It was always going to be difficult to get a good photo of a bird in flight. But here is a buzzard circling high in the sky as it searches for prey on the ground. Notice the wings – rectangular and fringed with ‘fingers’ – and the fan tail, which you can see angled in the picture. Buzzards are brown with white on the undersides of their wings. They have a distinctive mewing cry, so sometimes you can hear them before you even spot them.
Buzzards, like a lot of raptors, have eyesight that is far better than a human’s. They are typically looking for small mammals and birds, but they will also eat carrion and earthworms. You can often spot them sitting on top of telegraph poles etc. along country lanes, presumably on the lookout for roadkill.
Buzzards are relatively common, and according to the Woodland Trust, numbers have quadrupled since the 1970’s. They can be found in a variety of habitats as long as there is enough green space around them.
