I’m feeling pretty tired but wanted to write a little something about my (Birthday) trip to the Ythan/Forvie yesterday. The afternoon started well when we saw plenty of Dolphins as we drove around Girdleness. Sandwiches were eaten near Inches and we watched Red-breasted Mergansers, Wigeon, lots of Eider… Later in the day we were walking along the beach towards Rockend and a flock of Snow buntings flew over. The walk back through the dunes to the car was great as we were seemingly surrounded by Short-eared owls (including one later that was battling with a Buzzard).
Earlier in the afternoon, before we made it to the beach, a Buzzard was spotted over the field to our left. Having seen plenty of these recently, I wasn’t going to have a closer look until I noticed it seemed rather pale. I know pale Buzzards are not rare but when I started watching this bird something seemed different. Although relatively new to birding, I have had a passing interest in raptors for years. Heading out to look for Eagles, Red Kites, Harriers, etc, the site, sound, shape and size of a Buzzard has become quite familiar. The one yesterday appeared larger, with longer and straighter wings as it was flying. I admit this difference briefly made me think of an Eagle, especially as there was a white tail, but decided it was too small. Also, the tail had an obvious dark band at the end. Unfortunately, by this point the bird was slowly drifting away from us although it did stop to hover about three times (I’ve seen Buzzards hovering before, usually against strong winds, but there was something unusual about the way this one flew). Looking at my field-book at the time the only thing I could match it with was a Rough-legged buzzard. Having now researched these online I guess this was unlikely… Anyway, I definitely feel we saw something different from a pale common Buzzard (even if it wasn’t) and it was a great day to be out.