miles of unremarkable farmland and a few small woods in E.Yorks.

It's not an attempt to judge the numbers of birds, just how visible they are, i.e. no of sightings per day. It'd be interesting to see how that compared with others experience :t:

Here's the results -

Kestrel (2.93)
Common Buzzard (1.59)
Sparrowhawk (1.05)
Marsh Harrier (0.15)
Hobby (0.11)
Peregrine (0.07)

The first breeding pair of buzzards were as recent 2005 and are rapidly becoming the easiest raptor to see |=)|

 

[deborah4]

Guess it depends on weather and time of year/day - really haven't tallied it all up. However, will say there are what I'd call 'good raptor' days and 'bad raptor days'. The good days will regularly show Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Peregrine and/or Hobby/Merlin. 'Bad raptor' days will show only Kestrel (or no raptors at all) so guess Kestrel is the most frequent and visible raptor on my local jaunts over an annual period.

Depends on location too of course: Would add almost certain Hen/Marsh Harriers and occasional Osprey to 'good raptor' day list depending on time of year and where I am.

Raptors are like buses - you see hardly any at all or loads on the same day but very rarely go out and not see at least one Kestrel!

 

[kawwauser]

buzzards every day,the odd kestrel ,thats it unless i actually go to their habitat lochs/osprey etc

 

[OK_Scissortail]

I am from Okalhoma, U.S. and see buzzards everyday and hawks. We live on a large farm with lots of land and trees. I saw one hawk this morning and another this afternoon. The Buzzards are a regular thing here. I went to Arkansas last Sunday on a hiking trip and saw approximately 35-50 Buzzards in one place. We had fun getting pictures since they were all over and frequently flew over us for a nice close up picture.

 

[fugl]

I am from Okalhoma, U.S. and see buzzards everyday and hawks. We live on a large farm with lots of land and trees. I saw one hawk this morning and another this afternoon. The Buzzards are a regular thing here. I went to Arkansas last Sunday on a hiking trip and saw approximately 35-50 Buzzards in one place. We had fun getting pictures since they were all over and frequently flew over us for a nice close up picture.

FYI, Scissortail: "Buzzard" in British English doesn't mean the same thing as in American English. The "buzzards" you're talking about are Black or Turkey Buzzards (or Vultures) right? The "buzzards" the previous posters are referring to are broad-winged hawks (or "buteos") similar to our Red-tailed Hawks. Just another of the many trans-Atlantic differences in English usage which can cause confusion.

We get Turkey Vultures in Nevada--the big flocks can be very impressive when they come in to roost in the evenings.

 

[MLoyko]

Yes, I caught that too Fugl, buzzards are vultures here, but watch you said broad-winged hawks as a generalization right? That is also a distinct species over here!

A good day to me is seeing Red-Tailed Hawks, or anything other than a Vulture! The best days are when something out of the norm shows up like for example the other day a Bald Eagle out of no where, or the occasional Harrier which I am due for, and more often Ospreys. Have only ever seen one BWH and a couple American Kestrel's but that's it! Out of the raptors I see, I would say about 95% of the time it is a Red-Tailed Hawk with the other 5% being OTHER!

Best and good birding,
Matt

 

[fugl]

Yes, I caught that too Fugl, buzzards are vultures here, but watch you said broad-winged hawks as a generalization right? That is also a distinct species over here!

Yes, that's right, the Common Buzzard referred to in the original posts is a separate species from the RTH of North America (or any other American Buteo). There are many other species of Buteo, some confined to the Old World (all called "buzzards" on official lists), some to the New (all called "hawks") with one (the Rough-legged Hawk/Buzzard found in both hemispheres. To most North Americans, of course, "buzzard" is a simply a colloquialism for Black and Turkey vultures.

 

[IanC_UK]

Depends where i am, but i see Peregrines every day as i have a breeding pair just on my doorstep

Kestrel, Buzzard, Harriers, Red Kites etc are the general sightings because thats what i go looking for, Hobby as well and any Owls i can spot

I rarely go a day without seeing at least a Kestrel though, and i get woken up by the Peregrines, noisy things

 

[OK_Scissortail]

Oops my mistake.sorry about the error. I usually call vultures just that vultures but my husband and a few other people call them buzzards so thought the discussion was about what I know of as vultures, so sorry.

 

[Fozzybear]

It's extremely rare for me to see raptors here. Travelling to other parts of the country I see lots but I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've seen one in my home town.

 

[Pete Mella]

Kestrels and sparrowhawks are both quite common on my patch, never seen anything else bar a very high soaring bird of prey I'm presuming to be a buzzard.

 

[barnstormer]

Kestrels every day at the rear of my house and scattered up and down the verges of the a19.

 

[Jos Stratford]

Order of abundance I see raptors
summer: 1 Marsh Harrier 2. Common Buzzard 3. White-tailed Eagle 4. Lesser Spotted Eagle
winter: 1. Common Buzzard 2. Sparrowhawk 3. White-tailed Eagle 4. Goshawk

 

[Allen S. Moore]

I've calculated how often I've been seeing raptors on my patch this year. It's nothing special, just a few square miles of unremarkable farmland and a few small woods in E.Yorks.

