Population of the Honey-buzzard in Northumberland

Population of the Honey-buzzard in Northumberland

Population data for Honey-buzzard Pernis apivorus from 1993-2001 are given in the paper:

Return of the Honey Buzzard by Nick Rossiter, Birds in Northumbria 2001, Northumberland & Tyneside Bird Club 169-172 (2002).

Data for later years is appended to Table 1. All the data in the table refers to the study area in south west Northumberland. In 2003 small numbers were found in casual visits to north Northumberland (3 localities, 4 adults, 1 juvenile). In 2004 one adult was found in north Northumberland. In 2006 a single was found in south east Northumberland. In 2007 a pair was found in north Northumberland and singles displaying in west and south east Northumberland. No pairs were found in Northumberland outside the study area in 2008 and 2009. In 2010 in west Northumberland a male was seen in mid-May and a female in display towards the end of July. In 2011 3 birds (pair, male) were seen in the North Tyne valley in mid-July. In 2012 a male was hunting over open moor at Blindburn on 11/8. In 2013 a female was at St Cuthbert's Wood on 11/8. In 2014 there were 3 sightings in north Northumberland in the fledging season: a juvenile at Elsdonburn on 24/8 and, on 7/9, a juvenile at Chillingham Park and 3 birds up in the air over Lilburn Towers at 13:10 with male and female high-up and a juvenile floating a long way below. In 2016 2 sites were occupied in Kidland Forest on 21/7, with a male displaying at one site and a female gliding through a valley at the other. All these sightings, made casually without any systematic survey effort, strongly suggest an established Honey-buzzard population particularly in north and west Northumberland; however, it is not possible to quantify the size of the population.

Year	Number of localities	Number of adults seen in season	Number of juveniles fledged	Number of migrants seen (juveniles)

1993	1	2	?	0
1994	1	2	1	0
1995*	3	3	3	0
1996*	5	7	5	1 (1)
1997*	6	10	6	0
1998*	6	10	5	1 (1)
1999*	10	15	8	2 (1)
2000*	7	11	8	2(0)
2001*	10	19	11	2(2)
2002	15	26	17	9
2003	22	40	21	6
2004	26	41	20	13
2005	23	36	20-21	8
2006	26	42	16	13
2007	28	47	31	11 (8)
2008	35	61	52	21 (14)
2009	39	73	67	7 (5)
2010	41	69	64	11 (6)
2011	46	82	74	29 (12)
2012	51	90	68	35 (27)
2013	53	85	83	13 (8)
2014	56	96	84	40 (20)
2015	57	96	95	16 (8)
2016	Reduction in study area covered: Because of the increasing population, the study area is reduced in size with the elimination of lower South Tyne and Tipalt/Irthing. These areas were responsible in 2015 for 13 sites, 17 adult (11 male, 6 female),12 sites occupied at fledging of 18+ juveniles (6x2, 4x1+, 2x0+) with 1 further site failing (1x0), 2 migrants.
2015 restated for reduced study area	44	79	77	14 (8)
2016	49	74	83	39 (22)
2017	49	72	81	32 (27)
2018	Coverage substantially reduced in 2018 with core area of Devil’s Water and Tyne Valley W
2018	32	50	36	13 (10)
2019	30	50	36	4 (2)
2020	33	59	28	21 (9)
2021	38	57	37	20 (10)
2022	23	35	23	9 (3)
2023	29	43	5 (NR absent in main fledging season)	1(1)

Table 1: Numbers of Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland from 1993-2023

Note: Revised figures from 1993-2001 Return of the Honey Buzzard, after personal review, marked by *, changed in light of subsequent knowledge and experience; year 2001 survey affected by foot-and-mouth pandemic

See also Honey-buzzard densities in Britain including Northumberland in 2001.

The results of the 1993-2001 breeding seasons, the first noted in the study area, are given in Tables 0.10 to 0.27. For these seasons before the full methodology was developed, display extends up to mid-June (approx 15/6), sit/rear from mid-June to mid-August (approx 16/6-15/8) and fledge from mid-August (approx16/8).

Area

No. sites

No. adults

No. nests

found

Observed Occupied (no. sites)

Breeding Category

Number young fledged

Migrants

Display

Sit/

Rear

Fledge

Conf

Prob

Poss

Devil’s Water

Allen

Upper South Tyne

Lower South Tyne

Tipalt

Tyne W

Tyne E

Derwent

Total

Table 0.10: Results for the Honey-buzzard Breeding Season in SW Northumberland by area in 1993

Area	No. sites in season	No. adults in season			Display -15/6		Rearing 16/6-15/8			Fledging 16/8-
		Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Male	Female	Juvenile	Male	Female	Juvenile
Devil’s Water
Allen
Upper South Tyne	1	1	1	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lower South Tyne
Tipalt
Tyne W
Tyne E
Derwent
Total	1	1	1	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0

Table 0.11: Number of Male, Female and Juvenile Honey-buzzard found in each phase of breeding season in 1993

The results of the 1994 breeding season, when breeding confirmed for the first time, are given in Table 0.12 and Table 0.13.

Area

No. sites

No. adults

No. nests

found

Observed Occupied (no. sites)

Breeding Category

Number young fledged

Migrants

Display

Sit/

Rear

Fledge

Conf

Prob

Poss

Devil’s Water

Allen

Upper South Tyne

1 (1x1)

Lower South Tyne

Tipalt

Tyne W

Tyne E

Derwent

Total

1 (1x1)

Table 0.12: Results for the Honey-buzzard Breeding Season in SW Northumberland by area in 1994

Area	No. sites in season	No. adults in season			Display -15/6		Rearing 16/6-15/8			Fledging 16/8-
		Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Male	Female	Juvenile	Male	Female	Juvenile
Devil’s Water
Allen
Upper South Tyne	0	1	1	2			0	1	0	1	1	1
Lower South Tyne
Tipalt
Tyne W
Tyne E
Derwent
Total	0	1	1	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0

Table 0.13: Number of Male, Female and Juvenile Honey-buzzard found in each phase of breeding season in 1994

The results of the 1995 breeding season, when two more areas were occupied, are given in Table 0.14 and Table 0.15.

Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Observed Occupied (no. sites)			Breeding Category			Number young fledged	Migrants
Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Display	Sit/ Rear	Fledge	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged	Migrants
Devil’s Water
Allen	1	2	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	2 (1x2)
Upper South Tyne	1	1	0	1	1	1	0	1	0	0
Lower South Tyne
Tipalt
Tyne W
Tyne E
Derwent	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	1 (1x1+)
Total	3	3	0	1	1	3	2	1	0	3 (1x2, 1x1+)

Table 0.14: Results for the Honey-buzzard Breeding Season in SW Northumberland by area in 1995

Area	No. sites in season	No. adults in season			Display -15/6		Rearing 16/6-15/8			Fledging 16/8-
		Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Male	Female	Juvenile	Male	Female	Juvenile
Devil’s Water
Allen	1	1	1	2						1	1	2
Upper South Tyne	1	1	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	0
Lower South Tyne
Tipalt
Tyne W
Tyne E
Derwent	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Total	3	2	1	3	1	0	1	0	0	2	1	3

Table 0.15: Number of Male, Female and Juvenile Honey-buzzard found in each phase of breeding season in 1995

The results of the 1996 breeding season, when two more areas were occupied, are given in Table 0.16 and Table 0.17.

Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Observed Occupied (no. sites)			Breeding Category			Number young fledged	Migrants
Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Display	Sit/ Rear	Fledge	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged	Migrants
Devil’s Water	2	2	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	1(1x1)
Allen	1	2	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	2 (1x2)
Upper South Tyne	1	2	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	1 (1x1)
Lower South Tyne
Tipalt
Tyne W
Tyne E											1 juvenile E at Scotswood on 25/9
Derwent	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	1 (1x1)
Total	5	7	0	2	0	4	4	0	1	5 (1x2, 3x1)

Table 0.16: Results for the Honey-buzzard Breeding Season in SW Northumberland by area in 1996

Area	No. sites in season	No. adults in season			Display -16/6		Rearing 17/6-15/8			Fledging 16/8-
		Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Male	Female	Juvenile	Male	Female	Juvenile
Devil’s Water	2	2	0	2						2	0	1
Allen	1	1	1	2	1	1				1	1	2
Upper South Tyne	1	1	1	2	1	1				1	1	1
Lower South Tyne
Tipalt
Tyne W
Tyne E
Derwent	1	1	0	1						1	0	1
Total	5	5	2	7	2	2	0	0	0	5	2	5

Table 0.17: Number of Male, Female and Juvenile Honey-buzzard found in each phase of breeding season in 1996

The results of the 1997 breeding season, when Tyne W was first occupied, are given in Table 0.18 and Table 0.19.

Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Observed Occupied (no. sites)			Breeding Category			Number young fledged	Migrants
Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Display	Sit/ Rear	Fledge	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged	Migrants
Devil’s Water	1	1	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	1(1x1)
Allen	1	2	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	1 (1x1)
Upper South Tyne	2	4	0	1	0	2	2	0	0	3 (1x2, 1x1)
Lower South Tyne
Tipalt
Tyne W	1	2	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	1 (1x1)
Tyne E
Derwent	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Total	6	10	0	3	3	5	5	0	1	6 (1x2, 4x1)

Table 0.18: Results for the Honey-buzzard Breeding Season in SW Northumberland by area in 1997

Area	No. sites in season	No. adults in season			Display -16/6		Rearing 17/6-15/8			Fledging 16/8-
		Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Male	Female	Juvenile	Male	Female	Juvenile
Devil’s Water	1	1	0	1			1	0	0	0	0	1
Allen	1	1	1	2	1	0				1	1	1
Upper South Tyne	2	2	2	4						2	2	3
Lower South Tyne
Tipalt
Tyne W	1	1	1	2	1	0				0	1	1
Tyne E
Derwent	1	0	1	1			0	1	0	0	0	0
Total	6	5	5	10	2	0	1	1	0	3	4	6

Table 0.19: Number of Male, Female and Juvenile Honey-buzzard found in each phase of breeding season in 1997

The results of the 1998 breeding season, with solid success in upper South Tyne and Allen, are given in Table 0.20 and Table 0.21.

Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Observed Occupied (no. sites)			Breeding Category			Number young fledged	Migrants
Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Display	Sit/ Rear	Fledge	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged	Migrants
Devil’s Water
Allen	2	4	0	2	0	2	2	0	0	2 (2x1)
Upper South Tyne	2	4	0	1	2	2	2	0	0	2 (2x1)	1 juvenile resting at Towsbank on 8/11
Lower South Tyne
Tipalt
Tyne W	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	1 (1x1+)
Tyne E
Derwent	1	2	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	0
Total	6	10	0	4	2	6	5	1	0	5 (1x1+, 4x1)

Table 0.20: Results for the Honey-buzzard Breeding Season in SW Northumberland by area in 1998

Area	No. sites in season	No. adults in season			Display -16/6		Rearing 17/6-15/8			Fledging 16/8-
		Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Male	Female	Juvenile	Male	Female	Juvenile
Devil’s Water
Allen	2	2	2	4	2	2	0	0	0	2	2	2
Upper South Tyne	2	2	2	4	1	1	1	0	0	2	2	2
Lower South Tyne
Tipalt
Tyne W	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Tyne E
Derwent	1	1	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0
Total	6	5	5	10	3	4	1	0	0	5	4	5

Table 0.21: Number of Male, Female and Juvenile Honey-buzzard found in each phase of breeding season in 1998

The results of the 1999 breeding season, with closer study, are given in Table 0.22 and Table 0.23.

Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Observed Occupied (no. sites)			Breeding Category			Number young fledged	Migrants
Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Display	Sit/ Rear	Fledge	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged	Migrants
Devil’s Water	2	3	0	1	0	1	0	2	0	0	1 female S at Dipton Wood S on 4/9
Allen	2	4	0	2	2	2	2	0	0	3 (1x2, 1x1)	1 juvenile resting at Staward N on 3/10
Upper South Tyne	2	3	0	1	2	2	2	0	0	3 (1x2, 1x1+)
Lower South Tyne
Tipalt	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0
Tyne W	2	1	0	0	0	2	1	0	1	1 (1x1+)
Tyne E
Derwent	1	2	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	1 (1x1+)
Total	10	15	0	6	4	8	6	3	1	8 (2x2, 3x1+, 1x1)

Table 0.22: Results for the Honey-buzzard Breeding Season in SW Northumberland by area in 1999

Area	No. sites in season	No. adults in season			Display -16/6		Rearing 17/6-15/8			Fledging 16/8-
		Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Male	Female	Juvenile	Male	Female	Juvenile
Devil’s Water	2	2	1	3	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0
Allen	2	2	2	4	2	2	2	0	0	2	2	3
Upper South Tyne	2	1	2	3	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	3
Lower South Tyne
Tipalt	1	1	1	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tyne W	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
Tyne E
Derwent	1	1	1	2	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	1
Total	10	8	7	15	6	4	3	1	0	5	4	8

Table 0.23: Number of Male, Female and Juvenile Honey-buzzard found in each phase of breeding season in 1999

The results of the 2000 breeding season are given in Table 0.24 and Table 0.25.

Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Observed Occupied (no. sites)			Breeding Category			Number young fledged	Migrants
Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Display	Sit/ Rear	Fledge	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged	Migrants
Devil’s Water	2	2	0	2	1	1	1	0	1	1 (1x1+)
Allen	1	2	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	2 (1x2)
Upper South Tyne	3	5	0	2	3	2	2	0	1	3 (1x2, 1x1)
Lower South Tyne
Tipalt
Tyne W
Tyne E											2 male E at Wylam 4/9
Derwent	1	2	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	2 (1x2)
Total	7	11	0	6	5	5	5	1	2	8 (3x2, 1x1+, 1x1)

Table 0.24: Results for the Honey-buzzard Breeding Season in SW Northumberland by area in 2000

Area	No. sites in season	No. adults in season			Display -16/6		Rearing 17/6-15/8			Fledging 16/8-
		Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Male	Female	Juvenile	Male	Female	Juvenile
Devil’s Water	2	2	0	2	2	0	1	0	0	1	1	1
Allen	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	2
Upper South Tyne	3	3	2	5	2	1	3	1	0	2	2	3
Lower South Tyne
Tipalt
Tyne W
Tyne E
Derwent	1	1	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	2
Total	7	7	4	11	6	2	5	2	0	4	4	8

Table 0.25: Number of Male, Female and Juvenile Honey-buzzard found in each phase of breeding season in 2000

The results of the 2001 breeding season, in the ongoing foot-and-mouth pandemic, are given in Table 0.26 and Table 0.27.

Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Observed Occupied (no. sites)			Breeding Category			Number young fledged	Migrants
Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Display	Sit/ Rear	Fledge	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged	Migrants
Devil’s Water	1	2	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	1 (1x1)	1 juvenile S 16/9 from site; 1 juvenile SE over Yarridge 16/9
Allen	2	4	0	2	1	2	2	0	0	3 (1x2, 1x1)
Upper South Tyne	3	6	0	3	2	3	3	0	0	3 (2x1+, 1x1)
Lower South Tyne	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tipalt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tyne W	3	5	0	2	3	2	2	0	1	3 (1x2, 1x1+)
Tyne E	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Derwent	1	2	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	1 (1x1)
Total	10	19	0	9	7	9	9	0	1	11 (2x2, 3x1+, 4x1)

Table 0.26: Results for the Honey-buzzard Breeding Season in SW Northumberland by area in 2001

Area	No. sites in season	No. adults in season			Display -16/6		Rearing 17/6-15/8			Fledging 16/8-
		Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Male	Female	Juvenile	Male	Female	Juvenile
Devil’s Water	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	1
Allen	2	2	2	4	2	2	0	1	0	2	2	3
Upper South Tyne	3	3	3	6	3	3	1	2	0	2	1	3
Lower South Tyne	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tipalt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tyne W	3	3	2	5	2	1	3	1	0	0	1	3
Tyne E	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Derwent	1	1	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Total	10	10	9	19	9	7	5	5	0	5	6	11

Table 0.27: Number of Male, Female and Juvenile Honey-buzzard found in each phase of breeding season in 2001

A detailed summary is presented in Table 2.5 from the second full season (2005) with the benefit of the disturbance permit from English Nature. The study area is large comprising 16,600 hectare in the south west of the county.

Area	Number sites	No. nests found	Breeding Category			Number young fledged
Area	Number sites	No. nests found	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged
Hexhamshire (Devil’s Water)	5	3	5	0	0	5
Allen	5	1	3	0	2	3-4
South Tyne	7	1	4	1	2	7
Tyne	5	1	4	0	1	4
Derwent	1	0	1	0	0	1
Total	23	6	17	1	5	20-21

Table 2.5: Results for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland by area in 2005

A significant majority of the sites are in private woodland on shooting estates. This is indeed deeply ironic in view of the history of birds of prey in the county. Reasons suggested for the success in such areas are the tendency for timber to be grown on to maturity, the habitat mosaic with heather moors adjacent to meadows and woods and the quietness of the land. Last, but not least, losses to their main predator, the Goshawk, are likely to be low because of ample numbers of easier targets for the hawk, such as corvids and pigeons. The highest numbers are found on land owned by the Allendale, Featherstone and Whitfield Estates and the National Trust. 11 of the 23 sites are in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Eight types of call have now been analysed and related to behaviour and over five hours of video were taken this year during routine visits to the breeding sites.

In 2006 the survey of nest sites was intensified and ten nests were found. Five of these were in Norway Spruce Picea abies, two in Scots Pine Pinus sylvestris, two in Common Oak Quercus robur and one in Douglas Fir Pseudotsuga menziesii. In Holland Norway Spruce was also a popular choice with 36.5 % of nests in this species compared to 33.7% in Douglas Fir, 15.4% in Scots Pine and 12.5% in Larch (Bijlsma et al 1993, p.72) . The results for 2006 are summarised in Table 3.

Area	Number sites	No. nests found	Breeding Category			Number young fledged
Area	Number sites	No. nests found	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged
Hexhamshire (Devil’s Water)	6	3	5	0	1	5
Allen	6	2	4	1	1	4
South Tyne	7	2	5	2	0	5
Tyne	5	3	4	0	1	2
Derwent	2	0	0	1	1	0
Total	26	10	18	4	4	16

Table 3: Results for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland by area in 2006

The detailed results for 2007 are summarised in Table 4.

Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Breeding Category			Number young fledged
Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged
Hexhamshire (Devil’s Water)	6	12	3	6	0	0	6
Allen	6	9	2	5	0	1	7
Upper South Tyne	6	11	2	5	0	1	8
Lower South Tyne	2	3	0	2	0	0	3
Tyne	6	9	3	5	0	1	6
Derwent	2	3	0	1	1	0	1
Total	28	47	10	24	1	3	31

Table 4: Results for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland by area in 2007

In 2007 the survey of nest sites continued and ten nests were found. Four of these were in Norway Spruce Picea abies, three in Scots Pine Pinus sylvestris, two in Common Oak Quercus robur and one in Douglas Fir Pseudotsuga menziesii.

Migrants are not included in the tables above. Table 5 shows the visible migration noted in 2007, together with comments on the overall picture.

Date	Time	Locality	Age/Sex	Count	Movement
28 Apr	13:20	Tyne Valley	Adult male	1	W up Tyne, into site
24 Aug	10:05	Tyne Valley	Adult male	1	To SE, exiting site (presumed same as on 28/4, stayed only 119 days or almost 4 months!)
4 Sept	11:40	lower South Tyne	Adult female	1	To SE, exiting site
20 Sept	11:50	Stocksfield (Tyne Valley)	Juvenile	1	To SW, exiting area
25 Sept	10:10	Stocksfield	Juvenile	2	To SE, exiting area
26 Sept	11:50	Stocksfield	Juvenile	1	To E, passing through
2 Oct	12:50	Corbridge (Tyne Valley)	Juvenile	1	To SE, passing though
5 Oct	11:10	Stocksfield	Juvenile	2	To E, moving out after stop
27 Oct	13:30	Eals (upper South Tyne)	Juvenile	1	To S, bird with damaged right-wing
Summary/ Comments:
Apr: 1 Aug: 1 Sept: 5 Oct: 4	10-11: 3 11-12: 5 12-13: 1 13-14: 2	Tyne Valley: 9 lower South Tyne: 1 upper South Tyne: 1	Ad male: 2 Ad female: 1 Juvenile: 8	11	IN: 1 W OUT: 5 SE, 3 E, 1 SW , 1 S
Most records are for migrating juveniles, hence late in season from 20/9-5/10 and even 27/10	Mid-morning is always a good time for aerial activity in this species	Tyne Valley was good this year, may vary from year to year with winds	Juveniles are weaker fliers, so more obvious	A fairly typical annual total	Birds tend to follow Tyne Valley, rather than go due S

Table 5: Visible Migration Movements noted for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland in 2007

The detailed results for 2008 are summarised in Table 6.

Area	No. sites	No. ad-ults	No. nests found	Breeding Category			Number young fledged
Area	No. sites	No. ad-ults	No. nests found	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged
Devil’s Water	6	14	3	6	0	0	9 (3x2, 3x1+)
Allen	7	13	2	5	0	2	9 (4x2, 1x1)
Upper South Tyne	6	10	2	6	0	0	9 (3x2, 3x1+)
Lower South Tyne	2	3	0	2	0	0	4 (2x2)
Tyne	9	15	2	9	0	0	16 (7x2, 2x1+)
Derwent	5	6	0	3	0	2	5 (2x2, 1x1+)
Total	35	61	9	31	0	4	52 (21x2, 9x1+, 1x1)

Table 6: Results for Honey-buzzards in SW Northumberland by area in 2008

Overall the outcome for 2008 was of a very successful season, the weather perhaps turning wet too late in the season to affect productivity. However, the strain of rearing 2 young did seem to delay fledging with the first signs of fledging on 16th August and the first family party in the air seen on 22nd August. On 7th September two groups of 4 birds (adult male and female, 2 juveniles) were seen at 2 sites after the great floods on 6th September. So many birds were still on site at this stage. Juveniles continued to be seen in numbers through to 28th September when significant passage out of the area was observed.

The counting of fledged young was adjusted slightly this year: 2 juv indicates 2 juveniles raised; 1+ juv indicates that one juvenile seen but no family group was seen in the air so that there may have been another juvenile fledged; 1 juv indicates one juvenile seen in a soaring family group suggesting that no more young were raised.

More effort was put in fieldwork into the Derwent area where numbers of raptors are rising rapidly in response to a perceived drop in persecution levels. The eastern end of Tynedale around Prudhoe and Wylam was also studied more intensively than before. This perhaps added 5 extra confirmed sites in 2008 with 2-4 more to come in 2009 from a better understanding of these areas. Such areas are within the existing disturbance permit.

Productivity on existing sites was well up on previous years with 21 broods of 2, 9 of 1+ and only 1 of 1.

Survey effort was maintained throughout the season. In the 3 phases of display, nest/rear and fledge the number of sites at which the species was recorded was 33, 21 and 31 respectively. The dip in the middle is because of the greater secrecy of the species when nesting and with small young and the greater effort under the canopy in the middle phase with less opportunities for scanning.

In 2008 the survey of nest sites continued and nine nests were found. Four of these were in Scots Pine Pinus sylvestris, two in Norway Spruce Picea abies, two in Common Oak Quercus robur and one in Douglas Fir Pseudotsuga menziesii.

Migrants are not included in the tables above. Table 7 shows the visible migration noted in 2008, together with comments on the overall picture.

Date	Time	Locality	Age/Sex	Count	Movement
11 May	11:25-12:35	Haltwhistle (upper South Tyne)	Adult male followed by adult female	2	To NE/N over Hadrian's Wall
15 June	11:18	Gilderdale (upper South Tyne)	Adult male/female	1	To N, very high up
13 Sept	11:38-13:17	Stocksfield (Tyne Valley)	Adult female	4	To SE, singles exiting area at 11:38 and 12:52; to E of two birds arriving from NW at 13:17 and passing through
28 Sept	11:30	Stocksfield	Juvenile	1	To S, exiting area
28 Sept	13:40-14:30	Kiln Pit Hill (Derwent)	Juvenile	11	To SE/S, one SE at 13:40, 3 SE at 14:00, 4 SE at 14:20 and 3 S at 14:30. All passing through.
11 Oct	11:40-12:05	Greymare Hill (Derwent)	Juvenile	2	To S/SW passing through
Summary/ Comments:
May: 2 June: 1 Sept: 16 Oct: 2	11-12: 5 12-13: 3 13-14: 6 14-15: 7	Derwent: 13 Tyne Valley: 5 Upper South Tyne: 3	Ad female: 5 Ad male: 1 Ad male/female: 1 Juvenile: 14	21	IN: 2 N, 1 NE OUT: 10 SE, 5 S, 2 E, 1 SW
Most records are for migrating juveniles, hence late in season from 28/9-11/10; also significant exit of adults on 13/9	Mid-morning is always a good time for aerial activity in this species	Tyne Valley was again good this year; Kiln Pit Area looks very promising for further study	Juveniles are weaker fliers, so more obvious	A high annual total, boosted by counts in Derwent area	In autumn birds tend to follow Tyne Valley, rather than go due S; in spring birds have strong northerly orientation

Table 7: Visible Migration Movements noted for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland in 2008

Table 8 below shows the visible migration noted in 2009, together with comments on the overall picture.

Date	Time	Locality	Age/Sex	Count	Movement
14 Sept	15:30	Warden (lower South Tyne)	Adult female	1	Drifting S under low cloud
17 Sept	13:15-13:25	March Burn (Tyne Valley)	Adult female	1	soaring to great height eventually flying around in base of grey cloud and disappearing to sight to SE
20 Sept	12:54	Barhaugh Hall (upper South Tyne)	Juvenile	1	on migration, coming high from N, reaching bottom of glide near observer and then gliding a short way S before soaring very high to SE
26 Sept	11:45	Bywell (Tyne Valley)	Juvenile	3	total 6 in funnel of which 3 went high into sun S as migrants and never seen again; 2 moved W at moderate altitude to feed and did not apparently migrate and one went back into regular wood; at 12:00 this weakest juvenile was still over this wood
15 Nov	10:40-10:45	Snope Burn (upper South Tyne)	Juvenile	1	up over Eals Fell gliding around, then flew off S purposefully up the upper South Tyne valley
Summary/ Comments:
Sept: 6 Nov: 1	10-11: 1 11-12: 3 12-13: 1 13-14: 1 15-16: 1	Tyne Valley: 4 upper South Tyne: 2 lower south Tyne: 1	Ad female: 2 Juvenile: 5	7	IN: none OUT: 5 S, 2 SE
Most records are for migrating juveniles, hence late in season from 14/9-26/9 with late record on 15/11	Mid-morning is always a good time for aerial activity in this species	Tyne Valley was again good this year; upper South Tyne is rewarding considering smaller amount of time spent there	Juveniles are weaker fliers, so more obvious	A much lower total than in 2008	In autumn birds tend to go S/SE

Table 8: Visible Migration Movements noted for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland in 2009

The detailed results for the 2009 breeding season are given in Table 9.

Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Breeding Category			Number young fledged	Gangs of juveniles post-breeding	Nests found in
Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged	Gangs of juveniles post-breeding	Nests found in
Devil’s Water	6	12	3	6	0	0	12 (6x2)	1 (6)	Scots Pine (2), Norway Spruce
Allen	7	14	2	7	0	0	13 (6x2, 1x1)	1 (5)	Norway Spruce, Oak
Upper South Tyne	6	12	2	6	0	0	10 (4x2, 2x1+)	1 (6)	Norway Spruce, Birch
Lower South Tyne	3	6	0	3	0	0	6 (3x2)	0
Tyne	11	17	3	9	0	2	16 (7x2, 2x1+)	1 (6)	Scots Pine (2), Norway Spruce
Derwent	6	12	0	6	0	0	10 (4x2, 2x1+)	0
Total	39	73	10	37	0	2	67 (30x2, 6x1+, 1x1)	4 (23)	Scots Pine (4), Norway Spruce (4), Oak, Birch

Table 9: Results for the Honey-buzzard Breeding Season in SW Northumberland by area in 2009

It was yet another record-breaking season for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland. All the main measures increased with 39 occupied sites, 37 confirmed breeding pairs and 67 young fledged. Productivity was very high with 30 of the 37 successful sites raising 2 young; at 6 of the other 7 sites it is also possible that 2 young were raised but evidence was lacking for any more than one juvenile raised. Additional sites were found in 3 areas: Tyne Valley (2), lower South Tyne (1) and Derwent (1).

Fieldwork was performed continuously in the study area from end April – late September, except for the following absences in other parts of England, Isle of Man and Scotland: 16-19 May, Norfolk; 23-30 May, Isle of Man; 12 June, North Yorkshire; 17-22 July, Devon; 29-31 August, North Yorkshire; 30 September–3 October, Perthshire, Scotland.

Coverage was similar to previous years except in September when retirement from university on 31 August meant that more time could be put in to determine breeding success with more certainty. This extra time may have contributed to the higher figures for breeding success this year but of course the higher figures from better coverage will be a more accurate portrayal of the underlying picture. The extra time was also used to monitor more closely the gangs of post-breeding juveniles which form after the adults have left. Four such gangs were found this year, comprising 23 juveniles in total. Monitoring migration is more of an opportunistic activity than a serious vismig study. This year only 7 migrants were noted at 5 sites.

Some sites were colonised early in May but the main arrival was later. The season seemed to start on time but fledging was late with many birds not rising above the canopy until early September. The weather was fine in May but for the rest of the breeding season was wet with some very heavy downpours at times. The poor summer weather may have delayed fledging but has not affected breeding success. Another factor in delaying fledging may have been the high productivity itself with 2 young raised in nearly every nest stretching the adults' foraging ability.

In the target area 10 sites were searched for nests with 100% success this year. Scots Pine and Norway Spruce are the most popular trees with others in Oak and Birch. Nests are much easier to find in Scots Pine than in Norway Spruce because of the structure of the crowns of the trees with Scots Pine being open and Norway Spruce closed. This year a series of photographs was taken from the ground of each nest in each site visit. Comparison of the photographs between visits showed a clean nest and an expansion of the structure between June/early July and late July/August confirming that the nest was in use. This comparison supports the nests being assigned to Honey-buzzard as a species because it is exactly what would be expected with a tidy late nesting species. Common Buzzard nests always appear very much more used near fledging in early July and are indeed already starting to decline in structure at this point.

Next season the plan is similar except that the number of nests to be found will be increased from 10 to 13. The populous Tyne Valley area is to be split into two: Tyne Valley west and Tyne Valley east. There will then be 3 areas in which no nest has been located: Derwent, lower South Tyne and Tyne Valley east. The intention is to find a nest in each of these 3 areas. Work in winter of 2009/2010 is involving looking for old nests of Honey-buzzard in these areas and last year's nest has already been found in Tyne Valley east. Besides the size of the current Tyne Valley area, another reason for the split is the difference in habitat with the eastern part being more built up and closer to the sea, both factors which warrant investigation as they might reduce breeding success on current knowledge.

The detailed results for the 2010 breeding season are given in Table 10.

Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Breeding Category			Number young fledged	Gangs of juveniles post-breeding	Nests found in
Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged	Gangs of juveniles post-breeding	Nests found in
Devil’s Water	6	10	3	6	0	0	9 (3x2, 3x1+)	0	Scots Pine (2), Norway Spruce
Allen	8	14	2	8	0	0	13 (5x2, 2x1+, 1x1)	0	Norway Spruce, Oak
Upper South Tyne	6	10	2	6	0	0	8 (3x2, 2x1+, 1x0+)	0	Norway Spruce, Birch
Lower South Tyne	4	6	0	4	0	0	7 (3x2, 1x1+)	0
Tyne W	7	13	3	7	0	0	12 (5x2, 2x1+)	0	Scots Pine (2), Norway Spruce
Tyne E	4	7	1	4	0	0	6 (2x2, 1x1+, 1x1)	0	Scots Pine
Derwent	6	9	1	6	0	0	9 (3x2, 3x1+)	0	Scots Pine
Total	41	69	12	41	0	0	64 (24x2, 14x1+, 2x1)	0	Scots Pine (6), Norway Spruce (4), Oak, Birch

Table 10: Results for the Honey-buzzard Breeding Season in SW Northumberland by area in 2010

Two additional sites were selected, one in Derwent, one in Tyne E, so that the target of having a visited nest-site within each area was almost achieved. Two visits were made to each of the twelve sites selected, the first from mid-June to mid-July and the second from mid- to late-August. After some experimentation over the years this timing appears to be optimal as it avoids disturbance when the birds are settling but is at an active point, egg hatching for first, young fledging for second, so that positive results can be obtained. An additional visit was made in late July to 2 sites where the signs were not conclusive on the first visit; these visits proved to be conclusive that breeding was taking place.

Some sites were colonised early in May but the main arrival was later. The season started on time and fledging occurred from mid-August. The weather was fine in May and early June but declined through July and August with increased dampness and wind but heavy downpours were largely avoided. September was windy but there were quite long spells of sunshine.

Fieldwork was performed continuously in the study area from end April – early October, except for the following absences in other parts of England and Scotland:

1-8 May, NW Scotland; 14-17 May, Devon; 5-9 June, Devon; 3-10 July, Dentdale, Yorkshire; 28 July-2 August, Devon; 8-12 August, Cambridge; 10-15 September, Devon; 19-20 September, Leicester; 3-6 October, Lake District, Cumbria.

It was yet another record-breaking season for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland in terms of occupancy with 41 (39 in 2009) occupied sites and 41 (37) confirmed breeding pairs. Productivity appeared to decline slightly with 64+ (67+) young fledged. Productivity was still very high with 24 of the 40 successful sites raising 2 young; 14 raising at least one young, 2 raising one young and one further site presumed successful but no young seen.

Survey effort was maintained throughout the season but the display observations were more truncated this year as mentioned above. In the 3 phases of display, nest/rear and fledge the number of sites at which the species was recorded was 31, 23 and 41 respectively. The dip in the middle is because of the greater secrecy of the species in the middle of the breeding cycle.

Next season the plan is similar except that the number of nests to be found will be increased from 12 to 13 with an additional nest to be found in the lower South Tyne where no nests are monitored at present. This is indeed the only area with no monitored nest.

Table 11 below shows the visible migration noted in 2010, together with comments on the overall picture.

Date	Time	Locality	Age/Sex	Count	Movement
August 25	11:40	Ordley (Devil's Water)	Adult male	1	Soared on and on effortlessly up into the clear blue sky and then drifting S
August 26	13:10	Dotland (Devil's Water)	Adult male	1	Came off a nearby wood and did not think it was going to emigrate as while it was very steady, it did several hangs looking down, but finally it soared on and on, eventually drifting off S. He's put on a lot of weight as usual in pre-emigration mode, perhaps losing half his weight by time he reaches the wintering grounds. These departures are done solo – no calls or interaction with the family below! Always think it's rather moving as they make the last turn and finally push off, passing through the base of the clouds: Africa here I come!
September 3	14:50	Bywell (Tyne Valley W)	Adult male	1	He took off and very patiently soared on and on and then glided off high to SW. Once he's got going in a thermal he does not do a single wing flap for over 4 minutes
September 16	14:55	Barhaugh (upper South Tyne)	Adult female	1	floating very high just under the cloud cover to S; certainly not a male as relatively heavy and presumed to be a female on flight ability; possibly a Scottish migrant
September 17	14:50	Dukeshagg (Tyne Valley E)	Adult female	1	After lunch made Dukeshagg from 14:05-15:20, where waited 15 minutes for a female Honey-buzzard to emerge and fly high above the site. After a lot of encouragement, 2 quite weak-flying juveniles finally came out of the canopy and did some practice flying from 14:40-14:50 with the female still well-up. Satisfied with their progress the female then proceeded to leave, soaring on and on into the clouds and disappearing to the S
September 25	13:45	Slaggyford (upper South Tyne)	Juvenile	1	anticipated the sunshine moving SW at moderate altitude; because of the moderate N wind behind, it periodically circled to keep control of its speed, finally disappearing over the Grey Nag. Birds are wary of being carried away in strong following winds.
September 25	15:30	Eals (upper South Tyne)	Juvenile	1	another found, first flying on the edge of the moor and then briefly lifting above the canopy, mobbed by a Raven. This bird was not advanced so doubt it was bred locally (as they were fledged a while ago) and consider it a migrant on a feeding break (resting). This site, the first colonised in the county, is very rich for the species and does support migrant birds deep into the autumn (twice into November).
October 2	14:35	Bywell (Tyne Valley W)	Juvenile	1	coming in at moderate height from the N over Newton and moving low-down into Short Wood, Bywell, presumably to rest and feed. Didn't see it again.
October 10	16:40	Eals (upper South Tyne)	Juvenile	1	arriving high from the N, greeted by a reception committee of 2 Jackdaw. Unperturbed it slowly turned and, losing height gradually, moved towards Lambley Viaduct. So think this is a Scottish bird which may have been held up by the poor visibility of the last few days but was now decisively moving S
October 23	12:45	West Dipton Burn (Devil's Water)	Juvenile	1	mobile flying E at low altitude for c2km before coming down in woodland by the Devil's Water. The birds from here will have migrated long ago. So suspect this is yet another Scottish migrant from a late breeding attempt resting on passage.
October 30	15:20	Eals (upper South Tyne)	Juvenile	1	The bird soared to a moderate height but did not emigrate – thought to be a late-bred bird from Scotland resting on passage.
Summary/ Comments:
Aug: 2 Sept: 5 Oct: 4	11-12: 1 12-13: 1 13-14: 2 14-15: 4 15-16: 2 16-17: 1	upper South Tyne: 5 Devil's Water: 3 Tyne Valley W: 2 Tyne Valley E: 1	Ad male: 3 Ad female: 2 Juvenile: 6	11	IN: none OUT: 6 S, 2 SW, 3 resting
Most records are for migrating juveniles, hence late in season from 25/9-30/10; but also 3 males 25/8-3/9 and 2 females 16/9-17/9	Most records this year in afternoon, particularly 14:00-15:00 but this may reflect observer activity	upper South Tyne was most rewarding this year; it does appear to be a popular route for Scottish-bred juveniles	Juveniles are weaker fliers, so more obvious	A typical total	In autumn birds went mainly S with 2 SW; this year 3 resting juveniles were found including 2 in upper South Tyne

Table 11: Visible Migration Movements noted for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland in 2010

The detailed results for the 2011 breeding season are given in Table 12.

Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Observed Occupied			Breeding Category			Number young fledged	Gangs of juveniles post-breeding	Nests found in
Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Display	Rear	Fledge	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged	Gangs of juveniles post-breeding	Nests found in
Devil’s Water	6	12	3	6	4	6	6	0	0	10 (4x2, 1x1+, 1x1)	0	Scots Pine (2), Norway Spruce
Allen	9	15	2	7	3	9	9	0	0	12 (3x2, 5x1+, 1x1)	2x1	Norway Spruce, Oak
Upper South Tyne	5	10	2	5	2	5	5	0	0	9 (4x2, 1x1+)	0	Norway Spruce, Oak
Lower South Tyne	5	9	1	4	1	5	5	0	0	8 (3x2, 1x1+, 1x1)	0	Scots Pine
Tipalt	3	4	0	3	1	3	3	0	0	4 (1x2, 2x1+)	0
Tyne W	7	13	3	7	3	7	7	0	0	12 (5x2, 2x1)	1x3	Scots Pine (2), Norway Spruce
Tyne E	4	7	1	4	1	4	4	0	0	6 (2x2, 2x1)	0	Scots Pine
Derwent	7	12	1	7	1	7	7	0	0	13 (6x2, 1x1+)	1x4	Scots Pine
Total	46	82	13	43	16	46	46	0	0	74 (28x2, 11x1+, 7x1)	4 (1x4, 1x3, 2 x1)	Scots Pine (7), Norway Spruce (4), Oak (2)

Table 12: Results for the Honey-buzzard Breeding Season in SW Northumberland by area in 2011

Table 13 below shows the visible migration noted in 2011, together with comments on the overall picture.

Date	Time	Locality	Age/Sex	Count	Movement
May 9	14:05	West Dipton (Devil's Water)	Adult male	1	Even more remarkable was another male appearing high overhead above him at 14:05, so high that I'd never have picked him out unless I'd had the camcorder focused on the high clouds. He disappeared off to the N so think he was a migrant, interested in territory below and its occupying male, but quickly passing on to his own territory.
September 1	13:10	Shilford (Tyne Valley W)	Adult male	1	First Honey-buzzard was a male up over Shilford at 11:50, soaring very high and shortly disappearing to S so thought to be on his way to Africa.
September 15	10:45-13:05	Dipton Wood (Devil's Water)	Adult male 4 Adult female 2 Adult (gender not known): 7	13	13 birds, all adult, seen leaving the Devil's Water, including a kettle of 7 birds from 11:59-12:02 over Dipton Wood, an amazing sight, other than 2 birds doing a brief swoop the atmosphere is serious as normal for migrating birds; 12 of the birds moved S and 1 SE. Movement coincided with very rapid exodus of Swallow over previous 24 hours. The 1st fine day after a spell of 10 days of very windy weather. Others:11:27 male from West Dipton has another go, impatiently flapping at lower levels, then effortless soar, this time going higher, out of sight and off (trial soars are not uncommon); 11:47 male soars to moderate height at Viewley, then moves into solid flapping mode and moves off SE at speed;12:25-12:29 female appears flapping hard to S, then soars over Swallowship, before drifting N and meeting 2 males, who all depart together to S, males presumed as from Swallowship (her mate) and Farnley; 12:45-12:50 female soaring over W of Farnley at long range, going very high above clouds, lost to sight and presumed to leave.
September 15	18:00	Parson Shields (upper South Tyne)	Adult female	1	A female flew S low-down at Parson Shields, upper South Tyne, not a known nest site, and came to rest in trees near the South Tyne. She may well have been a Scottish bird, perhaps making her 1st stop on migration from say the Tay Valley.
September 17	13:50:00	Minsteracres (Derwent)	Adult female	1	Some dramatic action with the presumed female Honey-buzzard of the site soaring and then flapping very fast in a straight line to intercept another female Honey-buzzard, presumably a migrant (maybe a migrant from Scotland in the 15/9 movement). There's a bit of a skirmish with the presumed migrant drifting off to the E and the incumbent to the W. The migrant was where her young were just 10 minutes before but they had moved to the W and she moves off in this direction.
September 29	13:20:00	Bywell (Tyne Valley W)	Juvenile	2	Yesterday noted that the 3 Honey-buzzard at 13:20 reduced to one later on; suspect that 2 of the juveniles actually left while I was in the area. It did appear that the 2 birds were 'paired' while the 3rd bird was more on its own.
October 10	15:20:00	Stocksfield (Tyne Valley W)	Juvenile	1	Had inklings a Honey-buzzard was in the area with very nervous feeding corvid flock, an irate Grey Heron flying off from Tyne, and a brief glimpse of a soaring raptor over Shilford, mobbed by a Jackdaw, which looked just the part. At 15:12 a juvenile Honey-buzzard, mobbed by corvids, took off from the Tyne near Bywell Castle and in next 11 minutes, gave some of best views of the species for the year. Slowly gaining moderate height it flapped SE over to the Guessburn, where it turned at 15:17 and unbelievably came back towards me, stalling when over me and finally slowly and reluctantly making its way SE again into the distance, disappearing at 15:23.
October 11	12:50-14:25	Eals (upper South Tyne)	Juvenile	4	4 juveniles feeding in area identified from clips: bird A, heavy, missing secondary on right-wing, from 12:53-12:55, this bird is very similar in structure and plumage to the one at Harwood Shield on 1/11; bird B with the ragged wing, missing P4 on right wing, this bird was very visible, being up for about 15 minutes in all from 13:02-14:21; bird C was slim and full-winged, visible for 2 bursts of activity around 13:46 and 14:20; bird D was even slimmer, noted only once from 14:20-14:21, appearing while recording bird C.
October 15	15:50:00	North Wood, Haltwhistle (upper South Tyne)	Juvenile	1	The Honey-buzzard juvenile came flapping in low-down from the N, clearly looking for a B&B. A local Common Buzzard got up to intercept it but backed off from any interaction once it realised it was no threat. The Honey-buzzard certainly looked tired and came down finally on the S end of North Wood, close to a Honey-buzzard site, which had been active earlier in the season. These older juveniles show structural features closer to those of adults with fuller wingtips, longer tails and more obvious longer necks. By time they get going on migration, these older birds should be readily identifiable.
October 16	14:47:00	Parson Shields (upper South Tyne)	Juvenile	1	Main walk was at Parson Shields where had the 1st Honey-buzzard moving S along the ridge on E side of valley at 14:47, riding the updraught from the W breeze. Not as close as the Towsbank bird but shape and structure very clear. This bird covered about 1km in 1 minute 17 seconds so a little slower at 41 kph.
October 16	15:28:00	Eals (upper South Tyne)	Juvenile	1	The 2nd Honey-buzzard was moving S just after arrival at Towsbank, to the N of Parson Shields, at 15:28. It came right overhead after approaching from the N, then drifted off to S, where a brief interception was attempted by a Common Buzzard. Could time this bird: it covered 2.5km in the 2 minutes 27 seconds it was on the video, so roughly 60 kph (38 mph), with hardly a flap! It was also using the updraught from the W breeze on the E side of the valley to maximum effect.
October 22	15:00:00	Eals (upper South Tyne)	Juvenile	1	a juvenile, seen up 4 times above the canopy in a style really reminiscent of their behaviour in South Africa with fairly frequent short low-level forays above the canopy in between feeds on the ground. Many Woodpigeon, presumably feeding on acorns in the oak/birch wood, are flushed by the Honey-buzzard in its first recorded flight. From feather damage, with at least 2 feathers missing in P1 area on its left wing, have a good idea this is a new bird, not one in long term rest-mode!
November 1	13:45:00	Harwood Shield (Devil's Water)	Juvenile	1	juvenile Honey-buzzard up over a conifer plantation for 5 minutes, without a real flap, from 13:45-13:50. The juvenile floated around for a while, including a dive, and then soared high before skittishly flying off S. As not seen again, suspect it was on migration but care-free behaviour suggested it was not going too far!
Summary/ Comments:
May: 1 Sept: 18 Oct: 9 Nov: 1	11-12: 2 12-13: 11 13-14: 4 14-15: 2 15-16: 3 16-17: 1	upper South Tyne: 9 Devil's Water: 15 Tyne Valley W: 4 Derwent: 1	Adult male: 6 Adult female: 4 Adult (gender not known): 7 Juvenile: 12	29	IN: 1 N OUT: 17 S, 3 SE, 6 resting, 2 direction unknown
Most records are for migrating adults this year, hence peak in mid-September with move delayed by bad weather earlier in month; juveniles bred in northern Britain, particularly Scotland, continue to move through October	Most records at height of day in GMT terms (12-13 BST), many birds move through afternoon	Birds at Devils Water in autumn, bar 1, were local breeders exiting; upper South Tyne appears to be a popular route for Scottish-bred juveniles; Tyne Valley W is another popular route for birds bypassing the Pennines	Unusual this year in that most records are of adults	A high total with pent-up adult movement on 15/9 and notable movement through upper south Tyne of juveniles in October	In autumn birds went mainly S with 17 in this direction and 3 SE; this year 6 resting birds were found, an adult in Derwent in September and 5 juveniles in October in upper South Tyne. Direction unknown refers to 2 birds having clearly left but their final trajectory was not followed.

Table 13: Visible Migration Movements noted for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland in 2011

Some sites were colonised early in May, or even in late April but the main arrival was later. The season started on time and fledging occurred from mid-August. The weather was fine in May and early June but declined through late June, July and August with increased dampness and wind but heavy downpours were largely avoided. September was windy, particularly in ten days before mid-month with the passage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina from 12/9-14/9 but as usual there were quite long spells of sunshine. Fieldwork was performed continuously in the study area from end April – early November, except for the following absences in other parts of England and Scotland: 22-26 May, Devon; 16-22 July, north Wales; 26 July-3 August, Tuscany, Italy; 7-14 August, Liège, Belgium; 4-5 September, London; 18-22 September, Lake District, England. The rather lengthy absences from 16 July-14 August did not significantly affect fieldwork as for the most part this is the quiet rearing part of the breeding cycle. It would have made studying the fledging easier though if the final visit had finished say around the 10 August. Compiling the results was delayed by a long-running broadband connection problem with BT from 5 August-23 September.

As shown in Table 12, it was yet another record-breaking season for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland in terms of occupancy with 46 (41 in 2010) occupied sites and 46 (41) confirmed breeding pairs. Productivity increased slightly with 74+ (64+) young fledged. Productivity was high in absolute terms with 28 of the 46 successful sites raising 2 young; 11 raising at least one young and 7 raising one young. Although the number of pairs increased, the breeding density was maintained with no infilling. The increase in pairs occurred because of 1) the addition of a new area Tipalt on the extreme west of the study area (+2 sites); 2) the species started moving towards the Roman Wall in the lower South Tyne with a site on the north side of the lower South Tyne (+ 1 site); 3) the species moved to higher altitude in the East Allen (Allen), reaching 460m asl, and in the Beldon Burn (Derwent), reaching 380m asl (+2 sites).

Survey effort was maintained throughout the season. In the 3 phases of display, nest/rear and fledge the number of sites at which the species was recorded was 43, 16 and 46 respectively. The dip in the middle is because of absences elsewhere and the greater secrecy of the species in the middle of the breeding cycle. The display period was covered better than in 2010.

Gangs of juveniles, defined as gatherings of presumed local birds post-fledging, feeding-up prior to migration, comprised 4 juveniles in Derwent on high moors on 28/9, 3 in Tyne Valley W on 29/9, reducing to 1 on 30/9, and, in Allen, on high moors, 1 on 1/10 and 1 on 4/10. Total is 4 gangs from 28/9-4/10 totalling 9 juveniles.

A full report of the Honey-buzzard season in SW Northumberland in 2011 can be found here.

The detailed results for the 2012 breeding season are given in Table 14. It was yet another record-breaking season for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland in terms of occupancy with 51 (46 in 2011) occupied sites and 50 (46) confirmed breeding pairs. Productivity reduced slightly with 68+ (74+) young fledged. Productivity was still high in absolute terms with 18 of the 50 successful sites raising 2 young; 18 raising at least one young and 14 raising one young. This suggests that in good habitat, Honey-buzzard are largely unaffected in their breeding success by very poor weather.

This year the breeding density increased as all new pairs resulted from infilling: in lower South Tyne (+2): Langley, Haughstrother W; in upper South Tyne (+1): Featherstone Castle; in Tyne Valley E (1): Whittle Burn; in Derwent (+1): Slaley Forest Trygill. A determined effort in fieldwork was made this year in all unoccupied suitable areas permitted within the 2.5 km inter-nest spacing. The sites are not necessarily new for Honey-buzzard, just for my survey. The increase of 10% in sites found suggests that even in a continually monitored area, pairs may go undetected.

Survey effort was maintained throughout the season. In the 4 phases of display, sit/rear, fledge and post-nuptial, the number of sites at which the species was recorded was 43, 23, 35 and 25 respectively. The dip in the sit/rear stage is because of the greater secrecy of the species when incubating and rearing the young. The display period was again covered well. No gangs of juveniles were seen this year.

In the target area in 2012 13 sites were searched for nests with 100% success this year. Scots Pine (7 nests) is now clearly the most popular trees with Norway Spruce (3), Oak (2) and Douglas Fir (1) the only other type employed. Nests are much easier to find in Scots Pine and Oak than in Norway Spruce and Douglas Fir because of the structure of the crowns of the trees with for instance Scots Pine being open and Norway Spruce closed.

Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Observed Occupied				Breeding Category			Number young fledged	Trees used for Nesting
Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Display	Sit/ Rear	Fledge	Post-nuptial	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged	Trees used for Nesting
Devil’s Water	6	12	3	5	5	5	2	6	0	0	7 (1x2, 3x1+, 2x1)	Scots Pine x2, Norway Spruce
Allen	9	16	2	7	4	6	3	9	0	0	13 (4x2, 2x1+, 3x1)	Oak, Norway Spruce
Upper South Tyne	6	11	2	6	2	6	2	6	0	0	9 (3x2, 3x1+)	Oak, Norway Spruce
Lower South Tyne	7	10	1	7	1	5	3	6	0	1	8 (2x2, 3x1+, 1x1, 1x0)	Scots Pine
Tipalt	3	6	0	2	1	0	3	3	0	0	4 (1x2, 2x1+)
Tyne W	7	14	3	7	5	6	5	7	0	0	9 (2x2, 2x1+, 3x1)	Scots Pine x2, Douglas Fir
Tyne E	5	7	1	4	2	5	0	5	0	0	6 (1x2, 1x1+, 3x1)	Scots Pine
Derwent	8	14	1	5	3	2	7	8	0	0	12 (4x2, 2x1+, 2x1)	Scots Pine
Total	51	90	13	43	23	35	25	50	0	1	68 (18x2, 18x1+, 14x1, 1x0)	Scots Pine x7, Norway Spruce x3, Oak x2, Douglas Fir

Table 14: Results for the Honey-buzzard Breeding Season in SW Northumberland by area in 2012

Record-breaking migration of Honey-buzzard was an outstanding feature of 2012. None were recorded in spring but the autumn total reached 35 the highest to date, indicating rising numbers in general and high productivity in northern Britain. Details are shown in Table 15. Weather for observations was poor except for the end of May. In autumn the activity noted included 24 birds going S/SW, hence over North Pennines, and 6 SE. Five resting birds were found so grand total was 35 birds, comprising 27 juvenile, 7 adult male, 1 adult female. With most records for migrating juveniles this year, the peak was in October with juveniles bred in northern Britain, particularly Scotland, moving through in numbers. As many as 23 birds were noted in October, with 10 in September and only 2 in August. The 2 popular routes of upper South Tyne and Tyne Valley W were again evident. The latter may appear to move SE but close examination this year shows they depart from Bywell through Derwent at Greymare Hill so skirt the E edge of the North Pennines.

Date	Time	Locality	Age/Sex	Count	Direction	Movement
August 22	15:57	Staward N (Allen)	Adult male	1	1 S	Finally at 15:57 yet more action, with male up again this time with female, and doing a muted display over site with rises and falls but without butterfly action at top of rise; the birds come very close together in touching farewell and the male starts moving S, gliding fast overhead before being lost in the sun. Always nice when speck in the distance is 100% confirmed when bird comes much closer! Think the male was actually emigrating, starting journey back to Africa, after seeing young gain confidence in air and making space for the brood in terms of food resources (good strategy!).
August 26	12:28-12:31	Bywell Cottagebank (Tyne Valley W)	Adult male	1	1 SE	the male was up floating over area from 12:28-12:31, moving SE at altitude and was presumed to leave-
September 1	15:35-15:40	Towsbank (upper South Tyne)	Adult male 1	1	1 S	From 15:35-15:40 another male Honey-buzzard, a presumed migrant from Scotland, was gliding to S at moderate height on E side of valley using orographic lift on the moderate W breeze in the sunshine; he was actually intercepted by the resident local pair, who shielded their site from the intruder: keep away you forker!! Suspect he was tired and looking for somewhere for half-board: he moved on towards the higher end of the upper South Tyne where he should find the natives more amenable! The migrant male when first seen by me had local male getting ready to intercept; the intruder was obviously seen much earlier by the resident pair; the migrant moved S trying to give the area a miss but was intercepted and chased off by the local male; the local male celebrated his success in seeing him off
September 9	12:20	Beaufront (Tyne Valley W)	Adult male	1	1 S	at 12:20 a male Honey-buzzard was spotted very high-up moving S and quickly lost in haze; not sure whether it was the local male or one from further N but definitely a migrant
September 17	13:13:00	Bardon Mill E (lower South Tyne)	Adult male	1	1 SW	The1st Honey-buzzard of day was a male migrating SW at 13:13 over Bardon Mill, taking advantage of orographic lift in the fresh breeze, with a bounce in the end over Ridley. There were no thermals today for soar-glide.
September 21	16:40:00	Langley (lower South Tyne)	Juvenile	1	1 SW	had a juvenile Honey-buzzard soaring high over Langley at 16:40 and moving SW; this is a new site this year so very good to see them fledge young; confirms pull-out is taking place, a trend which may be accelerated tomorrow after forecast ground frost tonight
September 22	11:44-13:45	Allen	Adult male 1 Adult female 1 Juvenile 4	6	5 S 1 SW	Weather was beautiful with almost continuous bright sunshine, incredible visibility and wind light and variable. In more detail, action started at 11:44 with 3 juvenile Honey-buzzard coming out of the Allen valley from the Staward area, disappearing into thin grey cloud, taking about 8 minutes to get out of sight; count here matches 3 young raised in this area (2 Staward N, 1 Staward S). At 12:40 another juvenile Honey-buzzard came out of the Allen valley, from the Ridley area, matching the one young raised at this site. All the juveniles appeared to be moving S at high altitude; these fledged around 20/8 so, after one month of getting their strength up, are now ready for the journey to Africa. From 13:40-13:44 the female Honey-buzzard at this site decided to leave, soaring rapidly as usual into the base of a grey cloud (where thermals are strongest) and moving off S, high-up; she must have thought the young could now fend for themselves. The next site to visit was the highest known on the West Allen at Parmently, but from Monk at 13:45, before could get there, saw the male moving rapidly SW into the dark grey clouds; he gained height incredibly quickly before moving off on the edge of the clouds
October 7	13:43-15:00	Stocksfield Guessburn (Tyne Valley W)	Juvenile	6	3 SE 2 SW 1 rest	made Stocksfield Mount from 13:05-15:50 looking for migrant Honey-buzzard; impressed with big pull-out as 6 juveniles noted, all coming over hill above Bywell Cottagebank and either moving SE or SW at considerable height: 1 flapping hard to SE at 13:43 then soaring very high over S side of valley S of Mickley before moving on; 2 moving very high off N side of valley at Bywell at 13:46 before moving off high to SW; 1 moving SE quickly at moderate altitude at 14:03; 2 moving high to SE at 15:00 of which one carried on SE and the other came flapping back to Bywell, presumably to rest and feed for the night
October 8	15:15-15:35	North Wood, Haltwhistle (upper South Tyne)	Juvenile	2	2 S	Today, in continuation of fine autumn spell with all-day sunshine after early frost, in the afternoon made Haltwhistle North Wood from 14:50-16:50 where had 2 juvenile Honey-buzzard, presumed Scottish, feeding up in area, before setting off high into the sky and S from 15:15-15:35; one typical juvenile flight call was heard. Seen were 2 juveniles floating up slowly without a wingbeat, escorted by a flock of Jackdaw; one juvenile disappears, the other flies high then quickly comes back to their base in a wood; then at 15:18 one bird came out of the wood in which they had been feeding and did a circuit before returning; at 15:26 the 2nd bird again slowly ascended and this time it appeared to depart to S
October 10	13:20-16:05	Towsbank (upper South Tyne)	Juvenile	2	2 rest	good trip out to Eals in upper South Tyne from 13:20-16:05 in sunny, mild weather on light SW breeze. As expected saw more Honey-buzzard: 2 juveniles up together, one of which was tracked down to a field grazed by sheep and photographed at close range, calling in flight. These birds are also presumed to be Scottish-bred migrants: local birds will have left some time ago. Towsbank is an incredible magnet for Honey-buzzard: combination of moorland, deciduous woodland, river and rough sheep pastures seems to be ideal
October 11	11:30:00	Prospect Hill (Tyne Valley W)	Juvenile	1	1 SE	a juvenile Honey-buzzard flapping slowly SE at Prospect Hill at 11:30, mobbed by quite a few corvids, as drove towards Corbridge Station. These juveniles will of course not have made the journey before; I'm sure they linger through Northumberland and Durham as the habitat is so ideal in these 2 counties; further S will be a bit more of a shock as the agriculture intensifies and the population density (of people) increases
October 13	15:00:00	Greymare Hill (Derwent)	Adult male 1 Juvenile 1	2	2 S	The two birds came through together around 15:30-15:40, comprising a juvenile and an adult male; the male presumably is from a high moorland site in Scotland where finish very late as at Riddlehamhope. The 2 birds were gaining height over the ridge, the juvenile was lost to sight after an attack by a Carrion Crow caused it to go ever higher but the male glided S high above the wind farm, roughly in line for Castleside. The Honey-buzzard seen today would have passed over Bywell: Greymare Hill is almost exactly S of Bywell by 8km. The Scottish population must be increasing rapidly, given the number of juveniles seen in the last 2 Octobers
October 15	14:55:00	Barrasford (North Tyne)	Juvenile	1	1 rest	Today made Barrasford, 11km to NNW of Hexham, on North Tyne from 14:45-16:00 in beautiful sunny weather with light SW breeze. Took all of 10 minutes to locate a juvenile Honey-buzzard, involved in a massive stand-off with Rook and Jackdaw at 14:55 in the trees around Haughton Castle, which is suitable breeding habitat. It was up for a few seconds before disappearing below the canopy again. Plenty of other good habitat in the area, including out to NE at The Hermitage, but suspect that this bird was a Scottish-bred migrant as birds reared in the lush lower reaches of the North Tyne will have left a long time ago
October 18	12:40:00	Haydon Bridge (lower South Tyne)	Juvenile	1	1 SE	Weather was sunny on trip out on SW wind and had a juvenile Honey-buzzard gliding high to SE near Haydon Bridge at 12:40 with a Common Buzzard way below trying to fend it off – quite a common scenario
October 20	14:25-16:05	Towsbank (upper South Tyne)	Juvenile	7	6 SW 1 S	The 1st Honey-buzzard was up at 14:25, joined by a 2nd at 14:32 floating together; various further sightings were made over the next 50 minutes and it was going to be difficult to get an accurate total; then at 15:30 6 birds got up in the air together, 3 very high-up and 3 at moderate height, and proceeded to glide off slowly SW to disappear completely from sight. Meanwhile at 15:20 another bird had arrived from the N over Lambley Bridge and was presumably the bird left at the end on its own, last seen at 16:05. So Towsbank is a bit like a café, a place to stop and refresh, for Scottish-bred Honey-buzzard. So 6 SW, 1 rest
October 25	12:57:00	Shilford (Tyne Valley W)	Juvenile	1	1 rest	Down to Stocksfield Mount from 12:05-14:05 in mainly cloudy, cool conditions on light N wind with just a few brief sunny intervals near the end; good enough to check for Honey-buzzard juveniles which are typically active unless weather really bad! On passing woods E of Shilford had what looked like a Honey-buzzard juvenile being harassed by 2 Common Buzzard but nowhere to stop so drove on and hoped the action would move my way. Had to wait a while but at 12:57 a juvenile Honey-buzzard came over Broomley Woods low-down flying E on what looked like a feeding trip and continued over the Guessburn still at low altitude
Summary/ Comments:
Aug: 2 Sept: 10 Oct: 23	11-12: 4 12-13: 4 13-14: 6 14-15: 1 15-16: 14 16-17: 1 rest 5	upper South Tyne: 12 lower South Tyne: 3 Allen: 7 Tyne Valley W: 10 Derwent: 2 North Tyne: 1	Adult male: 7 Adult female: 1 Juvenile: 27	35		IN: 0 OUT: 13 S, 11 SW, 6 SE, 5 resting
Most records are for migrating juveniles this year, hence peak in October with juveniles bred in northern Britain, particularly Scotland, moving through in numbers	Much more activity this year in late afternoon, when in October many juveniles moving through from Scotland, decide to continue their journey	The 2 popular routes of upper South Tyne and Tyne Valley W were again evident. The latter continue from Bywell through Derwent at Greymare Hill. The Allen birds were all locals exiting from breeding areas	Adult males predominate early-on, followed by adult females and finally by juveniles moving slowly through. May have missed this year the main move of females towards end of September	A record total indicating rising numbers in general and high productivity in northern Britain		No spring records this year; weather for observations was poor except for the end of May. In autumn birds went mainly S/SW with 24 in this direction and 6 SE; 5 resting birds were found, all juveniles in October

Table 15: Visible Migration Movements noted for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland in 2012

For full details of the 2012 season see the study area Report 2012 with hyperlinked Appendix containing all field observations.

The detailed results for the 2013 breeding season are given in Table 16. It was yet another record-breaking season for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland in terms of occupancy with 53 (51 in 2012) occupied sites and 53 (50) confirmed breeding pairs. Productivity was high with every pair being successful and a record with 83+ (68+) young fledged. Productivity was high in absolute terms with 30 of the 53 successful sites raising 2 young; 20 raising at least one young and 3 raising one young. The weather was very poor in May for the display season which made observation difficult and reduced visibility, hence birds were only noted in 35 sites at this time. Warm weather at the rearing stage made perhaps the birds a little more visible at this stage with positive observations from 28 sites. As usual the birds were very visible in the fledging period with observations from 52 out of 53 sites. The result is a testimony to the near ideal habitat that SW Northumberland offers Honey-buzzard.

This year the breeding density increased as one new pair resulted from infilling in the lower South Tyne where 3 pairs (+1) were found in the vicinity of Haydon Bridge. The other new pair, in Tyne Valley E, was an extension to the E towards Newcastle Airport. The new site is 10.5 km from Tyne Bridge and 2.5 km from W edge of North Walbottle, where the solid conurbation of Tyneside begins. There is still scope for Honey-buzzard breeding at Ryton, Woolsington and Gosforth Park! As usual the sites are not necessarily new for Honey-buzzard, just for my survey.

Survey effort was maintained throughout the season but there were 2 absences in June of about a week each and another in May of 10 days. These may have had an additional effect on the poor return for the display period.

In the target area in 2013 12 sites were observed for nests with 100% success this year; the lower South Tyne site with nest in Scots Pine was dropped for logistical reasons. Scots Pine (5 nests) remains the most popular trees with Norway Spruce (4) close behind and Oak (2) and Douglas Fir (1) the only other type employed. Nests are much easier to find in Scots Pine and Oak than in Norway Spruce and Douglas Fir because of the structure of the crowns of the trees with for instance Scots Pine being open and Norway Spruce closed.

Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Observed Occupied (no. sites)			Breeding Category			Number young fledged	Trees used for Nesting
Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Display	Sit/ Rear	Fledge	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged	Trees used for Nesting
Devil’s Water	6	10	3	6	3	6	6	0	0	8 (2x2, 4x1+)	Scots Pine x2, Norway Spruce
Allen	9	15	2	3	5	9	9	0	0	14 (5x2, 4x1+)	Oak, Norway Spruce
Upper South Tyne	6	10	2	4	4	6	6	0	0	10 (4x2, 1x1+, 1x1)	Oak, Norway Spruce
Lower South Tyne	8	11	0	6	2	8	8	0	0	11 (3x2, 4x1+, 1x1)
Tipalt	3	4	0	1	1	3	3	0	0	5 (2x2, 1x1+)
Tyne W	7	14	3	7	4	7	7	0	0	14 (7x2)	Scots Pine, Douglas Fir, Norway Spruce
Tyne E	6	8	1	5	2	5	6	0	0	8 (2x2, 3x1+, 1x1)	Scots Pine
Derwent	8	13	1	2	7	8	8	0	0	13 (5x2, 3x1+)	Scots Pine
Total	53	85	12	34	28	52	53	0	0	83 (30x2, 20x1+, 3x1)	Scots Pine x5, Norway Spruce x4, Oak x2, Douglas Fir

Table 16: Results for the Honey-buzzard Breeding Season in SW Northumberland by area in 2013

As shown in Table 17 It was a much quieter year for observed migration than in 2012 with just 13 obvious migrants observed in 2013 against 35 in 2012. Part of the problem is that so many birds are now seen throughout the breeding season that it is difficult to be sure of the origin of a bird seen at this time so genuine migrants may occasionally be marked down as a bird in territory. As in 2012 migrants were fairly reliable along the upper South Tyne valley, particularly in the Eals area, and in the Tyne Valley W area, particularly around Bywell. Direction of travel was basically N in spring and S in autumn. As many as 5/8 autumn birds, all juveniles, were resting, that is not pursuing active emigration.

Date	Time	Locality	Age/Sex	Count	Direction	Movement
-April 30	15:13:00	Staward N (Allen)	Adult male	1	1 NE	at 15:13 male Honey-buzzard noted overhead in typical power-glide mode, moving NE at speed. He came down to near the ground and then in distance began soaring again to do another soar-glide cycle. He will have crossed the South Tyne at Haydon Bridge. Presumably heading for Scotland.
-May 2	15:53-15:54	Corbridge	Adult female, adult male	2	2 N	At 15:53 a female Honey-buzzard was soaring over Corbridge, steadily moving N, gaining height and joined by a male Honey-buzzard at 15:54. They disappeared into the distance, perhaps to follow the A68 to the W of Edinburgh and then the M9 to Perth, over the next day or two. When first seen, think the female was at the end of a power glide and about to start the soaring phase. In May the sunshine is a lot stronger than in September, giving more thermals and favouring soar-glide over orographic (ridge) lift.
-May 4	15:30-15:45	Bywell S/Stocksfield Guessburn (NZ06 K)	Adult male, adult female	2	1 W, 1 NW	Action started at 15:30 when a male appeared flapping hard against the breeze, initially on the Bywell side but moving SW to go over Shilford and carry on W; definitely a migrant, perhaps going to a site further up the Tyne or one further to W/NW (Lakes, Galloway). Finally at 15:45 near Farnley noted a Honey-buzzard female (not the male noted on 2/5) lifting off quickly and adopting a territorial pose; soon after another female came from the SE over Guessburn and flew powerfully NW over to the N bank of the Tyne at Styford to avoid the Farnley female; she carried on to NW so presume she's going further N but she's not on the A68.
-October 5	12:42:00	Bywell S/Stocksfield Guessburn (NZ06 K)	Juvenile	1	1 SE	The Honey-buzzard juvenile rose up from the Tyne at 12:42, climbed a little and flew almost overhead SE to New Ridley; they don't normally continue SE but aim for Kiln Pit Hill, 7 km S of Bywell; the bird is presumed to have been feeding up by Bywell Castle; got some good video and stills!
-October 8	14:20-16:10	Towsbank S/ W Asholme Common (NY65 Y)	2 Juvenile	2	2 rest	On arrival a pale juvenile Honey-buzzard was floating over the wood, not that mature and not one of the birds fledged earlier at the site, which were darker. It was readily photographed from 14:20-14:30! It had damage to P7/P8 on its left wing with one feather missing and the other pushed up vertically. This could be damage due to being shot at, but suspect it's a Scottish bird, which has blundered into a tree or wall, maybe after a wee dram or too many berries! A very rapid learning process is required to get away on migration with the late fledging of some birds. A steady stream of raptors floated over the wood in the next 2 hours, involving another, darker, intact Honey-buzzard juvenile from 15:55-16:10, also thought to be a migrant; both the pale and dark Honey-buzzard were up at 15:58; all needs to be checked against the 96 stills taken. Yes, on review, there was definitely a second Honey-buzzard juvenile, both migrants, as different plumage from birds reared here.
-October 13	11:34:00	Bywell S/Stocksfield Guessburn (NZ06 K)	Juvenile	1	1 rest	As in last visit, at 11:34 great panic in the vicinity of the Tyne below the Mount with Woodpigeon going all over the place and Carrion Crow and Jackdaw circling higher calling angrily. Yes it was another juvenile Honey-buzzard, a ruddy one seen flying low-down through the tops of the trees slightly to the E, giving one call (recorded).
-October 15	15:37:00	Towsbank S/ W Asholme Common (NY65 Y)	Juvenile	1	1 SW	The Honey-buzzard was a dark juvenile, moving out towards the moors to the W of Towsbank at 15:37 and then turning SW to disappear from view; so a migrant, thought to be darker than any bird present on 8/10 so a new bird; I think a steady trickle of birds pass through from Scotland on their way to the south coast of England, around the Isle of Wight, and from there over to Normandy; that's the ideal route with a few ending up further W with more uncertain journey through SW England and Brittany.
-October 16	13:10:00	Hexham Town/Tyne Green (NY96 H)	Juvenile	1	1 SW	From bridge across railway line at Hexham Station at 13:10 a juvenile Honey-buzzard appeared from the E moving WNW in flap-flap-glide motion; as it came over Acomb it started to turn and eventually moved SW over Warden at moderate height. The bird was well developed and a good flier. The wind was moderate SE, so feeling is the bird had followed the A68 to Corbridge and then drifted W on the breeze and started to correct its course over Acomb to resume its basically S direction.
-October 17	12:15:00	Ordley/Steel (NY95 P)	Juvenile	1	1 rest	out only 30 seconds from home at Ordley before bumping into a Honey-buzzard at 12:15, a pale ruddy juvenile up above Laird's Wood mobbed by sundry corvids; it was hanging rather indecisively over the wood moving W, before finally more decisively dropping down out of sight on W side of wood.
-October 27	11:30-12:43	Bywell S/Stocksfield Guessburn (NZ06 K)	Juvenile	1	1 rest	juvenile up at 11:32 from Cottagebank S, coming down by Tyne near Bywell Bridge, mid-brown plumage, pale underside, relatively mature in that wings and tail fully grown, power of flight high; moved SE to feed 11:35, to S of Mount at 11:53, then back via W of Mount to Tyne at 12:10; up again S of Cottagebank at 12:40, finally before heavy shower up over Mowden Hall at 12:43. Bird was very restless, keen to feed, maybe food not so plentiful now
Summary/ Comments:
April: 1 May: 4 Oct: 8	12-13: 1 13-14: 1 15-16: 6 resting: 5	upper South Tyne: 3 Allen: 1 Devil's Water; 1 Tyne Valley W: 8	Adult male: 3 Adult female: 2 Juvenile: 8	13		IN: 1 NE, 2 N, 1 NW, 1W OUT: 2 SW, 1 SE, 5 resting
Most records are for migrating juveniles this year, hence peak in October with juveniles bred in northern Britain, particularly Scotland, moving through. The early birds in spring also appeared to be moving through to Scotland.	There is a peak in activity in late afternoon. The pattern reported though is probably exaggerated by the observer concentrating on this period.	The 2 popular routes of upper South Tyne and Tyne Valley W were again evident.	In spring adult males and females both appeared in the early movement. Juveniles very much predominate in October.	The total in autumn is much reduced from 2012, falling from 35 to 8. This might indicate poorer productivity in northern Britain. But more likely it is a simple reflection of the high variability in observed migration.	Direction was broadly N in spring, ranging from NE to W, and broadly S in autumn, ranging from SW to SE.	Records this year were concentrated at the start and end of the breeding season. It is obviously easier to be sure that a bird is a migrant when known breeding sites are vacant. So observations this year comprised 5 spring records at the end of April and in early May with the remaining 8 in October.

Table 17: Visible Migration Movements noted for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland in 2013

An analysis was made for the 2013 results of the numbers of male, female and juvenile found in each phase of the season at their breeding sites. The results are shown in Table 18. As expected males are most conspicuous in the display period, outnumbering females by 29 to 21; numbers are more equal in the rearing period with males just outnumbering females by 19 to 16, perhaps because of their propensity for high-circling over the site when incubation starts; males leave earlier than females so it is not surprising that females outnumber males by 27 to 18 in the fledging period; by far the majority of birds seen in the fledging period are juveniles with the 83 seen being roughly double the number of adults seen. Because of the difficulty for inexperienced observers of separating juvenile Honey-buzzard from Common Buzzard, this compounds identification issues at this stage of the season.

Area	No. sites	No. adults	Display 2/5-19/6		Rearing 20/6-15/8		Fledging 16/8-2/10			Gangs of juveniles post-breeding
			Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Juvenile
	6	10	6	4	3	3	3	3	8
1x7	9	15	3	1	4	4	5	4	14
	6	10	3	3	2	2	2	5	10
	8	11	4	5	1	1	3	2	11
	3	4	1	1	1	0	0	1	5
1x8	7	14	7	5	2	2	3	5	14
	6	8	4	1	1	1	1	3	8
	8	13	1	1	5	3	1	4	13
2 (15)	53	85	29	21	19	16	18	27	83	0

Table 18: Number of Male, Female and Juvenile Honey-buzzard found in each phase of breeding season in 2013

The detailed results for the 2014 breeding season are given in Table 19. It was yet another record-breaking season for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland in terms of occupancy with 56 (53 in 2012) occupied sites and 54 (53) confirmed breeding pairs. Productivity was high with nearly every pair being successful and a record of 84+ (83+) young fledged. Productivity was high in absolute terms with 30 of the 54 successful sites raising 2 young; 15 raising at least one young and 3 raising one young. Perhaps because of the increasing difficulty of covering all sites in the fledging phase, an additional category for numbers fledged has been introduced. This is for the situation where in a visit in the fledging phase the immediate site is found to be still occupied but no young are seen. The classification here is >0, meaning that it is believed young have fledged but none have been seen, in effect the hidden brood. Six sites were classified as >0 in 2014, all also being recorded as breeding category ON, occupied nest, at the confirmed level.

The weather was above average throughout the breeding season, except in August, which was cool and windy after the remnants of a hurricane disturbed the line of the jet stream. This affected observations around mid-August at the start of the fledging season, contributing to the >0 category noted above.

This year the breeding density increased as three new sites were occupied, two classified as infilling; one new pair in the lower South Tyne in the vicinity of Haydon Bridge, another in the Tipalt, near Haltwhistle; the third was anticipated as another step towards the urban conurbation of Tyneside with a pair at Ryton Willows; this last pair are extending the range E rather than infilling. All these new pairs were successful, raising 5 young between them, suggesting that there is scope for further expansion. The Ryton site is 9.5 km from Tyne Bridge and 1.5 km from W edge of Newburn, where the solid conurbation of Tyneside begins. There is still scope for Honey-buzzard breeding at Woolsington and Gosforth Park on NW/N edge of conurbation! As usual the sites are not necessarily new for Honey-buzzard, just for the survey.

Survey effort was maintained throughout the season but there was 1 absence of almost 2 weeks in late May/early June and further absences of about 5 days in mid-June, late July, mid-August and late August. The main effect might have been from the long absence in late May/early June on the results for the display period but good weather at this time mitigated any effect.

In the target area in 2014 the same 12 sites were observed for nests as in 2013 with 100% success this year. Scots Pine (6 nests) remains the most popular tree with Norway Spruce (3) some way behind and Oak (2) and Douglas Fir (1) the only other type employed. Nests are much easier to find in Scots Pine and Oak than in Norway Spruce and Douglas Fir because of the structure of the crowns of the trees with for instance Scots Pine being open and Norway Spruce closed.

Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Observed Occupied (no. sites)			Breeding Category			Number young fledged	Trees used for Nesting
Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Display	Sit/ Rear	Fledge	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged	Trees used for Nesting
Devil’s Water	6	12	3	6	4	6	6	0	0	9 (3x2, 3x1+)	Scots Pine x2, Norway Spruce
Allen	9	15	2	3	8	8	8	0	1	12 (4x2, 3x1+, 1x>0)	Oak, Norway Spruce
Upper South Tyne	6	12	2	6	2	6	6	0	0	10 (4x2, 1x1, 1x>0)	Oak, Norway Spruce
Lower South Tyne	9	14	0	9	1	8	8	0	1	12 (4x2, 2x1+, 2x>0)
Tipalt	4	7	0	3	0	4	4	0	0	6 (2x2, 2x1)
Tyne W	7	13	3	7	4	7	7	0	0	12 (5x2, 1x1+, 1x>0)	2 x Scots Pine, Douglas Fir
Tyne E	7	10	1	5	3	7	7	0	0	11 (4x2, 3x1+)	Scots Pine
Derwent	8	13	1	3	5	8	8	0	0	12 (4x2, 3x1+,1x>0)	Scots Pine
Total	56	96	12	42	27	54	54	0	2	84 (30x2, 15x1+, 3x1, 6x>0)	Scots Pine x6, Norway Spruce x3, Oak x2, Douglas Fir

Table 19: Results for the Honey-buzzard Breeding Season in SW Northumberland by area in 2014

Table 20 gives a breakdown of the numbers of males, females and juveniles in each part of the season. As in previous years, the male:female ratio is highest in the display season at 37:24 (1.54), reducing in the rearing season to 21:17 (1.24) and in the fledging season to 21:31 (0.68). Males are more obvious in the display phase and tend to leave before the females. The female visibility, in absolute terms, is highest in the fledging phase, when 31 noted, with birds being conspicuous in training sessions with the youngsters. The number of juveniles seen, reported as 78 in Table 20, differs from the 84 in Table 19, because of the 6 hidden broods (recorded as >0) noted in 2014. By definition all of the juveniles were seen in the fledging phase.

Area	No. sites in season	No. adults in season			Display 23/4-18/6		Rearing 19/6-17/8		Fledging 18/8-30/9			Gangs of juveniles post-breeding 27/9-2/10
		Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Juvenile
Devil’s Water	6	6	6	12	5	4	3	4	4	3	9
Allen	9	9	6	15	3	1	7	4	3	4	11	1x7
Upper South Tyne	6	6	6	12	6	4	0	2	5	6	9
Lower South Tyne	9	8	6	14	8	3	1	0	2	4	10
Tipalt	4	3	4	7	3	2	0	0	2	4	6
Tyne W	7	7	6	13	6	5	4	4	3	3	11	1x8
Tyne E	7	6	4	10	3	3	3	1	1	3	11
Derwent	8	7	6	13	3	2	3	2	1	4	11
Total	56	52	44	96	37	24	21	17	21	31	78	2 (15)

Table 20: Number of Male, Female and Juvenile Honey-buzzard found in each phase of breeding season in 2014

Table 21 shows the migration picture for Honey-buzzard in 2014. It was a record year with detailed analysis and commentary in the last 2 rows.

Date	Time	Locality	Age/Sex	Count	Direction	Movement
-April 21	16:51:00	Ordley (NY95 P)	Adult female	1	1 W	At 16:51 a female Honey-buzzard floated W over Ordley, peering around, clearly homing-in on its site, on northern edge of North Pennines. Saw it from my field: fortunately had camera with me; here's 2 short clips. It had been a sunny day after misty start, fairly cool but dry on light E breeze.
-May 4	17:20-17:40	Broomleyfell Plantation (NZ05 E)	Adult female	1	1 rest	migrant female Honey-buzzard on the Broomleyfell heath from 17:20-17:40 causing mayhem among the local Crow
-May 6	14:40-15:09	Newton (NZ06 H)	Adult male 2 Adult female 3	5	5 NE	From 14:40-14:45 had strong NE movement. Noticed a Honey-buzzard female soaring low-down near Newton at 14:40, a long way (2km!) from the long-established site at Bywell Cottagebank. She was soon joined by another female and they soared higher on what must have been very good lift on the SW breeze hitting the south-facing slopes of the Tyne. As they climbed towards the base of the clouds, another 2 birds, judged to be male and female, on size, were seen to follow them, a little way behind. By 14:45 all 4 birds were disappearing from sight, way up in the cloud base. Once away from the slopes of the Tyne, they would power-glide with the wind behind, losing height until further soaring opportunities emerged. Would judge this as mainly orographic lift rather than thermal lift, though must be a bit of latter. At 15:09 another bird, a male, was seen taking the same line, high-up in the clouds.
-May 17	16:50:00	Hexham Widehaugh (NY96 S)	Adult male	1	1 W	evocative day with the Honey-buzzard. Up came another lonely Honey-buzzard, a female, hanging high over a wooded hill from 15:50-16:04, keeping a vigil for her mate, with frequent hovering (or stationary flapping if you don't think Honey-buzzard hover!). Well no sign of him then. But I was keeping an eye open for migrants all afternoon, after quite an influx further south over the last 2 days. So not too surprised when a male appeared at moderate height, power-gliding W, about 2 km to the E of the site at 16:50. What followed though was electrifying: the female had clearly spotted him miles off, came quickly out of the wood, rapidly gaining height in broad spirals, and the male went into at least 2 butterfly display flights, with a series of plunges, rearing up and flapping at the top. The female by now was up with him and they went very high in close mutual circling, disappearing into the haze. So they are very pleased to see each other for the new breeding season!!
-August 5	12:30-12:40	Bywell Cottagebank (NZ06 L)	Adult male	1	1 SW	At 12:30 after almost one hour had not picked up any raptors but then noticed a male Honey-buzzard at moderate height over Bywell Cottagebank; he slowly soared to an enormous height, then floated off to SW, crossing the valley, still gaining height from the ridge lift due to the SW wind bouncing off the N side of the valley; he disappeared from sight, he was so high, by time he reached the S side of the valley at 12:40. He was heading for the W side of the Pennines where orographic lift makes progress effortless on westerly winds. So that's the 1st migrant, not the local bird (seen later) and perhaps a Scottish bird leaving now the Games are over, or a failed breeder!
-August 22	12:35-13:33	Warden (NY96 D)	Adult male 3	3	3 SE	Three migrating Honey-buzzard were seen, all males; at 12:35 2 came from the NW arriving at fairly low altitude, looking as if they were in the early stages of their movement, perhaps from further W in the lower South Tyne Valley; they soared very high, drifting SE and were lost to sight; the local male was up to greet them maybe in defence of the site; at 13:33 the local male Honey-buzzard also departed SE, obviously satisfied with the progress of his family.
-September 6	16:25	Wylam E (NZ16 H)	Adult male	1	1 S	No sign of the male here so looks as if he'd left. Indeed at 16:25 did have a male arrive high over the site on the N side of the valley, so high that he'd only been picked up hanging above another raptor that was looking at. He moved steadily S keeping the height but probably looking for somewhere to roost: definitely a migrant. However the female at the site responded by making a very vigorous flap-flap-glide from the E to her site at low altitude, presumably to discourage him from camping there.
-September 14	15:15:00	Greenhead E (NY66 S)	Adult male	1	1 SW	During this display, the adult male was seen high above them at 15:15 floating ever higher on orographic lift as the NE breeze struck the S side of the valley. There was no interaction at any stage with the female or juvenile and thought he was a Scottish migrant, who had B&Bd and in the clearing weather had decided to go a little way further S with maybe 2 hours of flying time, covering c100 km. He did manage some interaction with a juvenile female Hobby: very good work!
-September 20	12:30:00	Whittle Dene Wood (NZ06 S)	Adult male	1	1 SE	In general no signs of a rapid exit though did get a male Honey-buzzard up at the start (12:30) lifting off Whittle Burn and doing a flap-flap-glide right across the Tyne SE towards Mickley; this mode of flight is the fastest at about 60 km/hour but uses a lot of energy so cannot be sustained for long; whatever he just wanted to be the hell out of here after 5-6 days presumably of being stranded.
-September 21	11:48:00	Kiln Pit Hill (NZ05 H)	Adult male Adult female	2	2 S	Migration occurred at 11:48 when a great commotion was noted to N with 25 Jackdaw and a few Rook heavily mobbing a female and a male Honey-buzzard. The female rode through all the trouble and carried on S; the male got into aggro with a number of corvids and an adult Common Buzzard from the site to N, before finally deciding migration was the priority and climbing decisively higher above the mobbing birds. Both birds continued due S over the wind-farm. So that's 1st female recorded on migration; suspect these late males are Scottish (aggro!), this one and the one yesterday were certainly pretty fired up, frustrated with delays perhaps!
-September 21	13:20	Dipton Wood S (NY95 U)	Adult female	1	1 S	Then passing Slaley at 13:20 noted to N a high-flying female Honey-buzzard, mobbed by 1 Jackdaw, steadily moving S from edge of Dipton Wood. So females are starting to move out! They are more likely to be confused with Common Buzzard by observers, particularly away from coastal areas, as they are heavier than the males. But head is still small, neck long, tail long and slender, particularly at base; above all they look very large, almost eagle-like, with their long wings and heavier bodies than the males.
-September 24	15:40:00	Beldon Burn (NY94 P)	Adult male	1	1 S	Looking up the valley could see a family party of 4 Honey-buzzard near Hunstanworth, firmly up in the air from 15:32-15:40 with the male leading, way above the others, the female following, well clear of 2 juveniles, one of which was skimming the tree tops after a short while; the male went higher and higher into the cloud base and eventually disappeared off S on trek; so he was being given a send off. Site here looks as if it might have moved from N side of valley to S side, which may be why not picked up in spring round of visits.
-September 27	14:35:00	Sinderhope S (NY85 F)	Adult female	1	1 SW	from 14:32-14:36 had 2 juvenile and female up over wooded hillside, the female went high and proceeded to emigrate with flap-flap-glide to SW, slowly gaining height, as she rounded high moorland to W she leaned against it on the W side, gaining orographic lift from the moderate SW breeze, she had disappeared by 14:40
-October 2	12:30:00-14:30	Stocksfield Guessburn (NZ06 K)	Juvenile 8	8	4 SW 4 S	8 Honey-buzzard juveniles emigrated from 12:30-14:30; it was confused to some extent with a number of birds making mock exits, then losing their nerve and coming back. This 8 would count as a gang of 8 locally-bred birds, deciding to finally emigrate, rather than birds passing through from further N, that's the final stage of the season. The 8 birds could have come from 4 sites, know 3 of the near-by sites raised 2 and the other near-by site 1 . Interestingly they seemed to finally emigrate in 2s, suspect they were siblings! They have timed their initial exit well, getting away before the weather deteriorates. Summary: 8 birds off as 4 duos from 12:30-14:30 with 4 SW 4 S and phases: very dark 1, fairly dark (grey) 5, rufous 1, pale/rufous 1.
-October 7	14:23-14:55	Towsbank (NY65 Y)	Juvenile	1	rest	Honey-buzzard numbered just one, a fairly pale juvenile bird hanging over the top of the wood from 14:23-14:35 and 14:50-14:55; such late birds are regarded as Scottish-bred, on passage through northern England and inclined to stop a bit with the superb habitat! This bird kept apart from the Common Buzzard and was more mobile, ranging over much of the top of the wood, before disappearing in quite a dive to the trees near the nest-site used by Honey-buzzard this season.
-October 10	14:35-15:15	Stocksfield Guessburn (NZ06 K)	Juvenile 3	3	rest	Had 3 Honey-buzzard juvenile up over Bywell to N, plus 2 Common Buzzard. First Honey-buzzard up was a rufous juvenile around Short Wood at 14:35, climbing up a little way, before gliding back to the fields a little to the W. At 15:10 a dark Honey-buzzard juvenile was up to NW of Cottagebank, going moderately high and staying up for a while, not sure what happened to this bird. At 15:15 4 birds were up in Short Wood area: 2 Honey-buzzard juvenile soaring above 2 Common Buzzard below. The Honey-buzzard comprised the rufous bird seen earlier and a pale bird, both coming down eventually. So it looks as if 3 Honey-buzzard were present (1 each of dark, rufous, pale phases), presumed to be birds on passage, taking a break in the lovely Tyne Valley.
-October 15	15:55:00	Haltwhistle, North Wood (NY66 W)	Juvenile	1	rest	still getting the odd Honey-buzzard; today saw a juvenile at North Wood, Haltwhistle, at 15:55, flying across the South Tyne from presumed feeding area on W side to the main wood in strong flap-flap-glide action; again will attribute the bird as a late, resting Scottish-bred migrant,
-October 15	13:30:00	Stocksfield E (NZ06 Q)	Juvenile	1	1 SW	Friend (DP) has shown me piccies of a 'buzzard' moving SW over their house in Stocksfield E on 15/10 at 13:30; think it's a dark-phase Honey-buzzard, which can be added to list as the dark bird at Bywell seen by me on 10/10 will presumably have moved on by then.
-October 19	13:55:00	Stocksfield Guessburn (NZ06 K)	Juvenile	1	rest	delighted to have the Honey-buzzard season kept going by a a rufous-buffy juvenile up at 13:55 over the Tyne above Bywell Castle moving low-down into trees towards Shilford; it wasn't going anywhere in today's weather, just moving feeding position
-October 23	14:35-15:25	Haltwhistle, North Wood (NY66 W)	Juvenile 2	2	rest	The 1st bird, quite young-looking with short primary projections, was predominantly grey and was up at 14:35 briefly above the canopy before coming down on N side of extended copse. The 2nd bird, larger and dark phase with long primary projections, came up at 14:45 and flew into a group of 4 large trees where it perched for 10 minutes before continuing its slow progress down the copse towards the S end. Unlike adults, juvenile Honey-buzzard often perch in the open both shortly after fledging and on migration through the UK: maybe they don't get out of this habit until they get to Africa and find out how many larger raptors will take them, given the chance! Around 15:20 there were a number of disturbances at the S end, with the 2nd Honey-buzzard getting up at 15:25, also mobbed by Jackdaw, climbing a little into the sky and subsiding into another conifer wood 300m to the SW.
-October 25	13:55	Towsbank (NY65 Y)	Juvenile	1	1 S	a ruddy-brown Honey-buzzard juvenile flew S at 13:55, coming from the N and moving low-down against the ridge to the E, thus getting orographic lift on the SW wind; it kept on flying over the Snope Burn, disappearing from sight; it was not one of the birds at Haltwhistle 2 days ago as they were both darker
-October 27	16:30:00	Ordley (NY95 P)	Juvenile	1	rest	highlight was a juvenile Honey-buzzard at 16:30 flying low overhead moving SE from Black Hall towards Ordley Village, presumably to roost; think this bird must be feeding locally in the rich habitat of the Devil's Water.
-October 30	14:20-14:50	Harwood Shield (NY95 A)	Juvenile	1	rest	1st up was a juvenile Honey-buzzard, hanging strongly in the breeze, at 14:20 for 10 minutes and 14:50 for 10 minutes. The Honey-buzzard was joined around 14:50 by a Common Buzzard and a Kestrel.
Summary/ Comments:
April: 1 May: 7 August: 4 September: 8 October: 20	11-12: 2 12-13: 6 13-14: 8 14-15: 7 15-16: 3 16-17: 3 resting: 11	Tipalt: 1 upper South Tyne: 5 lower South Tyne: 3 Allen: 1 Devil's Water: 4 Tyne Valley W: 21 Tyne Valley E: 2 Derwent: 3	Adult male: 12 Adult female: 8 Juvenile: 20	40		IN: 5 NE, 2 W, 1 resting OUT: 8 SW, 10 S, 4 SE, 10 resting
Most records are for migrating juveniles this year, hence the peak in October with juveniles bred in northern Britain, particularly Scotland, moving through. Some of the early birds in spring also appeared to be moving through to Scotland.	There is a peak in activity this year in early afternoon from 12:00-15:00, with 21 out of 29 flying birds noted at this time. The times at which resting birds have been noted are not included in the analysis. As ever observer routines affect the picture here.	The most popular route this year was via Tyne Valley W, where many juveniles were noted in October. About half the migrants were noted here over the whole season. However, migrants were seen in all areas, suggesting a broad front to some extent.	In spring adult males and females both featured with a slight preponderance of latter. In autumn males left first, followed by females. Juveniles very much predominate in October, many resting in prime feeding areas.	A record total with the high number in October presumably indicating a rapidly rising population further N in Scotland.	Direction in spring was either NE (birds moving further N) or W (birds arriving in Tyne Valley). In autumn the direction was broadly S, ranging from SW to SE, sometimes a reflection of the topology	Records this year as usual were concentrated at the start and end of the breeding season. It is obviously easier to be sure that a bird is a migrant when known breeding sites are vacant. So observations this year comprised 8 spring birds at the end of April and in early May and 20 late autumn birds in October. Exiting males accounted for most of the 12 birds in August and September, with a few females noted in the last third of September.

Table 21: Visible Migration Movements noted for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland in 2014

The detailed results for the 2015 breeding season are given in Table 22. It was yet another record-breaking season for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland in terms of occupancy with 57 occupied sites (56 in 2014) but the number of confirmed breeding pairs fell slightly to 53 (54 in 2014), mainly because 2 sites did not apparently progress in the Haltwhistle area. The outstanding feature was the high productivity with at least 40 pairs fledging 2 young, 12 pairs at least 1 young and 3 pairs greater then 0 young, giving a minimum fledge of 95 juveniles (84+ in 2014), by some way the highest yet recorded. In terms of successful nests, 55 pairs raised the 95+ young, that is a minimum of 1.73 young per pair.

The weather was very poor at the start of the season with strong cool winds running through late April and much of May into early June; it was then quite variable but without any long periods of dull weather which can affect fieldwork and maybe the birds. The mixed weather over much of the rearing period (mid-June to mid-August) may have actually benefited the birds, giving spells of sunshine and rain to assist insect populations. September and the first part of October were generally fine, enabling the fledging of the birds to be well monitored.

This year the breeding totals increased by just one with a new site at Derwent Gorge on the E side of Derwent Reservoir, which was successful with 2 young fledged. The incursion towards the Newcastle/Gateshead conurbation continues to be of interest. The Ryton site, 9.5 km from Tyne Bridge and 1.5 km from W edge of Newburn, was again successful with 2 young fledged. A female was hanging over the area SE of Dunston, towards Gateshead on 14/8; this bird is presumed to be from Hill Head Wood, a large wood to E of Sunniside, just 4.5km from Newcastle city centre compared to the c9km for the closest known sites to W at Ryton and Throckley. Gosforth Park, not known as a site, is 6km from the city centre so could be colonised before too long, if it isn't already! Woolsington is another possible site 6km out. Getting closer than Hill Head requires colonisation of a park. The only other change to the sites was a presumed move of the pair at Softley further up the upper South Tyne valley to Williamston; it is remarkable how long the pair had bred at Softley, an area largely devoid of Common Buzzard and on the E edge of the badlands to the W.

Survey effort was maintained throughout the season but there were 2 absences of about a week each in late May and mid-June affecting mainly the display observations; another 2 absences of about a week each followed in late July and early August affecting the rearing observations; there were few absences during the fledging period, which was therefore well covered.

In the target area in 2015, 10 sites were observed for nests (12 in 2014) with 100% success again this year. Scots Pine (6 nests) remains the most popular tree with Norway Spruce (2) and Oak (2) some way behind. The reduction in the number of nests sought was due to time constraints in keeping up with the booming Honey-buzzard population. The two sites eliminated included one using Norway Spruce in the upper South Tyne, where the birds moved this year and it was thought to be too difficult to relocate them; the other was in Tyne Valley West where the nest in Norway Spruce or Douglas Fir has always been particularly difficult to find.

Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Observed Occupied (no. sites)			Breeding Category			Number young fledged	Trees used for Nesting
Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Display	Sit/ Rear	Fledge	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged	Trees used for Nesting
Devil’s Water	6	11	3	6	3	6	6	0	0	10 (4x2, 2x1+)	Scots Pine x2, Norway Spruce
Allen	9	17	2	3	6	9	9	0	0	16 (7x2, 1x1, 1x>0)	Oak, Norway Spruce
Upper South Tyne	6	11	1	6	1	5	5	1	0	10 (5x2, 1x0)	Oak
Lower South Tyne	9	11	0	7	3	9	8	1	0	14 (5x2, 3x1+, 1x>0)
Tipalt	4	6	0	3	0	3	2	2	0	4 (1x2, 1x1+, 1x>0, 1x0)
Tyne W	7	13	2	7	2	7	7	0	0	13 (6x2, 1x1+)	2 x Scots Pine
Tyne E	7	10	1	4	5	7	7	0	0	12 (5x2, 2x1+)	Scots Pine
Derwent	9	17	1	1	8	9	9	0	0	16 (7x2, 2x1+)	Scots Pine
Total	57	96	10	37	28	55	53	4	0	95 (40x2, 11x1+, 1x1, 3x>0, 2x0)	Scots Pine x6, Norway Spruce x2, Oak x2

Table 22: Results for the Honey-buzzard Breeding Season in SW Northumberland by area in 2015

Table 23 gives a breakdown of the numbers of males, females and juveniles in each part of the season. The male:female ratio was, compared to previous seasons, rather flat across the year being only 27:22 (1.23) in the display season, reducing in the rearing season to 17:17 (1.00) and unusually in the fledging season rising again to 34:31 (1.10). It is speculated that the poor weather in the display phase reduced the amount of high aerial activity display in which the males are conspicuous; in the fledging phase the high productivity delayed the males' departure as they stayed longer to help feed the young. The number of juveniles seen, reported as 92 in Table 23, differs from the 95 in Table 22, because of the 3 hidden broods (recorded as >0). By definition all of the juveniles were seen in the fledging phase. Two gangs, assemblages of juveniles before departure, were noted from 24/9-28/9, totalling 9 birds.

Area	No. sites in season	No. adults in season			Display 21/4-20/6		Rearing 21/6-14/8		Fledging 15/8-27/9			Gangs of juveniles post-breeding 24/9-28/9
		Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Juvenile
Devil’s Water	6	5	6	11	4	4	2	2	3	1	10
Allen	9	8	9	17	3	2	3	3	6	8	15
Upper South Tyne	6	5	6	11	4	5	1	1	3	3	10
Lower South Tyne	9	8	3	11	6	1	2	1	5	3	13
Tipalt	4	3	3	6	3	2	0	0	2	2	3
Tyne W	7	6	7	13	4	5	1	2	5	5	13	1x6
Tyne E	7	6	4	10	2	2	3	4	3	2	12	1x3
Derwent	9	9	8	17	1	1	5	4	7	7	16
Total	57	50	46	96	27	22	17	17	34	31	92	2 (9)

Table 23: Number of Male, Female and Juvenile Honey-buzzard found in each phase of breeding season in 2015

Table 24 shows the migration picture for Honey-buzzard in 2015. It was a subdued year with detailed analysis and commentary in the last 2 rows.

Date	Time	Locality	Age/Sex	Count	Direction	Movement
-September 6	12:10	Ordley (NY95 P)	Adult male	2	2 SE	The 1st migrant Honey-buzzard were seen today with 2 males leaving from local sites in the 'Shire from 12:05-12:15; looking to the N from home, picked up a pale ruddy juvenile Honey-buzzard up to the W, flapping up to some height, when picked up 2 male Honey-buzzard moving SE, one from directly below, the other from further N; both gained height steadily as crossed the Devil's Water and looked clearly on their way to Africa completely disappearing from sight in the clear blue sky and light NW breeze; these were presumed to be the males from the 2 local sites at Ordley and Dotland; the juvenile seen up initially was at medium height and it was joined by another ruddy pale-phase juvenile, both presumed from the local Ordley site, waving goodbye to dad!
-September 7	16:05:00	Hexham (NY96 H)	Adult male	1	1 S	Over Hexham Tyne Green from 15:58-16:03 there was chaos bird-wise with all the corvids up in the air and Swallow flying wildly everywhere. There was a mini-funnel of Honey-buzzard up from the Tyne area with a male soaring rapidly to a great height just below the clouds, a female way-up but some distance below and 2 struggling juveniles with wings held straight out trying to soar but not gaining much height (soaring rapidly is an acquired skill as they need to read the thermals very precisely!). The male left decisively, moving just below the high clouds to S, and the other 3 birds after staying up a bit longer, disappeared quickly (presumably diving back to the ground). So that was an impressive exit!
-September 9	14:00:00	Gilsland (NY66 I)	Adult male	1	1 S	Another Honey-buzzard, also a male, flew S just to W of Gilsland at 14:00, gliding fast at right-angles to the wind, using ridge (orographic) lift for speed. You do sometimes get migrants on the sunnier side of the murk, maybe pushed a little further W than usual in this case.
-September 10	11:55:00	Minsteracres (NZ05 H)	Adult male	1	1 S	Another migrant was seen: a male Honey-buzzard was climbing from 11:50-11:57 well to the N climbing the ridge into the S breeze; he was using ridge lift to gain incredible height, disappearing from site and presumably going off overhead to S.
-September 19	15:10	Studdon Park (NY85 M)	Adult female	1	1 SW	An adult female Honey-buzzard migrated through the site at 15:10, moving SW straight into the breeze at moderate altitude; she was clearly exploiting ridge lift to reduce energy use.
-September 19	16:05:00	Sinderhope (NY85 G)	Adult male	1	1 SW	Meanwhile at 16:05 an adult male had migrated across the Allen moving SW, in the diving phase of the ridge lift strategy, coming low over the moor on the W side of the valley into the breeze. He was moving very quickly, seeing the wind was against.
-September 22	14:05:00	Kirkhaugh (NY74 E)	Juvenile	1	rest	As approached Alston from Hexham at 14:05, picked up a flock of corvids in an angry swarm over the moorland to SE of Kirkhaugh; such swarms are well worth scanning for a Honey-buzzard juvenile (not adult, as treatment seems to be reserved for juveniles!). On the edge of the swarm was indeed a juvenile Honey-buzzard, dark rufous colour, which drifted towards the Clarghyll mine. This bird was presumed to be a migrant, the 1st juvenile migrant seen this year, but did later check out carefully the Kirkhaugh area for adults as it has been an occasional breeding site in the past.
-September 24	14:55	Newburn (NZ16 M)	Juvenile	1	1 SE	At 14:55 a juvenile Honey-buzzard migrant was spotted over S end of Throckley to N, at great height in the fresh breeze; it didn't seem very perturbed and was moving SE before being lost to sight.
-September 27	13:10-14:20	Beldon Burn (NY94 J)	Adult male 1 Juvenile 2	3	3 SW	Also sorted out Riddlehamhope to some extent with a very weak-flying juvenile up to E of the mature pine plantation at 14:15-14:20, converting this from a >0 to 1+; the male was up at this site at 13:30 and well above the juvenile at 14:20 but he carried on getting higher and higher before departing SW: bye-bye junior! 2 more Honey-buzzard migrants were seen: at 13:10 a large dark juvenile flapped up the Beldon Burn moving W to W of Middle Plantation and then proceeded to soar to a great height before moving off SW. Below it was another smaller, paler juvenile, which came off the moorland and followed it up into the sky so by 13:20 both had disappeared SW.
-October 14	14:35-15:15	Haltwhistle (NY76 C)	Juvenile 2	2	rest	Had a dark-brown juvenile Honey-buzzard on way out at 14:35, E of Melkridge (lower South Tyne), flying low over rough meadows with scattered trees. At North Wood (upper South Tyne) the Common Buzzard were very anxious with 2 adults and 2 juveniles calling agitatedly. Eventually at 15:14 a dark-phase juvenile Honey-buzzard came out of the wood from which the Common Buzzard were calling and flew a little way NW towards the South Tyne.
-October 15	14:50	Newburn (NZ16 M)	Juvenile	1	rest	a dark brown juvenile Honey-buzzard over Ryton Willows at 14:50 mobbed by 8 Jackdaw and 4 Rook, before gliding fairly low-down onto fields on Newburn side; it was beginning to look more like an adult Honey-buzzard structurally with long wings and tail as matured somewhat on presumed trip down from Scotland.
-October 18	15:45:00	Bywell (NZ06 K)	Juvenile	1	rest	At 15:45 a flock of Jackdaw was seen to rise quickly over NW of Cottagebank and sure enough a juvenile pale-phase Honey-buzzard appeared low over the trees, floating around before settling down again; the young birds tend to be restless, flying low from field to field. This is the first bird seen here since 28/9, when a gang of 6 juveniles was present, suggesting this is a new bird, not a lingerer; it looked quite young so late to fledge from Scotland perhaps.
Summary/ Comments:
September: 12 October: 4	11-12: 1 12-13: 2 13-14: 2 14-15: 3 15-16:1 16-17: 2 resting: 5	Tipalt: 1 upper South Tyne: 2 lower South Tyne: 1 Allen: 2 Devil's Water: 2 Tyne Valley W: 2 Tyne Valley E: 2 Derwent: 4	Adult male: 7 Adult female: 1 Juvenile: 8	16		OUT: 5 SW, 3 S, 3 SE, 5 resting
All records this year are in the main autumnal movement period. Males appeared to leave later than usual, perhaps because of the very high local productivity necessitating their help with food supplies for longer than usual. Numbers in October are relatively low, perhaps because of poor productivity in Scotland.	There is no obvious peak in activity this year at a particular hour. The times at which resting birds have been noted are not included in the analysis. As ever observer routines affect the picture here.	This year saw broad front migration with no obvious concentrations.	In autumn males left first with just one female noted in the whole period. Juveniles very much predominated in late September and October, with some resting in prime feeding areas.	A much lower total than in recent years. Poor weather in NE England in spring may have caused many to sneak through at low altitude. The good weather in autumn in NE England meant local birds were readily viewed but maybe productivity in Scotland was well down.	In autumn the direction was broadly S, ranging from SW to SE, sometimes a reflection of the topology	The absence of observed migration in spring is attributed to the poor weather in spring in NE England, which reduced observer time in the field and may have encouraged birds moving to Scotland to sneak through at low altitude. The low autumn totals, compared to most recent years, may be due to a poor breeding season in Scotland where the turbulent weather continued through into July and August, with strong cold winds and much rain. See for instance these articles in the Scotsman http://www.scotsman.com/news/environment/scotland-weather-2015-windiest-year-in-decades-1-3841489 and the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33854146. On the other hand NR did find 4 juvenile Honey-buzzard in the Tay Valley at 4 sites from 14/9-17/9 so an alternative explanation is that the fine weather in mid-autumn facilitated a quick and smooth exit with few birds resting in NE England.

