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Ireland's Wildlife

Irish wildlife, nature and biodiversity

You are here: Home / Wild Blog / Birding / Buzzards on patch… what a buzz!

Buzzards on patch… what a buzz!

August 25, 2016 by Calvin Jones 9 Comments

Buzzard soaring in West Cork, Ireland
A soaring buzzard on my local patch in West Cork. Happy days!

I’ve always had a soft spot for buzzards.

I grew up on the North Wales coast, where buzzards were relatively common. I’d hear their lofty mewling calls as I walked to meet the school bus in the morning, and would watch them soaring overhead in the afternoon as I returned home. They were a mainstay of my wildlife-watching education — a fundamental component of my day-to-day wildlife experience.

That call, and the familiar soaring silhouette, was one of the things I missed most when I moved to Ireland at the turn of the millennium (that and nuthatches… I still miss the nuthatches).

Buzzards in Ireland

Buzzards became extinct in Ireland in 1891, but naturally recolonised in the early 1930s when the first breeding pair was recorded on Rathlin Island off the Antrim coast. They have been spreading steadily south and west ever since, and have been recorded in every county in Ireland, and officialy recorded as breeding in 18 counties. However they are still relatively scarce down here in the far south.

Buzzard pair in West Cork
Buzzard pair on my local West Cork patch

In my 13 years living here in West Cork I’ve only seen buzzards on my local patch three times — all over the last five years, and always only single birds. So imagine my excitement when earlier this week I looked up and saw not one but two buzzards soaring overhead. My heart skipped a beat — was it a pair — would they like what they saw — would they decide to stick around? Questions raced through my mind, and then I stopped my pondering and just enjoyed the spectacle… watching the birds drifting on the updraughts until they floated out of sight behind a nearby rise.

Over the course of the week I saw the birds again several times, singly, not as a pair, but just knowing there are buzzards checking out the area is a thrill. It would be great to have them as a breeding bird on my local patch, and while they may never reach the sorts of densities here that I’ve seen in North Wales (on a recent trip I counted a dozen soaring birds from mum and dad’s garden), it would be fantastic to start seeing them regularly again.

You can find out more about buzzards in Ireland on the Golden Eagle Trust website.

Filed Under: Birding, On the patch Tagged With: buzzard, raptors

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About Calvin Jones

Calvin Jones is a freelance writer, author, birder and lifelong wildlife enthusiast. He is founder and editor of IrelandsWildlife.com and founder and wildlife guide of Ireland's Wildlife Tours offering wildlife and birding holidays on Ireland's south coast.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. AvatarNeil says

    March 9, 2017 at 12:35

    Hi Calvin. Not sure, but there seems to be a group of 5 buzzards over Brinny today. A colleague at work recognized their call.

    Reply
    • AvatarCalvin Jones says

      March 10, 2017 at 10:38

      Thanks Neil. That’s fairly likely I’d say… there’s a real surge of sightings in Co. Cork. I was leading a school group in Timoleague yesterday and we saw fifteen soaring over an adjacent hillside. Fantastic to see them doing so well.

      Reply
      • AvatarNeill Bradley says

        January 11, 2018 at 09:22

        There is two I regular see over my house near Conna Cork. Incredible to see and always gives me a smile.

        Reply
      • AvatarNancy Leahy says

        June 9, 2018 at 19:26

        Two buzzards spending a lot of time flying in the skies just outside Macroom Co Cork over the last few weeks amazing birds

        Reply
    • AvatarMiriam McCarthy says

      April 9, 2018 at 22:52

      First time seeing a buzzard was in Wales 6or 7 years ago then I had the pleasure of seeing one a couple of miles from my home perched on a silage bale in middle of a big field I was in awe then last spring a couple of buzzards were nesting very near my home and to my delight they are back again this year ?

      Reply
  2. AvatarSimon Swale says

    September 24, 2018 at 19:26

    Beautiful Buzzard swooped low through our garden in Cahernacaha this afternoon. Wow!!

    Reply
  3. AvatarLynnie says

    October 4, 2018 at 11:47

    We’ve got a few in south Wexford. Lovely birds.

    Reply
  4. AvatarDave says

    January 14, 2019 at 19:48

    Hi folks

    I drive a school bus around Rathduff, Whitechurch & Carrignavar and I’ve noticed single birds avert couple of weeks close to the road feeding since September 2018.

    Just today I watched a pair of buzzards in a field at Whitechurch by the N School which had recently been ploughed and reseeded so birds quite noticeable. I stopped the bus and opened the door yo take a photo, they waited and flew off seperately to far side of field before I got to my phone……

    The birds seemed well fed and not too concerned to be near humans.

    Reply
  5. AvatarColin Mcmahon says

    May 1, 2020 at 22:04

    I saw a large bird of prey today in Kildysart in West Care and am 90% sure it was a buzzard. It emerged from a wooded area and landed in an open uncut field. A beautiful sight that maybe happened due to less traffic and human interference now that we are in the middle of Covid 19. Colin.

    Reply

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