February 2011

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Road Kill, Raptors and Rest Stops...

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Road Kill, Raptors and Rest Stops...

My project for the last couple of months has been to photograph the mighty Buzzard. Buzzards are often seen around Loch Awe; sitting on telegraph poles, swooping over mountains, being hassled by crows and generally fooling visitors into thinking they have spotted the much more elusive Golden Eagle. Buzzards are a magnificent bird and one I have wanted to photograph for some time.

My first attempt at photographing buzzards failed due to siting my hide on a hill top with no available look out post. The site I had chosen was well within the terrain of a local bird but without the safety of somewhere to assess the area, and retreat to, the buzzard just never came close enough.

I am using road kill as bait and have a small pop up tent as my hide. Using road kill, and siting my hide carefully, I can keep the buzzard off the road and out of danger. The road kill has been collected over a few months on the local roads, and kept in a freezer in my shed. My mother-in-law has also very kindly been collecting mice from her trap in her kitchen and popping them in to her freezer - much to the shock of her husband when he went in to find a bag of frozen peas and came out with four individually wrapped frozen mice!

A couple of weeks ago I re-sited my hide to a more suitable location with a handy telegraph pole just nearby. It was a very special moment when finally the buzzard felt comfortable enough to investigate the bait and I could watch from close proximity this awesome raptor.

The last few days have been great - lying in my hide from early morning, waiting for the buzzard to arrive… yesterday I got very excited when I spotted movement but it turned out to be a curious sheep… then I got them both!

The only problem with long hours spent in a hide waiting for that chance moment when a wild animal comes close enough to photograph is that Mother Nature always calls at some point. I was gutted, two months on and off in the hide and my moment was ruined by a weak bladder. Am still working on the buzzard, and back in the hide, but with emergency toilet facilities installed!

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