Table 24: Visible Migration Movements noted for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland in 2015

The detailed results for the 2016 breeding season are given in Table 25. There was an important major change to the size of the study area. Because of the increasing population, the study area was reduced in size with the elimination of lower South Tyne and Tipalt/Irthing. These areas were responsible in 2015 for 13 sites, 17 adult (11 male, 6 female),12 sites occupied, fledging 18+ juveniles (6x2, 4x1+, 2x0+) with 1 further site failing (1x0), 2 migrants. So, for making meaningful comparisons, new baselines have been calculated for 2015.

It was yet another record-breaking season for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland in terms of density with 49 occupied sites (44 in 2015, adjusted for change in size of study area) with the number of confirmed breeding pairs at 48 (42 in 2015). The one site where no juveniles was seen was in the upper South Tyne; the one monitored site in the Haltwhistle area, where there were 2 apparent failures last year, was successful in 2016. Productivity was again very high with 34 pairs raising 2 young (same, 34 in 2015), 11 pairs at least 1 young, 3 pairs one young and 1 pair greater then 0 young, giving a minimum fledge of 83+ juveniles (77+ in 2014). In terms of known successful nests, 48 pairs raised 82+ young, that is a minimum of 1.71 young per pair (in 2015, 76+ young from 42 nests, 1.81 young per pair).

Weather report: very cold in late April with persistent N airstream; conditions improved rapidly in early May with sunshine and showers; from mid-May to mid-June the weather was very variable with some grand sunny days interspersed with grey ones, when wind off the North Sea; in late June the weather continued changeable with just a few days with strong sunshine; in July there were no long spells of rain but neither was it settled though it was very warm at times; August continued the changeable theme with strong sunshine, murk and gales in the first 10 days; after good weather for the start of the fledging period in mid-August, the last 10 days saw great variation with the W breeze and rainfall totals both increasing; September was generally bright and breezy with no lengthy spells of rain; October was sunnier and milder than usual with E winds at the start becoming mainly W; the end of the month saw increasing murk but it remained mild and there were no significant frosts; in November the first hoar frost was on 2nd with regular hard frosts by the middle of the month.

There were 4 new sites this year on heather moorland at altitude: on the E side of Whitfield Moor, the S extreme of upper South Tyne below Alston, and on N and S sides of Derwent Reservoir. In Tyne Valley E a new site was found on the Stanley Burn near Prudhoe, once again demonstrating that the species is not worried by nearby conurbations. So 5 sites were added in the redefined study area and none were lost. The incursion towards the Newcastle/Gateshead conurbation was not studied any further this year although Prestwick Carr near Newcastle Airport, from winter visits, appears to be very suitable habitat for the species.

Survey effort was maintained throughout the season but there were 4 absences of 5-8 days each in mid-May (Ireland), mid-July (Devon), mid-August (Hampshire) and mid-September (London). So each period of activity was affected to a limited extent but none seriously.

In the target area in 2016, 10 sites were observed for nests (10 in 2015) with 100% success again this year. Scots Pine (5 nests) remains the most popular tree with Norway Spruce (2), Oak (2) and Douglas Fir (1) some way behind. There was a change in the sites visited in Tyne Valley W with the one dropped in 2015 reinstated and another one dropped. The dropped site was thought to be unsafe through extensive rutting of the surface due to forestry operations. It was thought to be easier to reinstate a site where the preferences of the birds were known; reinstating a site with a lengthy series of records also has benefits from the analysis point of view. Each site was visited twice, the first visit between 28/6-31/7 in the sitting/rearing period of the season and the second between 13/8-4/9 in the fledging period of the season.

Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Observed Occupied (no. sites)			Breeding Category			Number young fledged	Trees used for Nesting
Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Display	Sit/ Rear	Fledge	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged	Trees used for Nesting
Devil’s Water	6	10	3	6	3	6	6	0	0	11 (5x2, 1x1+)	Scots Pine x2, Norway Spruce
Allen	10	15	2	9	2	10	10	0	0	18 (8x2, 2x1+)	Oak, Norway Spruce
Upper South Tyne	7	9	1	5	1	7	6	1	0	11 (4x2, 1x1+, 1x1, 1x>0)	Oak
Lower South Tyne	Not systematically surveyed this year
Tipalt	Not systematically surveyed this year
Tyne W	7	11	2	7	3	7	7	0	0	13 (6x2, 1x1+)	Scots Pine, Douglas Fir
Tyne E	8	13	1	6	2	8	8	0	0	11 (3x2, 4x1+, 1x1)	Scots Pine
Derwent	11	16	1	7	4	11	11	0	0	19 (8x2, 2x1+, 1x1)	Scots Pine
Total	49	74	10	40	15	49	48	1	0	83 (34x2, 11x1+, 3x1, 1x>0)	Scots Pine x5, Norway Spruce x2, Oak x2, Douglas Fir 1

Table 25: Results for the Honey-buzzard Breeding Season in SW Northumberland by area in 2016

Table 26 gives a breakdown of the numbers of males, females and juveniles in each part of the season. The male:female ratio was again rather low in the display phase at 29:24 (1.21), reducing as expected in the rearing season to 5:13 (0.38) and falling in the fledging season below 1.00 at 18:23 (0.78). The very poor visibility of the adults in the rearing phase is indicated by only 18 being seen then compared to 53 in display and 41 in fledging. The number of juveniles seen, reported as 82 in Table 26, differs from the 83 in Table 25, because of the 1 hidden brood (recorded as >0). Normally all the juveniles are seen in the fledging phase, by definition, but this year the first fledging was on 6/8 at the 'home' site in the Devil's Water; this was significantly ahead of the general population so was not taken as the marker for the start of the fledging period in general. No gangs, assemblages of juveniles before departure, were noted this year.

Area	No. sites in season	No. adults in season			Display 2/5-21/6		Rearing 22/6-10/8			Fledging 11/8-25/9			Gangs of juveniles post-breeding
		Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Male	Female	Juvenile	Male	Female	Juvenile
Devil’s Water	6	6	4	10	4	4	2	2	1	2	2	11
Allen	10	7	8	15	6	6	0	2	0	6	5	18
Upper South Tyne	7	4	5	9	2	4	1	1	0	4	3	10
Lower South Tyne	Not systematically surveyed this year
Tipalt	Not systematically surveyed this year
Tyne W	7	6	5	11	6	3	2	2	0	1	4	13
Tyne E	8	6	7	13	5	5	0	2	0	2	3	11
Derwent	11	8	8	16	6	2	0	4	0	3	6	19
Total	49	37	37	74	29	24	5	13	1	18	23	82	0

Table 26: Number of Male, Female and Juvenile Honey-buzzard found in each phase of breeding season in 2016

Table 27 shows the migration picture for Honey-buzzard in 2016. It was a much better year than 2015, very close to the record season of 2014.

Date	Time	Locality	Age/Sex	Count	Direction	Movement
May 22	14:24	Farnley (NZ06B)	Adult male, adult female	2	2 N	2 migrants at 14:24 as the clouds gathered, maybe moving lower as a precaution, a male and a female, both progressing N after a pause to look at the lush habitat in the Tyne Valley. At 14:13 the resident male dashed over to the NE part of his territory, possibly in response to an intruder, such as a migrant. The migrant male was slightly heavier than the resident male and had all feathers intact
Jun 07	12:00	Hexham (NY96 L)	Adult female	1	1 NW	Early lunch-takers in Hexham Priestpopple were treated to the spectacle from 12:00-12:05 of a female Honey-buzzard taking off from Hackwood and soaring very slowly in the heavy air, mobbed by 5 Jackdaw, as she moved NW; eventually she shook off the Jackdaw and disappeared to sight very high up so a late migrant, possibly a Scottish 3cy bird who'll soon be looking for a vacancy!! Actually think I was the only person who saw her and got some strange looks!
Aug 18	12:51	Dotland (NY95 JI)	Adult male	1	1 S	In the 'Shire at Dotland had a male Honey-buzzard floating higher and higher before drifting off S at 12:51. Presumed he was leaving his nesting site.
Aug 18	15:25	Bywell (NZ06 L)	Adult male 4, Adult female 1	5	5 W	Visited Stocksfield Mount in the afternoon from 15:05-17:20 in fine, warm weather on light to moderate SE breeze. Was amazed from 15:24-15:30 to have a group of 5 Honey-buzzard migrating W along the valley at moderate height, taking advantage of the ridge lift on the N side of the valley from the SE breeze. They moved higher and disappeared from sight, presumably moving SW/S at some stage, maybe down the Allen or South Tyne, where they would get some ridge lift on the W side of the valleys. They appeared first high in the sky in the middle of the valley to N of Prudhoe and were going W over Newton when last seen. Took some photographs which showed wing and tail barring and indicated the group comprised 4 male and 1 female, all adult. These would be experienced birds, from north Northumberland or Scotland, so in the clear conditions would know exactly what they were doing.
Aug 24	14:30	Haltwhistle North Wood (NY66 W)	Adult male	1	1 S	As a juvenile Honey-buzzard at 13:14 flew across a field to a large wood, angry calls were heard from an adult Common Buzzard, already in it. The juvenile didn't join in the soaring of its family to W of South Tyne, directly W of the main wood from 13:20-13:23, involving an adult male keeping well up and an adult female well down with a weak-flying juvenile in tow; the display was fairly static, no exciting dives. A Common Buzzard juvenile was also seen here as well as a juvenile male Sparrowhawk in the visit from 12:20-13:40. Later at 14:30 when at Featherstone, again saw the male Honey-buzzard soaring over North Wood but he went very high and left in a power-glide to SW: Africa here we come! So the early activity was his farewell party: see you next May, dear!
Aug 29	13:45	Oakpool (NY85 D)	Adult male	1	1 S	After exiting site, walked up road to the open fields at 13:45, just in time to see the male up very high and still climbing, disappearing off to S on his return migration; the female was up fairly high but she came back to earth; no juveniles were seen here though a juvenile Common Buzzard gave good views.
Sep 02	16:10	Slaley Forest - Rawgreen (NY95 I)	Adult female	1	1 SE	waited until 16:07 when the female Honey-buzzard appeared from NW at moderate height; she came slowly over the nesting wood, going lower, and thought she was going to settle but no, she circled twice and then floated off SE gaining height steadily, hanging in the breeze so she was always looking back towards the site; by 16:12 she was barely visible and soon after disappeared high into the sky; she was on her way to Africa! The juveniles are left to fend for themselves once they've been fledged a while, perhaps 3 weeks.
Sep 07	15:50	Studdon Park (NY85 M)	Adult male	1	1 S	Did not have to wait long for action with a male Honey-buzzard up at 15:50. Coming out of the site, he kept at low level until 15:53, exploring a wood on the W side of the valley. Then after a drift back over the site, he started climbing and soared up to a great height over the Allen before slowly gliding S at 16:02; so another migrant out of site and somewhat similar in behaviour to the female in Slaley Forest on 2/9.
Sep 09	15:20-17:25	Shilford (NZ06 F)	Juvenile	1	Rest 1	A juvenile dark-phase Honey-buzzard was up over the fields NW of Shilford, mobbed by a Crow, at 17:23; this was assumed to be the bird seen E of Shilford at 15:20 from the road; think this may be a migrant as very mobile, restless and not in favoured feeding zones; if so would be 1st juvenile migrant of the year.
Sep 10	15:06-15:23	Kirkside (NY74 E)	Adult male 1, Adult female 3, Juvenile 1	5	5 S	Cloudy in morning at Alston but sun came out later and as arrived at 14:50 things were warming up nicely on a light S breeze. Honey-buzzard were conspicuous from the viewpoint on Ayle Common and there was a significant passage of 4 adults and 1 juvenile. Stayed until 17:50. Soon after arrival as mist cleared, from 15:06-15:09, had 2 female Honey-buzzard arrive from the N low over the ridge, circle slowly over Ayle Common steadily rising and climb very high into the sky in the base of the thin clouds; the birds then glided off S. Very shortly after, from 15:10-15:11, a male Honey-buzzard appeared over Ayle Common, higher up than the females had been, and carried on moving due S without any soaring to gain height. The final adult migrant was seen at 15:17, with a female soaring over Randalhome, a little to the S, climbing slowly in a narrow column before drifting of to S. At 15:23 another Honey-buzzard juvenile appeared out of Kirkside Wood and, giving regular thin flight calls (recorded), climbed higher and disappeared to S; this bird was missing P6 on its left wing and was clearly distinctive. So that's a total of 5 migrant Honey-buzzard (3 female, 1 male, 1 juvenile), all moving S.
Sep 11	18:23	Beldon Burn Newbiggin (NY 94 P)	Juvenile	1	1 S	A juvenile very dark Honey-buzzard came over at moderate height at 18:23 in relaxed glide, moving steadily S and losing height gradually; it was looking for a place to spend the night and feed up for the next leg.
Sep 16	15:34	Stocksfield (NZ06 Q)	Juvenile 2	2	Rest 2	at 15:34, 2 Honey-buzzard juvenile feeding in Eltringham area and causing some consternation with the corvids; one was dark phase, the other much paler. They appeared briefly above the canopy but you could see their progress by the flock of attending corvids; both were considered to be migrants as out of position and restless.
Oct 01	14:26-15:16	Bywell (NZ06 L)	Juvenile 3	3	Rest 3	had 3 juvenile Honey-buzzard migrants feeding in the area: 2 at Bywell Short Wood/Merryshields and 1 at Shilford. The first Honey-buzzard was a dark-phase bird up from 14:26-14:27 soaring high above Merryshields, surrounded by Jackdaw. The soaring was repeated from 14:40-14:41, again with the Jackdaw but closer to Short Wood; this was presumed to be the same bird, which was relatively immature with still-growing wings and tail. From 15:14-15:16 2 Honey-buzzard dark phase juvenile were up over E end of Short Wood, including the heavier one seen earlier and a lighter bird with long tail, long wings, bulging secondaries and extended thin neck with small head. They engaged in mutual circling at some distance.
Oct 02	15:51	Whitley Castle (NY64 Z)	Juvenile	1	1 S	No instant success, indeed it wasn't until 15:51 that picked up a juvenile Honey-buzzard soaring off the SE slope on the shoulder of Grey Nag at Great Heaplaw (481m asl), a high moor to the W. The bird gained height quickly getting some lift from the SE wind on the ridge before floating off S. It appeared to have been feeding on the high rough moorland before resuming migration. Piccies showed it was a recently-fledged bird with typical silhouette of S-shaped trailing edge with shortish tail and outer primaries still growing.
Oct 04	16:01-16:07	Haltwhistle (NY66 W)	Juvenile 2	2	Rest 2	Had 2 more juvenile Honey-buzzard, both feeding in the upper South Tyne area and bringing the total to 6 over the last 4 days. Arrived a little late but just in time for the 4 o'clock soar. At 16:01 a juvenile ruddy Honey-buzzard was up in the air over a conifer copse, hanging in the light SE breeze; this one was relatively mature with full wings and longish tail and had the carpals pushed well-forward; it came back into the copse, attended by some corvids. At 16:07 another Honey-buzzard, darker and smaller, was up further S, moving slowly S but thought to be on a feeding mission, not a significant movement; it came down in the fields.
Oct 23	16:01	Barhaugh (NY65 V)	Juvenile	1	Rest	the season staggers on with a dark-phase juvenile Honey-buzzard up over the Thornhope Burn in the upper South Tyne, circling a few times over the edge of the moorland, before coming down again around 16:01; it had bulging secondaries, long wings and broad sparse tail-bars but the tail with narrow base was not especially long, suggesting a very late fledging date (presumably in Scotland). Had made a visit from 14:50-17:30 to Kirkside/Gilderdale Bridge to check on events at the S end of the valley before it runs into Alston. Weather was cool with pulses of rain coming over frequently from the E leaving just short dry interludes in between
Oct 25	14:11-14:52	Bywell (NZ06 L)	Juvenile 4	4	2 S, 2 Rest	Honey-buzzard are hanging on in greater numbers than expected. Made Stocksfield Mount from 13:50-15:10 in perfect conditions, with mist clearing and wind changing from light E to slightly stronger S in warm sunshine for time of year. At Bywell Cottagebank 2 juveniles were seen together at 14:11 moving E at height before coming down to W end of site; these juveniles were pale and ruddy respectively. At 14:18 these 2 birds reappeared having moved back W again and soaring high to S, disappeared into the clear blue sky. Below them at the same time was a third Honey-buzzard juvenile, dark phase and large with shorter tail, circling low-down in a rather fixed position to W; this bird did not leave but came back down into the trees at 14:23. A Common Buzzard was up in trenchant manner to E of Short Wood at 14:31. It came up again later at 14:52, when it was joined by a fourth Honey-buzzard juvenile, this one dark phase with long narrow tail and significantly lighter-weight than the Common Buzzard; the Honey-buzzard chased the Common Buzzard for a little while in a dive, followed by a stand-off at fairly close range. It looks as if the birds have been blocked by the continual wet weather on the easterlies. Three of the juveniles were relatively mature with shape more typical of adult Honey-buzzard; one was still not fully developed, being of a more typical juvenile shape.
Oct 27	14:33	Hexham (NY96 H)	Juvenile	1	Rest	The Honey-buzzard took ages to clinch; at 12:35 had Jackdaw going crazy at E end of Hermitage but nothing came up above the trees; this was repeated a few more times through rest of visit; eventually at 14:33 a juvenile ruddy Honey-buzzard was seen rather weakly flying a little N to gain the updraught on the ridge before slowly moving W low-down; it was not going far!
Nov 01	14:51-15:12	Stocksfield (NZ06 Q)	Juvenile 2	2	Rest	with clear conditions overnight (1/11-2/11) the first real frost is threatened. Was there from 13:55-15:25 and not too surprised, in view of recent records, of 2 Honey-buzzard juveniles up over hill to E of Stocksfield and S of Eltringham for 2 lengthy spells of mutual circling and floating; the first from 14:51-14:52, the second from 15:03-15:12, both causing some consternation among corvids, particularly Jackdaw, with some mobbing on the second flight. Both were ruddy-phase so were not the 2 birds left here on 25/10, which were both dark phase; although both birds were ruddy on body, one had much paler remiges on the underside than the other; the paler bird was more stocky than the darker one.
Nov 02	13:28-13:38	Towsbank (NY65 Y)	Juvenile 2	2	2 S	reliably informed that there was a hoar frost this morning at 06:30 but did not witness it!! Went out W on another fine day, making Towsbank from 12:00-14:40; it was chilly at the start but was warming up nicely in the sunshine on light breeze around 13:30. Again, from 13:28-13:38 had 2 Honey-buzzard juveniles, both dark phase though one had a ruddy tinge, moving slowly S down the valley together, doing slow mutual circling; they were low down, so low that they could have been missed from higher ground. It's all very interesting; no doubt the dry and mild October has not put any pressure on them with wasps still being around; the 'pairs' are unlikely to be siblings as the older one seems to leave before the younger one. So these are presumably younger siblings finding some company. The great thing about these late birds is that they give an idea what the Honey-buzzard look like in Africa in their 1w (first-winter), which is very poorly documented.
Nov 04	14:30-14:44	Stocksfield (NZ06 Q)	Juvenile	1	Rest	At 14:24 noted masses of corvids up over Stocksfield E; the object of their attention was a dark-phase juvenile Honey-buzzard hanging fairly low-down with no lift at all from the weather; slowly the juvenile went higher, eventually by 14:30 leaving all the corvids (mostly Jackdaw) far below; could not tell whether it left or not. At 14:43 noted 2 'buzzard' up over same hill at Stocksfield E at considerable height on their own; they were interacting but not with any great ferocity; it was a Common Buzzard slightly above the Honey-buzzard seen earlier, so the latter had not left; at 14:44 both glided N steadily losing height into Eltringham area with the Common Buzzard leading the way. The Honey-buzzard was significantly larger than the Common Buzzard with longer wings, tail and neck. However, its behaviour was typical of an 'immature' juvenile, not being a confident active flier but good at floating. So that's a new bird, the 2 ruddy birds having presumably moved on.
Summary/ Comments:
May: 2 June: 1 August: 8 September: 11 October: 12 November: 5	11-12: 0 12-13: 2 13-14: 3 14-15: 5 15-16:12 16-17: 1 18-19: 1 resting: 15	upper South Tyne: 12 Tipalt: 0 (Not systematically surveyed this year) lower South Tyne: 0 (Not systematically surveyed this year) Allen: 2 Devil's Water: 2 Tyne Valley W: 22 Tyne Valley E: 0 Derwent: 1	Adult male: 10 Adult female: 7 Juvenile: 22	39		IN: 2 N, 1 NW OUT: 15 S, 1 SE, 5 W, 15 resting
Most records are for migrating juveniles this year, hence the peak in October/early November with juveniles bred in northern Britain, particularly Scotland, moving through. The close of the season in the 1st 4 days of November was marked by the onset of frosty conditions.	The times may reflect observer activity as much as anything else. The times at which resting birds have been noted are not included in the analysis.	The most popular route this year was via Tyne Valley W, where many juveniles (11) were noted in October. Over half the migrants were noted here over the whole season. Another popular route is via the upper South Tyne, where 12 birds were counted over the whole season.	In autumn males left first, followed by females. The record of 5 adult W at Bywell on 18/8 is extraordinary; they may well have turned SW/S later. Juveniles very much predominate in October/early November, many resting in prime feeding areas.	A total very close to the record of 40 in 2014. The migration pattern in both years is similar. Good breeding seasons in Scotland are suggested in 2014 and 2016 with a poorer year in between in 2015.	Direction in spring was N/NW as expected. In autumn very much the predominant direction was S with the 5 W thought to be taking advantage of the local topology.	Records this year as usual were concentrated at the end of the breeding season. It is obviously easier to be sure that a bird is a migrant when known breeding sites are vacant. So observations this year comprised 17 juvenile in October/early November. Exiting males accounted for 7/8 birds in August but only 2/11 in September. Exiting females accounted for 1/8 birds in August and 4/11 in September. The 1st juvenile migrant was noted on 10/9. No adults were seen on migration after 10/9 though a few remained at upland breeding sites. There is a gap in October from 4/10-23/10 in the local records. Migration did continue through this period though, as noted by NR in the nearby Lake District, with 4 migrants seen in the Lake Windermere area from 09/10-12/10. A total of 4 juveniles were seen: 1 SE, 1 S, 2 resting. Lake Windermere is perfect for breeding and migrating Honey-buzzard with its extensive woodland along the steep edges and its N-S orientation. Indeed it's rather like the upper South Tyne.

