The usual area to see buzzards locally is along the slopes of the South Downs. However, today there was one in the middle of a field that holds several horses down by the local wood. It was particularly noticeable owing to its very white front, but as these birds can be seen in a number of colour guises, this was nothing out of the ordinary. What was rather more strange was the behaviour of this particular bird.
On a number of occasions I have had the good fortune to observe vultures in various parts of the world, and their tendency to fly in to a kill, and then run and skip along the ground is one of the well known characteristics of this species. I had not previously seen this sort of behaviour in our own buzzard.
From a standing position, the bird suddenly ran to one side and then, with its beak, snatched something from the ground. A few minutes later the bird carried out exactly the same procedure but in another direction. It was clearly catching some minuscule prey. Given that this was in February, it is unlikely that these were grasshoppers, or emerging may bugs. Neither did they appear to be worms, or I think I would have spotted them through my binoculars.
Another natural mystery to ponder upon.
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