It's not an attempt to judge the numbers of birds, just how visible they are, i.e. no of sightings per day. It'd be interesting to see how that compared with others experience :t:

Here's the results -

Kestrel (2.93)
Common Buzzard (1.59)
Sparrowhawk (1.05)
Marsh Harrier (0.15)
Hobby (0.11)
Peregrine (0.07)

Interesting "fun" thread, with different ways of answering Bob's question. For example, compare Bob's quantitative way above with Jos' comparative assessment.

When I saw Bob's question in the title I read into it a third way of answering. Here in the Isle of Man I see raptors on most birdwatching trips out. There were 2 boosts to this in the 1970s, with peregrines returning as a breeding species in 1972-3 and hen harriers colonising in 1977. For long enough the judge of a good day's birdwatching was seeing all 4 breeding raptors (hen harrier, sparrowhawk, kestrel and peregrine), something that tended to happen only a few times a year at the most. I suppose that I have seen 5 species (including also the migrant merlin) in the Isle of Man on a handful of days over my 51 years. The weather this summer has been very poor, and there have been a few trips out with no raptors at all, although I have usually only managed about 2 hours in the field (well, on the coast!) at a time. I've not seen hen harriers as often in the last year or two as previously. I often used to see them while driving the 14km to work, but not for a while.

Total population-wise, Spain is the European headquarters for a number of raptor species, and birdwatching trips "al campo" must have a very high rate of recording one or more raptor species (100%?). I suppose that my best total of raptor species was 8 in the wilds of Segovia province one day in July 2003, but that was helped by the company, as often in Spain!

Allen

 

[christineredgate]

A Kestrel everyday hunting on his patch.Peregrine Falcon is seen quite often ,also a Buzzard can be seen most days.

 

[Nightranger]

I've calculated how often I've been seeing raptors on my patch this year. It's nothing special, just a few square miles of unremarkable farmland and a few small woods in E.Yorks.

It's not an attempt to judge the numbers of birds, just how visible they are, i.e. no of sightings per day. It'd be interesting to see how that compared with others experience

I think a lot depends on the patch because I used to see peregrines on a regular basis when I was based in North Wales. Distant views of common buzzards were also de rigeur and kestrels were seen daily. Here in Lancashire it tends to be once a week and not every visit although my current patch is on the urban fringe. Mind you, so much has changed and birds of prey have declined generally if we take all species together on a regional basis rather than looking at individual populations across the country.

For example, it is relatively easy to see common buzzards in Cheshire now (even from Car Park Level 13 at Manchester International Airport) but kestrels are a rarity on my local patch and sparrowhawks are infrequent. When I was doing my BBS work in West Anglia I only recorded one kestrel and and a visiting red kite over more than six visits.

 

[Jos Stratford]

Interesting "fun" thread, with different ways of answering Bob's question. For example, compare Bob's quantitative way above with Jos' comparative assessment.

Order of abundance I see raptors
summer: 1 Marsh Harrier 2. Common Buzzard 3. White-tailed Eagle 4. Lesser Spotted Eagle
winter: 1. Common Buzzard 2. Sparrowhawk 3. White-tailed Eagle 4. Goshawk

I'll expand mine a little, by putting approximate percentages of visits that each species was seen, still different to Bob's method.

Local patch:
summer: Marsh Harrier 100%, Common Buzzard 95%. White-tailed Eagle 95%. Lesser Spotted Eagle 70%, Hobby 20%

winter: Common Buzzard 70% Rough-legged Buzzard 60% (most winters), Sparrowhawk 40% White-tailed Eagle 10% (variable by winter), Goshawk 10%

My land:
summer: Common Buzzard 100%, Lesser Spotted Eagle 70%, Marsh Harrier 80%, Montagu's Harrier 20%, White-tailed Eagle 10%, Hobby 20%, Black Kite 50% (lower this year), several others as occasionals

winter: Common Buzzard 80%, Sparrowhawk 60%, Goshawk 15%.

 

[steve west]

You can't go birding anywhere in northeast Spain without seeing a raptor! Usually a minimum of 4-5 species, often over 10, and on very good days close to 15 species. Of course the species you see depend on where you go and when, but around Lleida the usual are:
Kestrel, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Black Kite (Red Kite in winter), Short-toed Eagle, Griffon Vulture, Honey Buzzard (migration).
Nearby it's also relatively easy to see Peregrine, Hobby, Lesser Kestrel, Montagu's Harrier, Hen Harrier (winter), Merlin (winter), Egyptian Vulture, Golden Eagle, Sparrowhawk, and Osprey, Booted Eagle and Goshawk, (the latter 3 more common on migration). The closest breeding Bonelli's Eagles are about 30 km away, with Lammergeiers about 50km.

Steve
http://www.BirdinginSpain.com

 

[razorsharp]

Kestrel I see most of the time in sporadic areas, I can see buzzards very often as I no a place where they breed and sparrowhawks I see a couple of times, my favourites but haven't seen one for months.

 

[maersk]

two or three times a week