Table 27: Visible Migration Movements noted for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland in 2016

Particular attention was placed in 2016 on determining the colour phases of the juvenile Honey-buzzard, as shown in Table 28:

	Total juveniles seen	Phase unknown	Phase known
		Total	dark	brown	rufous/ruddy	pale	barred	purple	Total
Study Area bred	82	15	44	10	5	5	1	2	67
% phase-known total in study area			66	15	7	7	1	3
N England migrants	26	1	15	0	7	3	0	0	25
% phase-known total in migrants			60	0	28	12	0	0
Overall	108	16	59	10	12	8	1	2	92
% phase-known total overall			64	11	13	9	1	2

Table 28. Incidence of colour phases in juvenile Honey-buzzard in 2016 bred in the Study Area in SW Northumberland and in migrants passing through northern England

Colour phases were noted in the field followed by checks made on photographs obtained. The colour was assessed on the coverts of the underwing and on the underbody; the head colour was also noted, particularly on paler individuals. The difference between dark- and brown-phase birds is subjective to some extent with the shade on a cline from almost black to a neutral brown; the distinction was often made when studying a pair of juveniles where one looked significantly darker than the other. In the study area in SW Northumberland, 82 juveniles were studied in post-fledging situations from 5/8-25/9, including one juvenile just outside the current study area; the colour phase for 15 of these birds (18%) could not be determined as the birds were too distant or the lighting was too poor such as the bird being in silhouette. Presumed migrants were also studied with 26 juveniles being assessed from 9/9-4/11; the colour phase could not be determined for 1 of these birds (4%). These presumed migrants included 22 in Northumberland over the whole quoted period and 4 in the Lake District from 9/10-12/10. These presumed migrants are considered to be almost entirely Scottish-bred, moving slowly through northern England. For the overall figures,108 juvenile were studied of which 16 could not be assessed (15%).

The results in the study area show that 66% were dark-phase, with 15% brown, 7% rufous/ruddy, 7% pale, 3% purple and 1% barred. There is therefore a wide range of plumage but 81% are of the dark/brown types, indicating that to a casual observer, juvenile Honey-buzzard appear sombre colour-wise. The smaller sample of migrants shows a broadly similar picture except for a significantly higher proportion in the rufous/ruddy category (28%). Adding the figures together to give an overall picture gives 64% dark and 11% brown, making 75% in the sombre class. Minor but still significant phases are 13% rufous/ruddy and 9% pale, with just 2% purple and 1% barred.

Worth quoting from Ferguson-Lees, James, and Christie, David A, Raptors of the World, Christopher Helm (2001):

p.341. Western Honey Buzzard is then monotypic but, in parallel with its eastern counterpart, polymorphic to extent of being arguably more diversified in colour and pattern (chiefly head, underbody and wing-linings) than almost any other wild bird species. Often lumped simply as 'typical', 'pale' and 'dark', about ten adult and seven morphs are distinguishable -- some common, some much scarcer -- with further intergrades; adults can be classed as 'white-bellied' (male only), 'densely barred', 'thinly barred', 'black-blotched', 'black-spotted', 'sparsely-spotted', and the more unicolorous 'rufous, 'olive-brown', 'dark brown' and 'melanistic'; counterparts of the last four are also found in juvenile plumages, along with 'buff', 'light' and 'whitish'.

This quote shows the variability and complexity of the juvenile plumage. My classification focuses on what can be seen at some distance in the field. Dick Forsman, in Flight Identification of Raptors of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, Christopher Helm (2016), notes:

p.56-57. Although juveniles come in many different plumage-types, uniformly dark brown birds predominate and account for about 90% of all juveniles. The remaining birds are lighter below, from sandy buff to pure white, variably streaked or mottled, often with a pale or whitish head, with showy dark 'sunglasses' in many. The underwing coverts vary in accordance with the general plumage colour and pattern … The upperparts also vary according to the general colouration of the plumage …

On my classification the pale birds make up 9%, in line with the estimate by Forsman of 10%. The sombre birds make up 75%, less than the 90% estimated by Forsman, but some of my darker ruddy-plumaged birds and the purple-phase birds would I feel be considered as simply dark by Forsman so our estimates seem to be in reasonable agreement. Forsman does show a ruddy-tinged dark juvenile in picture 27 (p.61).

The overall results for the 2017 breeding season are given in Table 29.

The study area was maintained at its 2016 level. The results were very similar to those of 2016 with 49 occupied sites (49 in 2016) with the number of confirmed breeding pairs at 48 (48 in 2016). Productivity was again very high with 32 pairs raising 2 young (34 in 2016), 13 pairs at least 1 young, 2 pairs one young and 2 pairs greater then 0 young, giving a minimum fledge of 81+ juveniles (83+ in 2016). In terms of known successful nests, 47 pairs raised 79+ young, that is a minimum of 1.68 young per pair (in 2016, 82+ young from 48 nests, 1.71+ young per pair).

Weather report for England:

May started with some rain or showers in the south, but otherwise the first third of the month was settled with mainly easterly winds, warm and sunny in the north-west but often cool and cloudy in the south-east. The second half was more changeable but mostly warm. There was a notable hot and sunny spell from the 23rd to 26th, followed by significant thunderstorms across many areas on the 27th and in the south-east on the 28th/29th. https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries/2017/may

June The first ten days of June were changeable, with mainly westerly winds, but rather warm, especially in eastern counties, and it was quite windy at times. After that came a dry, sunny and increasingly hot spell which affected much of the south between the 13th and 21st, and spread to cover all areas between the 17th and 19th. This spell brought the highest temperatures in June since 1976. After a thundery breakdown for some, it was generally cloudy from the 22nd onwards and turned very wet in many areas in the last few days. https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries/2017/june

July was a generally unsettled month but it was often warm, especially in the south-east, until the 20th. There were brief hot spells with widespread thunder on the 6th and the 17th-19th. It was cooler from the 21st onwards, and there was some heavy persistent rain at times. https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries/2017/july

August began unsettled with rain or showers and mainly westerly or south-westerly winds, and this pattern continued until the 18th. It turned warmer from the 19th, and it was often warm and sunny, particularly in the south-east, between the 25th and 29th, but the month ended cooler and showery. https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries/2017/august

September started with a weak ridge of high pressure which brought relatively quiet weather, but the rest of the month was generally unsettled with an unusually high number of rain days. It was often cool until the 19th with frequent north-westerly winds and belts of persistent rain alternating with brighter showery weather, and it was windy at times, especially around the 10th-13th. It was warmer from the 20th onwards with mainly southerly winds, but often cloudy with some fog patches. https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries/2017/september

October began unsettled with westerly winds and near-average temperatures, and this regime persisted during the first week. South-westerly winds prevailed for most of the month, and there were some notable high temperatures at times, notably the 16th (associated with ex-hurricane Ophelia) and 23rd/24th. It was often cloudy, especially in the north-west, but rainfall amounts were generally modest. It turned colder with overnight frost in places during the last few days. https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries/2017/october

The overall impression was of a damp and mild summer with no long spells of rain or sunshine.

Survey effort was lower this season with significant absences maintained throughout the season but there were 2 absences of 7 days each in May (Wiltshire/Cornwall), 1 of 7 days in July (Azores), 2 of 5 days in August (Hampshire) and September (London) and 2 of 4 -5 days in Furness and Sidmouth (mid-October-early November). So each period of activity was affected to some extent; monitoring the display period in May was the worst affected, with the number of sites found occupied at this time being 32, down from 40 in 2016. No new sites were found this year; the lower coverage during the display period will not have helped here as the first sign of fresh occupation is often displaying birds.

In the target area in 2017, 10 sites were observed for nests (10 in 2016) with 100% success again this year. Scots Pine (5 nests) remains the most popular tree with Hemlock Spruce (2), Oak (2) and Norway Spruce (1) some way behind. There was no change in the sites visited from 2016. Each site was visited twice, the first visit between 19/6-1/8 in the sitting/rearing period of the season and the second between 15/8-29/8 in the fledging period of the season.

Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Observed Occupied (no. sites)			Breeding Category			Number young fledged	Trees used for Nesting
Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Display	Sit/ Rear	Fledge	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged	Trees used for Nesting
Devil’s Water	6	11	3	6	4	6	6	0	0	11 (5x2, 1x1+)	Scots Pine x2, Hemlock Spruce
Allen	10	15	2	4	7	10	10	0	0	18 (8x2, 2x1+)	Oak, Norway Spruce
Upper South Tyne	7	7	1	3	2	7	7	0	0	13 (6x2, 1x1+)	Oak
Lower South Tyne	Not systematically surveyed this year
Tipalt	Not systematically surveyed this year
Tyne W	7	13	2	7	2	7	7	0	0	11 (4x2, 3x1+)	Scots Pine, Hemlock Spruce
Tyne E	8	10	1	8	1	8	7	1	0	12 (4x2, 1x1+, 1x1, 2x>0)	Scots Pine
Derwent	11	16	1	4	7	11	11	0	0	16 (5x2, 5x1+, 1x1)	Scots Pine
Total	49	72	10	32	23	49	48	1	0	81 (32x2, 13x1+, 2x1, 2x>0)	Scots Pine x5, Hemlock Spruce 2, Oak x2, Norway Spruce x1

Table 29: Results for the Honey-buzzard Breeding Season in SW Northumberland by area in 2017

Table 30 gives a breakdown of the numbers of males, females and juveniles in each part of the season. The male:female ratio declines through the season from 26:19 (1.37) in display to 15:14 (1.07) in the rearing period and 18:23 (0.78) in fledging. Because of extra time spent outside the study area in the display period, the adult totals are lower than usual in display and relatively high in the rearing period with extra effort to find sites not found in the display. The number of juveniles seen, reported as 79 in Table 30, differs from the 81 in Table 29, because of the 2 hidden broods (recorded as >0). It was a very good year for the appearance of gangs of locally bred juveniles, gathering before departure. Five gangs of juveniles were noted from 24/9-29/9 at 5 sites with a total of 24 juvenile: 6 at Bywell (Tyne Valley W) 24/9; 5 at Dipton Wood (Devil's Water) 26/9, 4 at Great Heaplaw (upper South Tyne) 27/9; 5 at Sinderhope (Allen) 28/9; 4 at Riddlehamhope (Derwent) 29/9. Only in one area, Tyne Valley E, were no gangs seen in a visit to Wylam on 25/9. The gatherings are transient, hence not easy to locate with a very brief time window.

Area	No. sites in season	No. adults in season			Display 7/5-17/6		Rearing 18/6-12/8			Fledging 13/8-27/9			Gangs of juveniles post-breeding 24/9-29/9
		Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Male	Female	Juvenile	Male	Female	Juvenile
Devil’s Water	6	6	5	11	6	4	3	3	0	4	4	11	1x5
Allen	10	7	8	15	4	2	4	4	0	3	6	18	1x5
Upper South Tyne	7	4	3	7	3	1	1	2	0	4	3	13	1x4
Lower South Tyne	Not systematically surveyed this year
Tipalt	Not systematically surveyed this year
Tyne W	7	6	7	13	4	5	2	2	0	3	4	11	1x6
Tyne E	8	5	5	10	5	4	0	1	0	1	3	10	0
Derwent	11	9	7	16	4	3	5	2	0	3	3	16	1x4
Total	49	37	35	72	26	19	15	14	0	18	23	79	5x24

Table 30: Number of Male, Female and Juvenile Honey-buzzard found in each phase of breeding season in 2017

Table 31 shows the migration picture for Honey-buzzard in 2017. It was again a good year with large numbers of juveniles noted in October: the juvenile total at 27 was equal to the record for that age class in 2012. Good breeding seasons in Scotland are suggested in 2014, 2016 and 2017 with a poorer year in between in 2015.

Date	Time	Locality	Age/Sex	Count	Direction	Movement
May 13	15:30	Hexham Beaufront (NY96 S)	Adult male	1	1 N	At 15:05 a male Honey-buzzard was seen flying out to S from cover on SW side of Beaufront; he was lost to sight as he dropped back to the ground; at 15:30 he was spied though out to the W steadily gaining height and was lost to sight, presumably on his way to Scotland
Jun 09	17:20	Morralee (NY86 B)	Adult female	1	1 W	A surprise was a female Honey-buzzard migrant moving through powerfully and quickly to W into the breeze at 17:20; she was at moderate height and quickly disappeared from view
Aug 30	14:25	Hexham Beaufront (NY96 S)	Adult male	1	1 S	Made Beaufront from 13:35-15:00 where to the E had a male Honey-buzzard flying S at 14:25, a migrant; he was up at quite a height with a bit of flapping to keep moving in the light NW breeze but eventually left at colossal height in the haze. Weather was good at the time: sunny and warm.
Aug 31	14:54	Hexham (NY96 H)	Adult male	1	1 S	Highlight of visit was another male Honey-buzzard migrating S; he was seen soaring steadily from 14:54-14:55 taking advantage of thermals up and over the top of a fine-weather cumulus cloud
Sep 02	16:17	(NZ16 C)Wylam	Adult female	1	1 W	Highlight was a migrating female Honey-buzzard. She was picked up at 16:17 moving W up the Tyne Valley, a little towards the N side, in straight flapping action. Her flight was too purposeful to be a local bird holding territory and it looked as if her last glide might have taken her into the W edge of Newcastle, which is not ideal with the sun's strength fading. So she was moving back into the countryside. At 16:19 she tried soaring under a dark cloud (great for photography!) but not sure she was looking for another soar-glide cycle; rather she was looking for a good roost site in which to spend the night. Think she'd spotted Short Wood/Cottagebank at Bywell as she broke out of the soar and headed purposefully W at 16:22 in straight-line flapping mode at moderate altitude.
Sep 25	15:28	Wylam (NZ16 C)	Juvenile	1	1 S	a dark-phase bird, leaving from 15:28-15:30; it came up from its nesting wood, climbed to moderate altitude and flapped/glided S, accompanied by a Carrion Crow, seeing it off the premises. It had a very full crop, emphasising the small head and thin neck; obviously been told by its mum: mind you take your bait! It didn't appear to say goodbye to its presumed sibling, just drifted off!
Sep 26	15:03	Dipton Wood (NY96 Q)	Juvenile	2	1 S, 1 rest	Found a good viewpoint by parking at NE extreme of wood and walking up a bank through a clearing to the meadows at the top. Had a dark-phase juvenile soaring high from a wooded hill to NE, S of Dilston, at 15:03, climbing steadily and disappearing from sight to S. From 15:12-15:15 had 3 juveniles up low-down over the same wood; these were quite active doing some tumbling and chasing; at 15:16 they were joined by a 4th bird but then they all disappeared again. So make that a gang of 5 initially, which was now 4 after one bird emigrated. On the W side of the clearing at 15:28 had 2 Crow becoming quite hysterical. The reason was another juvenile Honey-buzzard, a dark-phase, being mobbed by one of the Crow with the other giving encouraging scolding noises! This bird disappeared on W side, maybe to feed some more; however at 15:54 it appeared again and climbed a little and appeared to be gliding off S, when it did an abrupt about-turn and dropped into the S side of Dipton Wood; clearly about to book bed and breakfast! This bird I would take to be a migrant, from the Cheviots or Scotland, having a rest in the very suitable habitat; it kept well clear of the gang
Sep 28	12:57-14:11	Sinderhope (NY85 F)	Juvenile	5	5 S	today was lift-off for many of the remaining juvenile Honey-buzzard in brilliant weather with strong sunshine on light SW breeze, dry, some fair-weather cumulus, very good visibility, all after heavy overnight rain. Went from 12:30-14:20 No Honey-buzzard though: had my dreamy lie-in lasted too long!! From 12:57-12:59 a juvenile ruddy-phase Honey-buzzard appeared, coming out of Sinderhope N, slowly soaring and moving SE towards moorland edge, where it picked up the orographic lift and disappeared into the clouds, moving S (7193). Thermals are a lot weaker now, this far N and past the equinox, so the birds need ridge lift to navigate the fells, and this is what they do down the Pennines, just like millions of raptors in the Appalachians in the US. Once S in say Spain thermals will be stronger again but the orographic lift is probably easier to utilise for the inexperienced juvenile. So maybe this was it, a gang of 1! Waited an hour until 13:53 when spotted a dark-phase juvenile moving slowly S along the same ridge on the moorland to the E at moderate altitude; it hardly moved at times, gliding into the breeze, but was not flapping, using the ridge lift for energy. At 13:55 picked up a higher bird, rusty-phase, following the same course and action S but so high that it was in the base of the clouds. These 2 birds seemed to trigger more action with 2 dark-phase juvenile getting up from the heather moor under their flight paths at 13:58. These last 2 were much more active, doing quite a lot of mutual circling at lower heights, but as they got higher the play stopped as they commenced the serious business of energy management. They went up together into the base of a dark cloud (strong uplift) and at 14:11 were finally lost to sight, moving S through the cloud base. Suspect all 5 birds were locally bred
Oct 03	16:13	Ordley (NY95 P)	Juvenile	1	Rest 1	had a juvenile medium-brown phase Honey-buzzard, flushed from own field at 16:13; looks as if it was feeding on edge of far hedge, maybe on a wasp nest; shot off like a rocket to S low-down; must be a migrant as locally-bred birds left a while ago
Oct 05	09:30	Bywell (NZ06 L)	Juvenile	1	Rest 1	Had a migrant juvenile Honey-buzzard at Bywell as passed the gravel pits; a pale brown bird was doing flap-flap-glide over a field at 9:30
Oct 06	13:40-14:02	Bywell (NZ06 L)	Juvenile	6	2 SW, 4 S	Honey-buzzard season is certainly not over! Had a total of 6 juvenile migrating today in a trip to Stocksfield Mount from 13:30-14:50, in bright weather on light SW wind but cloud increasing after fine morning. These birds are likely to be Scottish-bred, moving slowly S through northern England, favouring the same areas used by the Northumberland population for breeding purposes. All the birds seen were dark phase so yesterday's paler bird was not seen and has presumably already moved on, suggesting perhaps there was quite a big movement today so perhaps a good breeding season in Scotland. Action started at 13:40 W of Bywell with a dark-phase juvenile up fairly high, floating very slowly E when over Cottagebank, came underneath another dark-phase Honey-buzzard soaring very slowly in motionless format; above them both was a pair of Common Buzzard adult in display; the 2 species completely ignored each other. The 2 Honey-buzzard then went ever higher while the Common Buzzard disappeared, eventually at 13:48 gliding off slowly and deliberately to SW. Looking E at 13:49 picked up another dark-phase juvenile Honey-buzzard, floating low-down over pasture to E of Stocksfield; it was soon joined by another 2 dark-phase birds and together they both moved S, disappearing from sight by 13:54; they were joined briefly by an adult Red Kite from 13:50-13:51. At 13:53 another dark-phase juvenile appeared flapping hard up over the bank from West Mickley and putting up many Corvids on the pasture; it also soared effortlessly and disappeared to S by 14:02
Oct 08	14:32	Towsbank (NY65 Y)	Juvenile 2	2	Rest 2	On arrival at 13:09 had a commotion on E end of wood, involving 2 Common Buzzard and a possible Honey-buzzard but only the former ended up being recorded. Had to wait until 14:32 for the 1st photographed Honey-buzzard, a dark-phase juvenile, coming up smartly on the S end of the wood and then going down again: a reconnaissance flight. Then started walk-out. Very pleased to see a disturbance on S extreme of wood near village of Eals at 15:26 with many Corvids up and 2 Honey-buzzard juveniles drifting S on a feeding trip; one of the juveniles was dark-phase, thought to be the 1 seen earlier, the other was a neutral brown with a pale area on the remiges. They came down in rough pasture to S so were not yet emigrating.
Oct 12	13:55	Bywell (NZ06 L)	Juvenile 2	2	Rest 2	At Bywell Cottagebank, had 2 juvenile Honey-buzzard up briefly from 13:55-13:56 (7198) and a family group of 4 Red Kite, 2 adult and 2 juvenile, up much of the time. The Honey-buzzard must be new birds from further N as all 6 in the area left last time; there appears to be almost continuous passage through Bywell in the first 3 weeks of October. The birds today were only up briefly, clearly concentrating on feeding in the sombre conditions; they comprised a large dark bird with a ruddy tinge and a smaller, dark-phase bird. No other raptors were seen.
Oct 15	11:31	Hexham (NY96 H)	Juvenile	2	1 SW, 1 rest	Main raptor activity was over Hexham Hermitage from 11:30-11:45 in good conditions with bright sunshine and moderate SW breeze. Had a juvenile dark-phase Honey-buzzard soaring and going very high, before gliding slowly and deliberately straight into the SW breeze as it departed from 11:31-11:33. A juvenile ruddy-phase Honey-buzzard was up at 11:39 at low-altitude with a dark Common Buzzard, with some lightweight interaction; the ruddy bird had very white upper-tail coverts
Oct 20	13:50	Bywell (NZ06 L)	Juvenile 1	1	Rest 1	had a very profitable trip to Stocksfield Mount from 13:35-14:50 in very mild conditions, with some sunshine on light SW breeze. Preliminary totals at Cottagebank are 10 raptors of 4 types: Common Buzzard 4 (2 adult, 2 juvenile, up 13:46), Red Kite 4 (2 adult 13:50 soaring together with Honey-buzzard juvenile, 2 juvenile 14:03 towards Mowden), Sparrowhawk 1 (adult female up 13:48 with Common Buzzard), Honey-buzzard 1 (juvenile, pale russet, up with pair of adult Red Kite at 13:50-13:57, going high but not thought to leave,
Oct 26	13:58	Bywell (NZ06 L)	Juvenile 2	2	Rest 2	Still finding Honey-buzzard, which is the usual case before the frosts start. Made Stocksfield Mount from 13:50-15:10 in mainly cloudy conditions on light SW breeze but dry and mild at 13C. Had 2 separate dark-phase Honey-buzzard juveniles up in West Mickley area, one stockier bird going for foraging trips at Stocksfield E from 13:58-14:18, the other, with longer wings and tail, keeping more to the open woodland to N from 14:46-14:53 (7202). Red Kite are still present in numbers with 3 birds (2 adult, 1 juvenile) up in West Mickley/Stocksfield E area from 14:01-14:06, the adults doing their best to move the Honey-buzzard on but to no avail
Oct 29	13:09	Towsbank (NY65 Y)	Juvenile 2	2	Rest 2	Made Towsbank in upper South Tyne from 12:30-14:10 to check on any late Honey-buzzard migrants. Certainly very pleased with result of 2 individual dark-phase juvenile Honey-buzzard foraging on the moorland edge between Towsbank and the moor but need to check closely the piccies (7203). The first Honey-buzzard was up over the moorland edge at 13:09 (14:09 on camera, still on BST!); it flew along the edge for c100m before turning N as it got clear of me and descending into the valley; this bird had fairly indistinct markings but its silhouette was definitely Honey-buzzard, with long tail, long neck, small head and fine bill. From 13:28-13:32 (camera now on GMT) another Honey-buzzard was picked up more over the open moor but still within close range of the edge; it had more distinct markings, so different to the earlier bird; also doubt the earlier bird had got back to this position on the moor
Summary/ Comments:
May: 1 June: 1 August: 2 September: 9 October: 19	11-12: 1 12-13: 1 13-14: 8 14-15: 4 15-16: 3 16-17: 1 17-18: 1 resting: 13	upper South Tyne: 4 Tipalt: 0 (Not systematically surveyed this year) lower South Tyne: 1 (Not systematically surveyed this year) Allen: 5 Devil's Water: 3 Tyne Valley W: 17 Tyne Valley E: 2 Derwent: 0	Adult male: 3 Adult female: 2 Juvenile: 27	32		IN: 1 N, 1 W OUT: 13 S, 3 SW, 1 W, 13 resting
Most records are for migrating juveniles this year, hence the peak in October/early November with juveniles bred in northern Britain, particularly Scotland, moving through. The close of the season in the 1st 4 days of November was marked by the onset of frosty conditions.	The times may reflect observer activity as much as anything else. The times at which resting birds have been noted are not included in the analysis.	The most popular route this year was via Tyne Valley W, where many juveniles (14) were noted in October. Over half the migrants were noted here over the whole season. Smaller numbers were noted this year in the upper South Tyne, where 4 birds were counted over the whole season.	It was a poor year for counts of adults with just 5 migrants seen. There were 2 notable counts of 5 S at Sinderhope (Allen) on 28/9 and 6 (2 SW, 4 S) at Bywell (Tyne Valley W) on 6/10. Only juveniles were noted after 2/9, many resting in prime feeding areas.	The juvenile total at 27 was equal to the record for that age class in 2012. Good breeding seasons in Scotland are suggested in 2014, 2016 and 2017 with a poorer year in between in 2015. The number of adults noted was low at just 5 but such figures are not abnormal, with the adults being relatively unobtrusive on migration.	Direction in spring was N/W as expected. In autumn the predominant direction was S with 13 moving this way. Movements SW/W are thought to be taking advantage of the local topology in a basically S move.	Records this year as usual were concentrated at the end of the breeding season with 19/32 total in October. It is obviously easier to be sure that a bird is a migrant when known breeding sites are vacant. Exiting males accounted for 2/2 birds in August with none later. Exiting females accounted for 1/9 birds in September with none later. The 1st juvenile migrant was noted on 25/9 and no adults were seen on migration after 2/9 though a few remained at upland breeding sites. Monitoring this year was at a consistently high level through the autumn.

Table 31: Visible Migration Movements noted for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland in 2017

The overall results for the 2018 Honey-buzzard breeding season are given in Table 32.

The study area was notionally maintained at its 2017 level but survey effort was much reduced in line with the need to taper the extensive study, while maintaining the intensive coverage through the nest visits and keeping a closer eye on sites in two parts of the study area, as a control: Devil's Water and Tyne Valley W. In these two areas the number of sites occupied rose from 13 to 14, suggesting a stable to slowly increasing population overall. In general the results revealed many fewer Honey-buzzard sites than in 2017 with 32 occupied sites (49 in 2017) and the number of confirmed breeding pairs at 29 (48 in 2017). Productivity was again very high with 12 pairs raising 2 young (32 in 2017), 7 pairs at least 1 young and 5 pairs greater then 0 young, giving a minimum fledge of 34+ juveniles (81+ in 2017). In terms of known successful nests, 19 pairs raised 31+ young, that is a minimum of 1.63 young per pair (in 2017, 79+ young from 47 nests, 1.68+ young per pair). Less systematic coverage in the fledging period is likely to be the main reason for the slight drop in reported productivity, reflected in the higher proportion of sites known to be occupied in August but without young being seen.

