Raptor J3 M1 (1 Viewer)

R

rjb25073

Richard B - newbie birder

• Aug 11, 2006

• #1

Hi,
driving into London at 7.30 ish this morning I saw a pair of large birds of prey. Given we only usually see Buzzard or red kite it was probbaly the former as it was about the tight size but I'm not convinced they dark grey in colour and seemed to have a long tail.

Could it have been anything else ?

any suggestions appreciated,
Richard

 

K

Klant

Well-known member

• Aug 11, 2006

• #2

Goshawk? Harrier?

 

ArtifexAmando

· ARTIFEX AVISPEX ·

• Aug 11, 2006

• #3

Honey Buzzard? (To me they look more grey overall compared to Common Buzzards, and they also have a longer tail.) Try an image search of Honey Buzzard and see if any photo resembles your sighting.

 

Last edited: Aug 11, 2006

M

mrpjdavis

Well-known member

• Aug 11, 2006

• #4

rjb25073 said:

Hi,
driving into London at 7.30 ish this morning I saw a pair of large birds of prey. Given we only usually see Buzzard or red kite it was probbaly the former as it was about the tight size but I'm not convinced they dark grey in colour and seemed to have a long tail.

Richard

Click to expand...

Sounds quite good for HB. Goshawk does not seem to have a long tail - it is very obvious, likewise a harrier has clearly different proportions from a buzzard.

 

R

rjb25073

Richard B - newbie birder

• Aug 11, 2006

• #5

mrpjdavis said:

Sounds quite good for HB. Goshawk does not seem to have a long tail - it is very obvious, likewise a harrier has clearly different proportions from a buzzard.

Click to expand...

thanks folks. I had a look in the gallery and see what you mean HB do look grey in some of the pictures. Sod's law I saw these whilst travelling at 80mph and will never know, it's my second unidentified local raptor in the last few weeks, that's life.

I'll keep an eye on the various local websites and see if anyone reports anything similar.

All the best and thanks again for taking the time to respond,
Richard

 

Andrew Rowlands

Well-known member

• Aug 11, 2006

• #6

While you were driving at 80mph? How about a couple of Grey Herons!

Andy.

 

R

rjb25073

Richard B - newbie birder

• Aug 11, 2006

• #7

Andrew Rowlands said:

While you were driving at 80mph? How about a couple of Grey Herons!

Andy.

Click to expand...

LOL, fortunately it was a quiet morning

on a serious note they were dark grey so not heron or pallid harrier grey, darker than that if it was a car it might be called 'graphite grey'.

I need to check my books when I get home. It does seem highly unlikely that it is a Honey Buzzard but so far it seems right description wise. Maybe it was two buzzards who just flew through a dusty pencil factory !

cheers,
Richard

ps wife was with me as well

 

Last edited: Aug 11, 2006