17th May

Very little happening, though this raptor has puzzled me. It came in very high from the NW at 1.30pm gliding at first but high overhead. This meant I couldn’t see if the wings went above the horizontal. When it soared it didn’t have the characteristic U shape of a Common Buzzard, partly due to the square tail. Its wings as seen in the photos seem fairly long and pinched in at the end, apart from one photo where I am not sure what he was doing. It has quite a muscular looking neck and head, not short as in Common Buzzard. It headed off eastwards gliding and soaring, before starting to head back towards the park before veering off to the south east> I welcome any ideas to what species this bird is.

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Female Sparrowhawk (above) chased by an LBB Gull (below) 

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Legless Reed Warbler

Comments

piers said…
What's your best guess Tony? If you go with the spread wings pic could it conceivably be white-tailed eagle? - I'm sure one was seen in the south east last year. Or I suppose if it was an escapee it could be anything...
Mark said…
Hi Tony, Great pictures as always, I think your mystery bird could be a Booted Eagle,I don't know if one has been seen by anybody else, but thats what it looks like to me. Hope to see you soon.
I am not sure what the identity of this bird is yet. I might have to seek someone with a greater Knowledge of raptors.