Weather report for England (2018):

May began cool and unsettled with westerly winds, but it soon turned generally sunny and warm or even hot, and the hottest day of the spell coincided with the early May bank holiday. The period 10th-17th was generally cooler, but the second half was mostly warm and sunny away from eastern coasts, with mostly easterly winds. Thundery showers affected many areas during the last week. https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries/2018/may

June was mostly warm and quite settled until the 12th, although often cooler near the east coast, with variable amounts of cloud and some scattered thundery showers at times, these mainly in the north. There was an unsettled westerly spell from the 13th to 20th, and it was notably windy on the 14th, but rainfall amounts were small in southern areas. High pressure brought dry and very sunny and increasingly hot weather by day from the 21st onwards, while it was relatively cool by night. https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries/2018/june

July The first half of July was mostly warm or hot, dry and sunny, especially so in the first week, with high pressure close to or over the British Isles. The second half was less settled but still with plenty of hot, dry and sunny weather, especially in the south and east. The 25th and 26th saw the highest temperatures, followed by a thundery breakdown in many areas. https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries/2018/july

August began with a week of mostly warm dry sunny weather across the south but it was more unsettled and cloudier in the north and especially north-west. The rest of the month was mostly unsettled with westerly winds. The third week of the month was often warm and humid but it turned much cooler in the last week. https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries/2018/august

September began settled and warm with plenty of sunshine for most eastern and central parts, but there was a long spell of predominantly westerly winds and unsettled weather starting in the second week and lasting until the 23rd, and it was often very windy between the 18th and 21st. The rest of the month was more settled with some notably cool nights especially for the south. https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries/2018/september

October began with a week of mainly fine weather over the south but it was generally more changeable in the north. Southerly winds brought unseasonably warm weather in the second week, and it was very wet and windy for most of the country around the 12th. After a quieter spell of weather with plenty of sunshine at times, it turned very cold from the 26th onwards with northerly and north-easterly winds, and showers turned wintry even at low levels on the 27th. https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries/2018/october

The overall impression was of warmth and sunshine from May to mid-August with occasional wet spells, keeping the ground damp. It was wetter in the second half of August and unsettled conditions continued until late September. October was mixed with fine days interspersed by stormy ones.

Survey effort was maintained to some extent throughout the season but there were some significant absences: 7 days twice in May (Wiltshire/Cornwall), 7 days twice in June (Budapest/Vichy), 5 days in late July to early August (Germany), 5 days in August (South Downs), 5 days in September (London), 4 days in October (North Yorkshire), 14 days in first half of November (South Africa). So each period of activity was affected to some extent but as in 2017 monitoring the display period in May and June was the worst affected, with the number of sites found occupied at this time being 17, down from 32 in 2017. The chance of finding birds in November was much reduced this year by the lengthy trip to South Africa. No new sites were found this year; the lower coverage during the display period will not have helped here as the first sign of fresh occupation is often displaying birds.

In the target area in 2018, 10 sites were observed for nests (10 in 2017) with 100% success again this year. Scots Pine (5 nests) remains the most popular tree with Hemlock Spruce (2), Oak (2) and Norway Spruce (1) some way behind. There was no change in the sites visited from 2017. Each site was visited only once this year, in the sitting/rearing period of the season between 3/7 and 7/8. This was a reduction from the two visits in preceding years. Each visit was more comprehensive this year though still time-limited to avoid disturbing the birds unduly.

Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Observed Occupied (no. sites)			Breeding Category			Number young fledged	Trees used for Nesting
Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Display	Sit/ Rear	Fledge	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged	Trees used for Nesting
Devil’s Water	6	11	3	4	4	6	6	0	0	8 (2x2, 4x1+)	Scots Pine x2, Hemlock Spruce
Allen	4	8	2	2	3	1	3	1	0	2 (1x2)	Oak, Norway Spruce
Upper South Tyne	2	3	1	0	1	2	2	0	0	4 (2x2)	Oak
Lower South Tyne	3	4	0	2	0	3	3	0	0	5 (2x2, 1x1+)
Tipalt	Not systematically surveyed this year
Tyne W	8	12	2	7	2	6	7	1	0	9 (3x2, 1x1+, 2x>0+)	Scots Pine, Hemlock Spruce
Tyne E	6	7	1	2	4	4	5	0	0	6 (2x2, 1x1+, 1x>0)	Scots Pine
Derwent	3	5	1	0	1	2	3	0	0	2 (2x>0)	Scots Pine
Total	32	50	10	17	15	24	29	2	1	36 (12x2, 7x1+, 5x>0)	Scots Pine x5, Hemlock Spruce 2, Oak x2, Norway Spruce x1

Table 32: Results for the Honey-buzzard Breeding Season in SW Northumberland by area in 2018

Table 33 gives a breakdown of the numbers of males, females and juveniles in each part of the season. The male:female ratio declines through the season from 14:10 (1.40) in display to 14:11 (1.27) in the rearing period and 11:11 (1.00) in fledging. Because of extra time spent outside the study area in the display period, the adult totals are lower than usual in this stage of the season. The number of juveniles seen, reported as 31 in Table 33, differs from the 36 in Table 32, because of the 5 hidden broods (recorded as >0). No gangs of juveniles, gathering before departure, were noted in late September, even though visits to suitable areas were made at this time. The gatherings are transient, so are easily missed. Possibly this year the birds had already seeped away.

Area	No. sites in season	No. adults in season			Display 4/5-8/6		Rearing 3/7-8/8			Fledging 9/8-26/9			Gangs of juveniles post-breeding
		Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Male	Female	Juvenile	Male	Female	Juvenile
Devil’s Water	6	6	5	11	4	3	4	3	0	2	2	8
Allen	4	4	4	8	0	2	3	3	0	1	1	2
Upper South Tyne	2	1	2	3	0	0	1	1	0	1	2	4
Lower South Tyne	3	2	2	4	2	2	0	0	0	1	1	5
Tipalt	Not systematically surveyed this year
Tyne W	8	7	5	12	6	3	2	1	0	3	4	7
Tyne E	6	5	2	7	2	0	3	2	0	1	0	5
Derwent	3	3	2	5	0	0	1	1	0	2	1	0
Total	32	28	22	50	14	10	14	11	0	11	11	31	0

Table 33: Number of Male, Female and Juvenile Honey-buzzard found in each phase of breeding season in 2018

Table 34 shows the migration picture for Honey-buzzard in 2018. It was a poor year with only 3 adults and 10 juveniles seen. Good breeding seasons in Scotland are suggested for Honey-buzzard in 2014, 2016 and 2017 with a poorer year in between in 2015 and earlier in 2013. A new migration route was found in North Yorkshire, which was relatively busy in 2018, presumably carrying birds from NE England where the breeding season appears to have been more successful. There seems to be a correlation from at least 2015-2018 between the migration counts for juveniles in Northumberland and the breeding success reported for Scotland in Scottish Birds.

Date	Time	Locality	Age/Sex	Count	Direction	Movement
May 04	12:16	Ordley (NY95 P)	Adult female	1	1 NW	The season kicks off in spectacular fashion at 12:16 in hot sunshine on light SW breeze. I'd come out for my regular midday scan of the local area at noon and it all looked quiet. Then at 12:16 picked out a female Honey-buzzard gliding in from the SE, 2km away, at considerable height. She approached the edge of the site at speed, steadily losing height, where she was intercepted by her mate, the male; together they had a few minutes of wild fly-about with much chasing at moderate altitude before being mobbed by a Common Buzzard and a female Hobby; the reunited pair ignored them, eventually coming down in trees to E of nesting area (8001). So what a grand sight: reading is that the male had arrived earlier this morning and the female's arrival was the reunion at 12:16
Aug 25	14:45	Warden (NY96 D)	Adult male	1	1 S	Just a bit warmer at 15C but completely different feel with warm sunshine, in long sunny intervals, on light W breeze. Day was memorable for 1st migrating Honey-buzzard of the autumn in the study area with a male from 14:45-14:50 climbing higher and higher over Warden Hill, until in the base of the clouds, hanging for a significant time and then gliding off S (Africa here I come!). They often hang before getting on with it: some hesitancy perhaps, saying goodbye to the family or taking final image of home habitat for next year's return: probably all 3!
Sep 05	13:25	Towsbank (NY65 Y)	Adult male	1	1 S	A beautiful autumn day with almost unbroken warm sunshine at 16C, light SW breeze. Action started just after arrival at 13:22 with a male Honey-buzzard migrating S, doing a soar over the moors to the S after a glide from the N had brought him down into view from the ground at Eals; this soar-glide routine goes on for the entire trip to their wintering grounds in west Africa, saving c90% of the energy that they'd use in level flapping flight!
Sep 27	12:08-12:55	Bywell (NZ06 L)	Juvenile	3	3 rest	Today morning was very warm at 19C, again with steady breeze, this time moderate from W; cloud increased from 13:30. Had 3 Honey-buzzard. A dark-phase juvenile was up at 12:08 flying over the stubble field to N where after hanging for a while it landed; slightly further away at 12:08 was a dark ruddy Honey-buzzard juvenile which disappeared to W low-down; at 12:43 the dark-phase bird was over the copse in the middle of the stubble field before leaving low-down to W to feed on another field. At 12:55 a pale-phase Honey-buzzard came out of the Cottagebank area, hanging for a while over the field to W before drifting towards Broomley, where it again stalled for a while before going down over pasture. These 3 birds never interacted as siblings usually do so presume they're unrelated and have assigned them as migrants from Scotland. No other Honey-buzzard were seen so no signs of a gang; the appearance of gangs is very unpredictable as they're short-lived and may depend on subtle factors not fully understood yet.
Sep 28	15:44	Dipton Wood (NY96 Q)	Juvenile	3	3 S	Cold overnight down to 3C but a beautiful sunny day followed, up to 13C on light NW breeze. Two Honey-buzzard juvenile, pale brown and dark, came out of the woods on E side of Dipton Wood and from 15:44-15:46 effortlessly climbed into the sky with no circling to a great height, accompanied by an adult Red Kite; they then proceeded to drift S now almost out of visibility from the ground. From 15:47-15:48 they were followed by another juvenile Honey-buzzard (ruddy) and another adult Red Kite, which again went very high before drifting S. The birds were all keeping their distance from one another but were acting in some kind of unison. I didn't think the Honey-buzzard were a gang: they looked more like long-distance migrants from Scotland. It does appear that the migratory Red Kite have adopted habits not that dissimilar to Honey-buzzard, which arrive on site in May and depart in September. Where do the kites go? That's not clear but it's worth noting that Scandinavian and German Red Kite are migratory, moving SW in autumn, and large numbers have been seen in spring in SW England.
Oct 03	15:16	Stocksfield (NZ06 K)	Juvenile	1	1 SE	Cloudy, mild and dry in morning at 13C on moderate W breeze; sun came out at 15:00 as I neared Stocksfield Mount. At 15:16 again had a double emigration (see 28/9) as from the Tyne area near Bywell Bridge an adult Red Kite and a juvenile Honey-buzzard both came up quickly and they went away gliding at speed to SE at moderate altitude with the breeze behind. The Honey-buzzard was pale ruddy with extensive white on the inside of the secondaries, broad dark tip to wings and some darker markings on the upper-side, giving it a pale mottled appearance; it was not one of the 3 birds seen here last Thursday. The Red Kite is of course another great observation, supporting the idea that our population is at least partly migratory, so not on site in late autumn, winter and early spring, which is one reason the FoRKers have found so few!
Oct 09	14:55	Hexham Race Course (NY96 B)	Juvenile	1	1 SW	Fresh SW breeze, dry, sunny spells, mild. Best of all, at 14:55 a brown juvenile Honey-buzzard out over the rough pasture with plenty of juncus on W edge of Yarridge on way back, moving slowly against the fresh SW breeze keeping close to the ground. It eventually moved out of sight, still moving towards the open moor. It appears to be a migrant moving SW.
Oct 19	15:22	Bywell (NZ06 L)	Juvenile	2	2 rest	Sunny spells, light W breeze, mild; made Stocksfield Mount from 15:10-16:15. The Honey-buzzard comprised 2 juvenile (1 dark phase, 1 ruddy phase) up over Eltringham from 15:22-15:27, doing some mutual circling at moderate altitude; they did a bit of diving at each other, taking it in turns, which convinced me they weren't going anywhere as not in energy-saving mode adopted for real migration; the ruddy bird peeled off to land in Eltringham area to feed and the dark bird stayed up a little longer before drifting slowly back to Short Wood; at 15:36 the ruddy bird was seen back at Cottagebank so it must have sneaked back N across the Tyne Valley
Summary/ Comments:
May: 1 August: 1 September: 7 October: 4	12-13: 1 13-14: 1 14-15: 2 15-16: 4 resting: 5	upper South Tyne: 1 Tipalt: 0 lower South Tyne: 1 Allen: 0 Devil's Water: 5 Tyne Valley W: 6 Tyne Valley E: 0 Derwent: 0	Adult male: 2 Adult female: 1 Juvenile: 10	13		IN: 1 NW OUT: 5 S, 1 SE, 1 SW, 5 resting
As usual most records are for migrating juveniles. The peak is early this year in September.	The times may reflect observer activity as much as anything else. The times at which resting birds have been noted are not included in the analysis.	The most popular route this year was via Tyne Valley W and the Devils' Water where much of the fieldwork was concentrated. Small numbers were noted this year in the upper South Tyne and lower South Tyne, where 2 birds were counted over the whole season.	It was another poor year for counts of adults with just 3 migrants seen. Only juveniles were noted after 5/9, some resting in prime feeding areas.	The juvenile total at 10 was well down on the record of 27 noted in 2017 and 2012. A poor breeding season in Scotland is suggested as in 2013 and 2015 (see Table 1).	Direction in spring was N/W as expected. In autumn the predominant direction was S with 7 moving this way. Movements SW/W are thought to be taking advantage of the local topology in a basically S move.	Monitoring this year was at a consistently high level through the autumn. While relatively few migrants were seen in the SW Northumberland study area, significant numbers were seen in the Danby area in North Yorkshire: North Yorks Moors (14/10-17/10): Danby 1 juvenile ESE from rest 15/10; 2 juvenile ESE from rest 17/10; 1 juvenile rest 17/10; total 4 juvenile with 3 ESE, 1 rest. The N Yorks data confirms as hoped that Eskdale, running from WNW to ESE, is a significant route for Honey-buzzard juvenile taking them through much suitable habitat from Teesside/Cleveland towards Scarborough and Filey Brigg, where they can continue their journey inland parallel to the coast. The birds here are likely to have passed through Bywell in the Tyne Valley on their way S from NE England/Scotland. In 2018 it is likely that the birds were not from Scotland, where it was apparently a poor season, but from NE England where it was another successful season.

Table 34: Visible Migration Movements noted for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland in 2018

The overall results for the 2019 Honey-buzzard breeding season are given in Table 35.

The study area was broadly maintained at its 2018 level with nest visits made to 10 sites and relatively intensive coverage of two parts of the study area, as a control: Devil's Water and Tyne Valley W. In these two areas the number of sites was unchanged at 14, suggesting in conjunction with earlier results a stable to slowly increasing population overall. In general the survey produced similar results to those in the previous year with 30 occupied sites (32 in 2018) and the number of confirmed breeding pairs at 24 (29 in 2018). Productivity was again very high with 12 pairs raising 2 young (12 in 2018), 8 pairs at least 1 young and 4 pairs greater then 0 young, giving a minimum fledge of 36+ juveniles (36+ in 2018). In terms of known successful nests, 20 pairs raised 32+ young, that is a minimum of 1.60 young per pair (in 2018, 31+ young from 19 nests, 1.63+ young per pair). Productivity therefore continues at a high level.

Weather report for England 2019 (from the Met Office https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/summaries/index ):

May began with shallow low pressure and weak fronts, bringing rather cloudy and showery weather to most parts. A northerly outbreak on the 3rd/4th brought widespread frosts, and wintry showers penetrated locally to low levels in some northern and eastern regions. Cloudy and unsettled weather persisted until the 9th, but then high pressure built close to the country bringing generally warm, dry and sunny weather around mid-month. The weather remained fairly quiet until the 24th, but generally cooler, with more in the way of rain or showers. It turned changeable from the 25th onwards but the last two days were very warm in the south and east.

June started with a ridge of high pressure which brought warm dry sunny weather to much of the south and south-east, hot for a time in East Anglia, but it was cloudier with rain further north. From the 3rd to 9th a westerly flow brought spells of rain interspersed with brighter showery weather. It turned unseasonably cool, and very wet in places, especially Lincolnshire, between the 10th and 13th, with north-easterly winds. The 14th to 20th was generally warmer but continued unsettled, and thunderstorms affected the south-east overnight 18th/19th. The last third of the month was often warm and humid, with further rain at times and some thundery outbreaks especially in the north, but also some dry sunny weather especially between the 26th and 29th, and the 29th was a very hot day in many areas with temperatures as high as 34 °C in the London area.

July began with a cool, showery north-westerly flow over the UK, but for most of the first half of the month high pressure was close to the south and west and this brought mostly dry weather with plentiful sunshine for much of England, especially the south-west, and also south Wales, but elsewhere cloud was more variable. The second half was generally more unsettled with frequent westerly and south-westerly winds, but with an exceptionally hot spell from the 22nd to 26th which saw record-breaking temperatures in many parts of the country, including a new record for the UK as a whole, and also widespread thunderstorms.

August opened with a weak ridge of high pressure, which brought some warm sunshine but also some scattered thundery showers in some places. The weather then turned more unsettled and breezier with some showers and longer spells of rain, and deep depressions brought bouts of wet and windy weather especially to Scotland on the 9th, 14th and 16th. There was a hot sunny spell in most central and southern areas between the 21st and 27th, which extended to most of the country between the 24th and 26th, setting new record temperatures for the late August bank holiday. A thundery breakdown followed, and the last few days were cooler with some heavy persistent rain over much of Scotland and Cumbria.

September The first few days saw a westerly type, with a succession of fronts bringing rainfall to much of the country. It then became rather quieter for a time, and some days were pleasantly warm, with particularly high temperatures around 19th-24th. Rainfall was below average up until the 20th, but after that a much more unsettled spell of weather set in, with 25-50 mm of rain within 24 hours reported at various stations on certain days. Thus by the end of the month the UK had easily exceeded its September average rainfall; it was also quite a sunny month, with some pleasant early-autumn days during the middle third of the month.

October began with a warm showery day in the south, and while colder air quickly spread from the north followed by a transient ridge of high pressure, low pressure and associated fronts returned by the 4th. Until the 20th the weather was unsettled with frequent low pressure systems and rain belts crossing the country, and the jet stream was further south than normal, resulting in frontal systems often especially affecting the south and east of England. There was a quieter interlude from the 21st to 23rd, and then after a very wet spell on the 24th to 26th. The weather turned cold, dry and sunny for most of the country from the 27th to 30th, although the far south-west remained very wet at times.

The overall impression was of mainly unsettled weather through the late spring and summer with occasional warm spells, which quickly broke down. September was dry and sunny for the most part but with a very wet ending, which continued into October until almost the end of the month.

Survey effort was maintained to some extent throughout the season but there were some significant absences: 12 days in first half of May (Oxford/London/Devon), 7 days in late May/early June (South Downs), 7 days in late June (Budapest), 11 days in late July (Toulouse/London), 6 days in mid-August (Liverpool), 9 days in late August (South Tyrol), 4 days in late September/early October (North Yorkshire), 21 days in first part of November (Colorado). So each period of activity was affected to some extent: as in recent years monitoring the display period in May and June was the worst affected, with the number of sites found occupied at this time being 17, down from 32 in 2017. In addition a personal injury, a twisted knee, severely affected survey work in October, from 2/10. The chance of finding birds in November was much reduced this year by the lengthy trip to Colorado. So survey work in October and November was much reduced this year, particularly affecting counts of migrating juvenile. No new sites were found this year; the lower coverage during the display period will not have helped here as the first sign of fresh occupation is often displaying birds.

In the target area in 2019, 10 sites were observed for nests (10 in 2017) with apparently 100% success again this year. Scots Pine (5 nests) remains the most popular tree with Hemlock Spruce (2), Oak (2) and Norway Spruce (1) some way behind. There was no change in the sites visited from 2018. Each site was visited only once this year, in the sitting/rearing period of the season between 28/6 and 21/8. Each visit was fairly comprehensive this year though still time-limited to avoid disturbing the birds unduly.

Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Observed Occupied (no. sites)			Breeding Category			Number young fledged	Trees used for Nesting
Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Display	Sit/ Rear	Fledge	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged	Trees used for Nesting
Devil’s Water	6	13	3	6	2	6	6	0	0	10 (4x2, 2x1+)	Scots Pine x2, Hemlock Spruce
Allen	4	5	2	0	3	3	4	0	0	4 (3x1+, 1x>0)	Oak, Norway Spruce
Upper South Tyne	1	2	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	1 (1x>0)	Oak
Lower South Tyne	3	4	0	1	2	2	1	2	0	2 (1x2)
Tipalt	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
Tyne W	8	13	2	8	4	8	8	0	0	14 (6x2, 1x1+, 1x>0)	Scots Pine, Hemlock Spruce
Tyne E	5	8	1	2	3	1	2	1	2	3 (1x2, 1x>0)	Scots Pine
Derwent	2	4	1	1	2	2	2	0	0	2 (2x1+)	Scots Pine
Total	30	50	10	19	17	22	24	3	3	36 (12x2, 8x1+, 4x>0)	Scots Pine x5, Hemlock Spruce 2, Oak x2, Norway Spruce x1

Table 35: Results for the Honey-buzzard Breeding Season in SW Northumberland by area in 2019

Table 36 gives a breakdown of the numbers of males, females and juveniles in each part of the season. The male:female ratio declines through the season from 17:9 (1.89) in display to 13:14 (0.93) in the rearing period and 7:11 (0.64) in fledging. Because of extra time spent outside the study area in the display period, the adult totals are lower than usual in this stage of the season. The number of juveniles seen, reported as 36 in Table 35, differs from the 32 in Table 36, because of the 4 hidden broods (recorded as >0). No gangs of juveniles, gathering before departure, were noted in late September, even though visits to suitable areas were made at this time. The gatherings are transient, so are easily missed. Possibly this year the birds had already crept away.

Area	No. sites in season	No. adults in season			Display 4/5-8/6		Rearing 27/6-7/8			Fledging 18/8-28/9			Gangs of juveniles post-breeding
		Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Male	Female	Juvenile	Male	Female	Juvenile
Devil’s Water	6	7	6	13	7	3	2	2	0	1	6	10
Allen	4	2	3	5	0	0	2	3	1	1	1	3
Upper South Tyne	1	1	1	2	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Lower South Tyne	3	2	2	4	1	1	1	1	0	1	0	2
Tipalt	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tyne W	8	7	6	13	5	4	3	3	0	3	3	13
Tyne E	5	4	4	8	2	0	2	3	0	1	1	2
Derwent	2	2	2	4	1	1	2	1	0	0	0	2
Total	30	26	24	50	17	9	13	14	1	7	11	32	0

Table 36: Number of Male, Female and Juvenile Honey-buzzard found in each phase of breeding season in 2019

Table 37 shows the migration picture for Honey-buzzard in 2019. It was a very poor year with no spring records and only 2 adults and 2 juveniles seen in autumn. However, as noted earlier survey work was severely restricted in October, through a twisted knee, and in November, through absence. Good breeding seasons in Scotland are suggested for Honey-buzzard in 2014, 2016 and 2017 with a poorer year in between in 2015, earlier in 2013 and perhaps in 2018. A new migration route was found in North Yorkshire, which was relatively busy in 2019, presumably carrying birds from NE England and Scotland. There seems to be a correlation from at least 2015-2018 between the migration counts for juveniles in Northumberland and the breeding success reported for Scotland in Scottish Birds. The poor coverage in 2019 in Northumberland in the peak autumn migration season rules out the seeking of any correlation.

Date	Time	Locality	Age/Sex	Count	Direction	Movement
Sept 07	11:15	Ordley (NY95 P)	Adult female	1	1 S	Up with the lark, at 11:06 was outside in my dressing gown dumping some vegetable matter for compost when suddenly realised the local female Honey-buzzard was coming right over my house in a beating of the bounds manoeuvre, often a prelude for an immediate exit. Thought she muttered as she came over. Anyway that was round the back so grabbed the camera and went out the front, where picked her up beginning to soar with 2 juveniles hanging on below (9132). She left them way behind, eventually rising above the clouds and at 11:16 floating off to S: Africa here I come! The 2 juveniles returned to the ground, one of them being quite conspicuous about an hour later at 12:12, appearing to revel in taking over the territory from 12:11-12:15 with some Crow on the tops of the trees as usual when the Honey-buzzard are about (9132)
Sept 07	15:55	Dipton Wood S (NY95 U)	Adult female	1	1 S	Walked along the road from Ordley to Dotland from 15:40-17:45 picking up another migrant, a female from Dipton Wood S who at 15:55 came out of the trees and decisively soared very high on her own, before floating away to S like the one earlier in the day (9135). Not all the females have left from the 'Shire: one was at Dotland in display with another juvenile at 16:44 (9136). But expect that the 2nd phase of emigration is now well under way. At 17:27 flushed a dark-phase juvenile Honey-buzzard from a perch overlooking a pig farm, maybe looking for grubs and beetles in the mud below; this bird quickly went behind some trees and flew back towards Dotland so assume it's the 2nd juvenile fledged at this site
Oct 12	15:36-15:39	Stocksfield E (NZ06 Q)	Juvenile	1	1 rest	And the Honey-buzzard season continues with a dark-phase juvenile at Stocksfield E today, floating effortlessly up in the air from 15:36-15:39, accompanied by 2 Jackdaw (9181). This is almost certainly a Scottish-bred bird with the locally raised ones leaving the Tyne Valley by the end of September. Earlier there were bursts of Corvids and Lapwing in restless flocks on the fields at Stocksfield E, no doubt disturbed by the Honey-buzzard.
Oct 15	15:42-16:39	Eltringham (NZ06 R)	Juvenile	1	1 rest	Had a Honey-buzzard at Eltringham at 15:55, which floated around leisurely before sinking back to the ground (9182); this was the only raptor seen in calm conditions; it was dark-phase and fairly light-weight, different in size to the one seen here on 12/10; also up briefly at 15:42 and 16:39
Summary/ Comments:
September: 2 October: 2	11-12: 1 15-16: 1 resting: 2	Devil's Water: 2 Tyne Valley W: 2	Adult female: 2 Juvenile: 2	4		IN: 0 OUT: 2 S, 2 resting
Coverage was very poor this year.	The times may reflect observer activity as much as anything else. The times at which resting birds have been noted are not included in the analysis.	The most popular route this year was via Tyne Valley W and the Devils' Water where much of the fieldwork was concentrated.	It was another poor year for counts of adults with just 2 migrants seen. Only juveniles were noted after 7/9, two birds resting in prime feeding areas.	The juvenile total at 2 was well down on the record of 27 noted in 2017 and 2012. Coverage though was very poor this year.	In autumn on a small sample the predominant direction was S with 2 adult female moving this way.	Monitoring this year was at a low-level in both October and November as outlined above. Few migrants were seen in the SW Northumberland study area but in North Yorkshire, as in 2018, significant numbers were seen, this time in the Settle area (29/9-2/10): 2 juvenile at Langcliffe Scar W, 1 S, 1 rest, 30/9; 2 juvenile S Settle 2/10; total 4 juvenile with 3 S, 1 rest. The N Yorks data confirms a route much to the W of Eskdale, following the edge of the escarpment on the W side of the Pennines towards Barnoldswick and then either SE towards Skipton and Bradford or SW towards Bolton, to avoid the Manchester urban area. The birds here are likely to have passed through the South Tyne on their way S from NE England/Scotland. Winter Hill (Bolton) and Bury (Greater Manchester) are apparently important migration sites for Common Buzzard in autumn. In 2019 from 1/9-31/10 196 Buzzard (0.92 per hour) were noted migrating at Winter Hill and 121 (0.94 per hour) at Bury. Due S at Painswick Beacon in the Cotswolds 8 were noted (0.72 per hour). Birds moving towards E Yorks, as in my observations in 2018, are more likely to have come S over the main Tyne Valley in the Bywell area. In 2019 on the E side of the country at Spurn 66 were seen (0.16 per hour), at Sunk Island on Humber 52 were seen (0.21 per hour), at Flamborough 46 were seen (0.81 per hour). The question is: are all these birds really Common Buzzard or are some Honey-buzzard, particularly juveniles, which are very difficult to separate? Common Buzzard is not a migrant in the normal sense of the word in England.

