Buzzard

Cheryl Cronnie, a regular contributor, has sent in photographs of a buzzard (Buteo buteo) perched in one of the reserve’s veteran oaks.

Buzzards (Buteo buteo)  are now widespread and there is an estimated 67,000 breeding pairs in the UK. Including non-breeding birds, it is possible that the total population is as much as 300,000 individuals. This is one of the conservation success stories of the last century.

1: another of Cheryl’s recent photographs of a buzzard and 2: possibly the same bird photographed by Cheryl last year.

In the first half of the 20th century, buzzard numbers fell dramatically. Gamekeepers culled them to protect their game birds; in the 1950s myxomatosis killed more than 99% of the country’s rabbits, which were the buzzards’ major food source; the use of organochlorine pesticides in the 1950s and 1960s affected their reproductive capacity. By 1967, when legislation protecting the species was re-written, the breeding population was down to 1,000 pairs. Their recovery from this near extinction has been remarkable.

Thanks for the pictures Cheryl. If our reserve can support top predators, we know we are doing something right.