NWR Any twitchers here?!

Took the day off today and went canoeing on the Thames at Benson and upstream beyond Shillingford up towards Dorchester. En route we were lucky enough to slow down and watch a kingfisher perching and hunting seemingly without a care in the world. Additionally a scruffy heron, a buzzard being harassed by a sparrowhawk and the endless red kites... also lovely to watch the swallows darting along the water hunting flies as the cloud built up and the rain threatened...
 
David McDowall said:
I would say that it is a juvenile buzzard - the slightly short tail suggests a young bird.
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I wondered that as well David, but it does seem to be very early for a UK bird to have left the nest, assuming the photo has been taken quite recently. Eggs are normally laid in mid-April to early May and hatch after about 35 days and the chicks will fledge after about 6 weeks, so beginning of July is pretty tight. Adults also have quite short tails as they tend to fan out when gliding. Its hard to tell from this photo though and timings may be slightly earlier in England.
 
When I was walking our dog this morning, I found one of his feathers at the bottom of the garden - really beautiful and incredibly strong. Suspect it came out when he attacked a vole or mouse or something. I showed it to my youngest daughter this afternoon along with the photo. 30 mins later, she called me out to the patio because she mistook a pigeon for the buzzard! At that precise moment, the pigeon flew away as fast as it could and the buzzard flew right over her head at about 15 feet chasing after the pigeon! Amazing to watch! He’s clearly hungry as that’s the 3rd or 4th time I’ve seen him attacking something.
 
I see buzzards daily where I am, as well as a solitary red kite at least once a week. I've never seen a buzzard aim for another bird. I do wonder about a juvenile female sparrowhawk. I doubt a goshawk would be so far from the woods.
 
Sunday in Warlingham a red kite briefly took my attention away from my 6 yo's horse riding lesson. Distinctive kite tail and markings on the wings together with size. Majestic birds that I previously only saw when sailing down the M40.
 
Around here (Reading suburbs, heading into Oxfordshire) the red kites are ten a penny, indeed I believe they congregate especially during bbq season...(!) we regularly see tussles with crows, mobbing by jackdaws etc. Sometimes they are joined by a solitary buzzard.

Back when we worked in offices and had to commute, I lost count of how many I saw circling overhead along the length of the a4074... and I could always spot the buzzards on their regular perches...
 
Anthony Taylor said:
I see buzzards daily where I am, as well as a solitary red kite at least once a week. I've never seen a buzzard aim for another bird. I do wonder about a juvenile female sparrowhawk. I doubt a goshawk would be so far from the woods.
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We’re not “so far from the woods”, we’re surrounded by them!
 
Just got back again from taking the dog for a walk down the garden. Huge racket from the crows who I think are nesting in a tree at the bottom of the garden. After about 30 seconds, they exploded out of the tree, attacking the buzzard. Second time I’ve seen them having a go at him. This time, it was almost directly overhead.
 
I remember my Grandad taking me to Mid-Wales back in the early seventies to see Red Kites. At that time they were virtually extinct and to see one was very special.

A couple of years ago I travelled down to Christchurch regularly over a period of six months to work during the week, and on every journey I’d seen loads of them. A real success story.
 
The behaviour sounds much more hawk like than buzzard like but Dan's initial wingspan estimates are much too large for a sparrow hawk. We saw one take a pigeon in a back garden in central St Andrews a couple of months ago and my kids couldn't believe how small the sparrow hawk was! I agree with Paul that it feels too early for a fully fledged juvenile buzzard but then again it is in the English "tropics".
Buzzards do have a very particular call and they are by far and away the most talkative of our more common raptors. Just google it and you can hear the call - it really is quite distinctive.
Also crows mobbing buzzards and other raptors is a common behaviour.
 
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