Honey Buzzard
Our friend Tina sends a message on the local wildlife WhatsApp Group. It’s a photograph of the back of her camera showing what is clearly a Honey Buzzard. I recognise it straight away. That tiny head is unmistakable. I’ve seen one before in Capri:
This time there’s one in Westray. A Honey Buzzard in Orkney – that can’t be a regular visitor.
I spot resident bird genius Steve viewing the bird with much excitement as it’s mobbed by gulls over Pierowall Bay. First, the Herring Gulls have a go:
Then the Black Headed Gulls join in:
They are relentless and simply won’t leave it alone.
Steve hops into my car and we’re on off for an adventure in the Village. It’s one of the most epic half an hour birding sessions ever. He knows the likely behaviour perfectly. It’s looking for a tree to roost in tonight and the village of Pierowall is its best bet after what is probably quite a journey. It’s easy to tell where it is in the Village as the gulls give the game away, making a fuss above the tree in which it is perched.
It’s then that the Hooded Crows begin complaining and they fly into the tree in which it is perched. At one stage, the Honey Buzzard appears, flying at head height round the corner of two houses in the Village and heads straight towards me, only gaining height at the last moment as it swoops up and overhead.
What a spectacular bird.
It tries to rest again in another garden and soars over the chimney pots down to a Sycamore tree.
The last record of a Honey Buzzard on Westray was on 25 May 1988. I doubt I’ll see another one. My copy of WildGuides Britain’s Birds says “Rare summer visitor (40 pairs, May-Oct)”.
What an epic wildlife encounter.