Table 37: Visible Migration Movements noted for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland in 2019

The overall results for the 2020 Honey-buzzard breeding season are given in Table 38.

The study area was broadly maintained at its 2019 level but nest site visits were replaced by frequent visits to a subset of sites in line with the National Honey-buzzard Survey, organised by the Rare Breeding Birds Panel (RBBP). To maintain proper comparisons between seasons, relatively intensive coverage continued in two parts of the study area, as a control: Devil's Water and Tyne Valley W. In these two areas the number of sites was unchanged at 14, suggesting in conjunction with earlier results a stable to slowly increasing population overall. The ten sites selected for frequent visits were in four areas: Tyne Valley W (3), Tyne Valley E (3), Devil's Water (2), Derwent (2), representing the eastern part of the study area. The National Survey results, also tabulated in Table 38, show intensive observational activity, mainly in July and August, with in 49 visits (4.9/site) finding 20 adult and 12 juvenile. The timing of the National Survey for July/August would not have been my choice as certainly in July the species can be elusive. Indeed in 17/49 visits no birds were seen though admittedly I made shorter visits, typically 2 hours, than the 4 suggested as I have found on some days the birds never come into view, making long visits frustrating. My visits occurred from 21/6-1/9 with one site visited as late as 9/9 to confirm fledging. The National Survey provided a novel view of the season's progress, with complete data for the second part of the season, and it is intended to cover the western part of the study area in a similar way in the 2021 breeding season.

In terms of successful nests the results of all my survey work was similar to that in the previous year with 33 occupied sites (30 in 2019) and the number of confirmed breeding pairs at 24 (24 in 2019). But there was one major change: a drop in productivity with only 4 pairs raising 2 young each (12 in 2019) and 20 pairs 1 young or more (12 in 2019), giving a minimum fledge of 28+ juveniles (36+ in 2019). In terms of known successful nests, 24 pairs raised 28+ young, that is a minimum of 1.17 young per pair (in 2019, 32+ young from 20 nests, 1.60+ young per pair). Further the intensive field work this year in July and August confirmed that the great majority of pairs had only fledged one young. Wasp numbers were very low, perhaps due to the dry spring as recorded below in the weather reports. It is likely that pairs were able to switch to alternative prey such as Woodpigeon squabs, which results in success for one juvenile but not nutritious enough for the fledging of 2.

Weather report for England 2020 (from the Met Office https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/summaries/index ):

April Much of April was fine and settled, though with some shorter spells that brought rain. High pressure was located in the vicinity of the UK for much of the time, often to the north, and so easterly winds were a regular feature. Less settled spells came from the 1st to 6th, the 11th to 13th, and most notably a cyclonic spell from the 27th onwards. Plenty of sunshine generally allowed daytime temperatures to rise well above normal on numerous days, whereas minimum temperatures were barely above normal and in fact northern and eastern Scotland had several late frosts. Rainfall was well below normal quite widely, with only central southern counties of England having near-average rain totals.

May began with a shallow area of low pressure which brought cool showery weather, but high pressure built from the north-west between the 2nd and 4th, turning the weather more settled. There was plenty of warm sunny weather for most between the 5th and 9th, but showers broke out in places from the 7th onwards. Northerly winds brought a cold snap from the 10th to 15th, with wintry showers for the north and east of Scotland, and some overnight frost. There was a more changeable spell from the 16th to 23rd, but with plenty of warm sunshine at times in the south. High pressure dominated from the 24th bringing generally dry, sunny and warm weather.

June The very sunny and warm weather of late May continued into the start of June, but a cool northerly type became established from the 3rd to 7th, bringing showers and some longer spells of rain. After a brief settled interlude, it turned wet almost everywhere by the 10th. Around mid-month there was a spell of warm, humid, showery weather with thunderstorms especially in central, western and southern areas, and persistent low cloud along the northeast coast. There was a hot sunny spell especially over England from the 23rd to 25th, which triggered a thundery breakdown in places. The last few days were cloudy and windy with showers and longer spells of rain, with especially persistent and heavy rain in parts of Cumbria.

July began with low pressure dominating, giving mainly cloudy weather with showers and longer spells of rain. It continued unsettled and mostly cloudy until the 9th. Between the 10th and 22nd, high pressure often ridged into southern parts of the UK, bringing dry sunny weather to southern England, and from the 10th to 12th and 19th to 21st, the high moved further north bringing more widespread fine weather, but central and northern counties otherwise remained unsettled and often cloudy. It was generally changeable from the 23rd to 29th, but a brief hot southerly incursion on the 30th and 31st brought unusually high temperatures to many parts of the UK, locally reaching 37.8 °C (100 °F) in the southeast.

August started off with low pressure and showery, mostly cloudy weather. Between the 6th and 13th the weather turned warm or hot and sunny in most regions, with some thundery outbreaks, and temperatures widely exceeded 30 °C in the south and locally 35 °C in the south-east. The weather turned more unsettled mid-month with showers and longer spells of rain. From the 19th to 28th the weather was often wet and windy with depressions heading in from the west, and Storms Ellen and Francis brought especially wet and windy weather to most of the country on the 20th-22nd and 25th. It turned cooler and quieter during the last few days.

September began with a ridge of high pressure, but westerlies dominated from the 2nd until the 12th bringing areas of rain interspersed with brighter showery weather, though high pressure increasingly influenced the south at times. It turned hot in places, especially south-east England, around mid-month, and the 16th to 21st was settled with high pressure and plenty of warm sunshine for most parts of the UK. The weather turned much cooler and more unsettled from the 22nd, and it was very wet and windy in Norfolk on the 25th. With clear skies and slackening northerly winds further west from the 25th to 27th, frost developed overnight in some places.

October began very unsettled, with Storm Alex bringing rain and strong winds to much of England and Wales on the 2nd, and a very wet day followed for much of the UK on the 3rd. From the 4th to 13th it remained unsettled with rain or showers, and from the 8th winds changed to a mainly northerly or north-westerly direction. It was more settled from the 14th to 18th with easterly winds, though many places were rather cloudy at times. The weather turned very wet and windy from the 19th onwards, with mainly westerly and southwesterly winds, and rain belts crossed the country at frequent intervals, with some brighter showery weather in between.

November began mild, wet and windy, but briefly turned colder and more settled around the 4th-7th with a ridge of high pressure. Southerly and south-westerly winds blew frequently from the 7th to 18th, bringing mild weather with wet and windy spells. It continued mostly unsettled and mild until the 25th, with a very brief northerly outbreak on the 19th. It turned settled and colder from the 26th to 29th with high pressure and variable amounts of cloud with widespread fog, then further rain spread southwards on the 30th.

The overall impression was of a very dry spring extending into early June, followed by more changeable weather through July and August. September was mainly dry and sunny, particularly in the middle part, but October and November were wet and unsettled. Spring was particularly dry in the UK in eastern England with NE England having under half the average rainfall for this period from 1981-2010; sunshine totals and temperatures were both above average in NE England, particularly the sunshine figures. Summer and autumn in NE England were close to average with respect to temperature, rain and sunshine.

Survey effort was maintained throughout the breeding season owing to the Covid pandemic restricting overseas and national travel. Studies of the autumn migration season in Northumberland were affected by a 13-day trip to the Algarve from 22/9-4/10; this trip did though provide an opportunity to study the passage of juvenile Honey-buzzard through south-eastern Portugal towards Gibraltar. No new sites were found this year in the Study Area but a new site was found to the NE of Throckley in Tyne Valley E at Prestwick Carr 10km from the centre of Newcastle, with a female present on 3/6; an orbital ring containing Prestwick Carr, Throckley N, Ryton Willows, Dunston Hill Head around the Tyneside conurbation is indicated by studies over a number of years. These edge-land sites are normally productive so it was surprising that Ryton Willows was apparently unoccupied this year.

Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Observed Occupied (no. sites)			Breeding Category (no. sites)			Number young fledged	National Survey (mainly July-August)
Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Display	Sit/ Rear	Fledge	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged	S	V	A	J
Devil’s Water	6	12	0	6	2	5	6	0	0	7 (1x2, 5x1)	2	14	4	2
Allen	2	4	0	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Upper South Tyne	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lower South Tyne	2	4	0	1	0	2	2	0	0	3 (1x2, 1x1)	0	0	0	0
Tipalt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tyne W	8	14	0	8	4	8	8	0	0	10 (2x2, 6x1)	3	13	5	5
Tyne E	7	11	0	6	2	6	6	0	1	6 (1x1+, 5x1)	3	15	6	3
Derwent	8	14	0	7	2	2	2	5	1	2 (2x1)	2	7	5	2
Total	33	59	0	30	10	23	24	7	2	28 (4x2, 1x1+, 19x1)	10	49	20	12

Table 38: Results for the Honey-buzzard Breeding Season in SW Northumberland by area in 2020

National Survey: S sites, V visits, A adults, J juveniles

Table 39 gives a breakdown of the numbers of males, females and juveniles in each part of the season. The male:female ratio declines in the season from 25:18 (1.39) in display to similar levels of 8:7 (1.14) in the rearing period and 16:14 (1.14) in fledging. Males appeared to leave later this year than in a typical year, perhaps connected to the difficulties of raising young in 2020 with its relatively low productivity levels. It may be that the males depart when the success of the brood appears to be secure. No gangs of juveniles, gathering before departure, were noted in late September as the observer was in Portugal at the relevant time.

Area	No. sites in season	No. adults in season			Display 30/4-17/6		Rearing 18/6-18/8			Fledging 19/8-21/9			Gangs of juveniles post-breeding
		Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Male	Female	Juvenile	Male	Female	Juvenile
Devil’s Water	6	7	5	12	6	3	2	2	1	4	3	6
Allen	2	2	2	4	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Upper South Tyne	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lower South Tyne	2	2	2	4	1	1	0	0	0	2	2	3
Tipalt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tyne W	8	8	6	14	8	4	3	1	0	5	4	10
Tyne E	7	6	5	11	3	3	1	2	0	3	2	6
Derwent	8	7	7	14	5	5	2	2	0	2	3	2
Total	33	32	27	59	25	18	8	7	1	16	14	27	0

Table 39: Number of Male, Female and Juvenile Honey-buzzard found in each phase of breeding season in 2020

Table 40 shows the migration picture for Honey-buzzard in 2020. Numbers were back to normal with better coverage, with 4 adults seen in spring and 17 birds in autumn, comprising 4 adult male, 4 adult female, 9 juvenile, departing in that order as expected. Productivity was low in Northumberland this year at 1.17 young/successful brood but no failures were noted. BirdGuides counts showing an unusual departure of Honey-buzzard nationally in the first half of August suggest more failures in the country as a whole. My one significant absence was in late September and early October, which would have affected juvenile totals in particular. However, even if the total of 9 juvenile is an underestimate, It seems improbable that a good breeding season in Scotland was indicated as in 2014, 2016 and 2017.

Date	Time	Locality	Age/Sex	Count	Direction	Movement
'May 09	13:50-13:59	Hexham (NY96 H)	Adult male, adult female	2	2 N	During the walk as moved into the Shambles looked W towards the Abbey and there high up just below the cloud base over to the W of the Sele were 2 Honey-buzzard, a male and a female, moving slowly and deliberately N against the light NW breeze. I followed them from 13:50-13:59 until lost in the sky to NW as they climbed through a large clearing in the cloud to go even higher (10014). As they moved close to the S side of the Abbey (in profile) was able to boost magnification with the field area clearly defined; the female is above the male at the start but the male is the higher bird. The birds became just faint dots, moving to a colossal height. My guess is that they are losing height as they cross the Tyne with slight wind against, few thermals and no orographic lift, but are then picking up thermals and orographic lift over Acomb and rapidly regaining height, probably moving up the North Tyne and Redesdale on their way to Scotland; think some follow the A68! So that was inspiring!
'May 16	13:35-13:38	Bywell (NZ06 L)	Adult male	1	1 NW	A male migrant, moving NW from 13:35-13:38, towards A68. Sunny up to early afternoon but a very cool moderate NW breeze keeping the temperature down to 11C max, remaining dry.
'May 25	16:20-16:30	Ordley (NY95 P)	Adult male	1	1 intruder	Real action started when got home at 16:20. The pair of resident Honey-buzzard came up off a nearby field with a Common Buzzard above them at 16:21 (incumbent male on left with nick in middle of each wing, female in middle, Common Buzzard on right); then noticed a 2nd male Honey-buzzard, which was quickly chased by the incumbent for a little while at 16:21 (Common Buzzard above, incumbent screaming loudly chasing cleaner-winged intruder); following chase, at 16:21, the incumbent is on the left, looking to rejoin the female, the intruder is on the right, the Common Buzzard is in the middle (like a referee!); the intruder disappears to the right (NW) while the incumbent climbs high in celebration at 16:22; reunification of incumbent male and female, including display with female chasing male, pair then moving higher at 16:28; female in territory low-down over nesting area at 16:30 (10030).
'Aug 30	14:39-14:40	Slaley Forest E (NY95 X)	Adult female	1	1 intruder	Warmer today at 14C max, still well below average, but some welcome sunshine and dry on light N breeze. Made Slaley Forest E from 14:30-16:30 and enjoyed the sight of 4 Honey-buzzard up in the air, an adult pair with junior and a female intruder. From 14:39-14:40 2 females were up in the air over the moor, mutually circling each other; one was the neat-feathered resident bird as seen later with the male, the other had extensive tail damage, not uncommon in Honey-buzzard because of their arduous deep-digging with the tail flexed against the edge of the hole. Female-2 is considered to be a migrant as well as an intruder.
'Sept 9	14:53	Dipton Wood S (NY95 U)	Adult male	1	1 S	Wasn't particularly warm at 15C max but wind was a beefy moderate W and it was dry with some sunny intervals. At 14:53 spotted the male Honey-buzzard soaring effortlessly from the site in conifers up to a great height with no flashy manoeuvres before drifting off S to Africa, 1st migrant of the autumn season.
'Sept 11	15:40	Wylam (NZ16 C)	Adult male	1	1 S	High cloud with intermittent light rain, some brighter spells, light SW breeze, 14C max. A male Honey-buzzard migrant today at 15:40 up very high over Wylam and moving S;
'Sept 14	12:59-13:57	Warden (NY96 D)	Adult male 2, adult female 1	3	1 S 2 SE	Short-lived fine weather at 22C max, light variable winds, strong sunshine; further, thin high cloud gave a perfect backdrop for looking for moving raptors underneath it, much better than a clear blue sky. A male Honey-buzzard soaring over Warden Hill from 12:59-13:02, going very high and moving S, presumed to be local bird from Warden W; at 13:57 over Greenshaw Plain 2 Honey-buzzard drifting SE very high-up, a male and a female, clearly migrants (10087a).
'Sept 15	16:06	Bywell (NZ06 L)	Adult female	1	1 SE	Weather continued fine today at 24C max, wind SW light, hazy sunshine most of day becoming more overcast by evening with a few showers. Did have a Honey-buzzard migrant at 16:06: a female was picked up over the ridge to N of Bywell in power flight at moderate altitude moving E (10090); she was steering SE as lost to sight and losing further height; as a Scottish bird, she had probably come down from the 1000m asl at which they typically fly and was looking for a place to spend the night and find some food, maybe the Tyne near Prudhoe! Power-flight is continuous flapping, when can reach 50-60km/hour but it uses too much energy with soar/glide preferred, saving 90% of the effort; she was hungry! As an adult she may know useful stopping places.
'Sept 17	13:11	Dilston (NY96 R)	Adult female	1	1 S	Brilliant weather: sunny, 18C max, light to moderate E/SE breeze. Had a further Honey-buzzard to S at Swallowship site over Dukes Wood, with a (migrant) female up at 13:11 soaring very high and departing to S, and a juvenile below, who decided to stay, all well visible from Hexham.
'Oct 7	15:34-15:36	Dotland (NY95 J)	Juvenile	1	1 rest	Some sunshine, dry, moderate W breeze, 12C max, 7C min. From 15:34-15:36 had a dark-phase juvenile Honey-buzzard up over SW of Letah Wood in a major argument with a Crow and a Harris Hawk (10300). The Honey-buzzard appeared very strong, presumably a Scottish-born bird on its way to Gibraltar with only 2113km to go! Will have done 321km already if started from Inverness. Much more amazingly at 15:48 found a freshly dug wasp nest on the verge near the lane leading off to 'Motag' perhaps 1km from where the Honey-buzzard was flying; some wasps were still entering and leaving, which is a hallmark of Honey-buzzard raids, always leave some comb so they can rebuild the nest for a further raid later! The Honey-buzzard eat the grubs, immature wasps, in the comb, probably very nutritious, and have some adaptions to wasp stings with very tight feathering, particularly around the head and neck, and tolerance of the venom.
'Oct 8	13:31-14:15	Stocksfield (NZ06 K)	Juvenile	2	1 S, 1 rest	Nice autumnal sunshine, light SW breeze, 12C max, 6C min. A migrating juvenile Honey-buzzard high-up at 13:31 in the cloud base, moving higher and disappearing (10301). A Common Buzzard was in aerial play with another dark-phase juvenile Honey-buzzard at 14:14-14:15 (10302).
'Oct 15	13:10-13:15	Ovington (NZ06 R)	Juvenile	1	1 S	Moderate NE breeze, cool, 10C max, 6C min, dry with some sunny intervals. Felt a lot rawer out and only made Stocksfield Mount from 13:00-14:20, should have had another layer on! At 13:10 picked up a dark-phase juvenile Honey-buzzard soaring low-down over Merryshields, before drifting a little N. Then at 13:15 action increased still further with a funnel of 2 Red Kite (ad, juv) over Ovington with the Honey-buzzard juvenile below (10303); the 2 Red Kite went to a great height and then started moving S, still at high altitude, followed by the Honey-buzzard at moderate altitude some way behind.
'Oct 16	14:00-14:06	Slaley Forest Dukesfield (NY95 S)	Juvenile	1	1 S	light W breeze, 10C max, 6C min, some weak sunshine, sun is rapidly getting weaker. Did keep an eye out to S while doing the hedge and was delighted to see a dark-phase juvenile Honey-buzzard taking off at 14:00 from the Slaley Forest Dukesfield area and climb slowly for 6 min high in the sky before drifting off to S, a marvellous sight (10304).
'Oct 18	13:17-13:32	Ordley (NY95 P)	Juvenile	1	1 S	Dull day, virtually calm, 9C max, 8C min. Did have another Honey-buzzard juvenile up in the air, being mobbed by a Jackdaw to SE over Linnels at 13:17 and soaring to move S and onwards at 13:32 (10305).
'Oct 25	14:15-14:41	Stocksfield (NZ06 K)	Juvenile	2	2 rest	sunny with the odd heavy shower, 9C max, 7C min, moderate SW breeze; drop below 10C for max is a milestone for descent towards winter but at least no frosts yet, which keeps insect numbers up. Made Stocksfield Mount, my favourite Honey-buzzard migration watchpoint, today from 13:30-14:50; was delighted to have 2 Honey-buzzard juvenile present in the area, ranging widely from Hindley in the S to Ovington in the NE and Cottagebank in the NW during the visit; they were so mobile that they were in the air most of the time during the visit, clearly restless and looking to move on; a pale headed bird was seen at Hindley 14:38-14:40, Ovington 14:15-14:31, Bywell Cottagebank 14:38-14:41; a dark bird was seen at Ovington 14:13-14:32 (2 visits), Merryshields 14:24, Eltringham 14:25 (10307).
'Oct 28	15:50	Slaley Forest NW (NY95 I)	Juvenile	1	1 rest	another cool day 8C max, 6C min, but still no frost, wet in morning, drier in afternoon with just a few showers, light SW breeze. Highlight of day was a late Honey-buzzard up over W part of Slaley Forest at 15:50, moving slowly over the conifers at low altitude (10308).
Summary/ Comments:
May: 4 August: 1 September: 7 October: 9	13-14: 10 14-15: 2 15-16: 1 16-17: 1 resting: 5 intruder: 2	Devil's Water: 7 Tyne Valley W: 9 Derwent: 1 Tyne Valley E: 1 Lower South Tyne: 3	Adult male: 7 Adult female: 5 Juvenile: 9	21		IN: 2 N, 1 NW, 1 intruder OUT: 8 S, 3 SE, 5 resting, 1 intruder
Coverage was good this year except for the period from 22/9-4/10 when in Algarve, affecting juvenile counts.	The times may reflect observer activity as much as anything else. The times at which resting birds and intruders have been noted are not included in the analysis.	The most popular route this year was via Tyne Valley W and the Devils' Water where much of the fieldwork was concentrated.	It was a better year for counts of all age groups. Four adults were seen in spring. In autumn 17 birds were noted. The order of departure was as usual adult male, adult female and juvenile. Adult males appeared to linger longer than usual into mid-September, perhaps because of the apparent food shortages this year.	The total this year was back in the normal range, thanks to better coverage.	The predominant direction was N/NW in spring and S/SE in autumn.	Once again on Trektellen high numbers of Common Buzzard were reported from 1/9-31/10 in Lancashire and Yorkshire in 2020. At Winter Hill (Bolton) and Bury (Greater Manchester) 71 birds (0.36 per hour) were recorded at the former and 50 (0.35 an hour) at the latter. Due S at Painswick Beacon in the Cotswolds 18 were noted (0.38 per hour). On the E side of the country at Sunk Island on Humber 56 were seen (0.25 per hour). The question is: are all these birds really Common Buzzard or are some Honey-buzzard, particularly juveniles, which are very difficult to separate? Common Buzzard is not a migrant in the normal sense of the word in England.

Table 40: Visible Migration Movements noted for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland in 2020

The overall results for the 2021 Honey-buzzard breeding season are given in Table 41.

The study area was broadly maintained at its 2020 level with nest site visits again replaced by frequent visits to a subset of sites in line with the National Honey-buzzard Survey, organised by the Rare Breeding Birds Panel (RBBP). To maintain proper comparisons between seasons, relatively intensive coverage continued in two parts of the study area, as a control: Devil's Water and Tyne Valley W. In these two areas the number of sites was just slightly higher at 15 (14 in 2020), suggesting in conjunction with earlier results a stable to slowly increasing population overall. The 13 sites selected for multiple visits were in three areas: Allen (6), upper South Tyne (5), lower South Tyne (2), representing the western part of the study area. The National Survey results, also tabulated in Table 41, show intensive observational activity, mainly in July and August, with in 27 visits (2.1/site) finding 19 adult and 15 juvenile. The timing of the National Survey for July/August would not have been my choice as certainly in July the species can be elusive. However in the territories in the mainly upland terrain of the west, birds were seen in all but one visit, suggesting they are more obvious in the open habitat. Owing to the greater distance in car travel, visits in the Survey were longer this year than last, closer to the 4 hours suggested than in 2020, but fewer. My visits occurred from 27/6-2/9. The National Survey provided a novel view of the season's progress, with complete data for the second part of the season.

In terms of successful nests the results of all my survey work was similar to that in the previous year with 38 occupied sites (33 in 2020) and the number of confirmed breeding pairs at 24 (24 in 2020). After the drop in productivity in 2020 there was a welcome recovery this year with 11 pairs raising 2 young and 10 pairs 1 young or more (4 pairs, 20 pairs respectively in 2020), giving a minimum fledge of 28+ juveniles. In terms of known successful nests, 21 pairs raised 32+ young, that is a minimum of 1.52 young per pair (in 2020, 28+ young from 24 nests, 1.17+ young per pair). The fledging rate in the Tyne Valley W area, however, remained depressed with only one brood of 2 in 8 successful nests. Four of the broods of 2 were in the upper South Tyne, showing the liking of the Honey-buzzard for upland areas, with another 4 in the Devil's Water at moderate altitude. Five nests were flagged as >0, indicating the site was occupied around or just before fledging time but no young were actually seen; the presumption is that such sites were successful; 4 of these sites were in the Allen and 1 in Tyne Valley E; logistical problems affected coverage of the Allen in the later stages of the season. This raises the number of successful nests to 26 and the minimum number of young fledged to 37, as in Table 1. Wasp numbers were moderate, even though the spring was cold. In the mild late autumn, wasp numbers held up well, still being seen on flowering ivy at Ordley as late as 16/12 and in Hexham on 14/12.

Weather report for England 2021 (from the Met Office https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/summaries/index ):

April began settled, but soon turned very cold, and a notable feature throughout the month was the number of air frosts. Daytime temperatures did recover from the middle of the month, but it was cold and showery in the closing days. Overall it was an unusually cold,dry and sunny month. The provisional UK mean temperature was 5.7 °C, which is 1.7 °C below the 1981-2010 long-term average, with April being colder than March for the first time since 2012.

May began very unsettled and unseasonably cold, with frosts in many places; it became less cold after the first week but continued with frequent rain or showers for most areas. The UK experienced a number of deep low pressure systems that resulted in a number of notably windy days. The weather settled down for the final few days of the month, when it also became much warmer. The provisional UK mean temperature was 9.1 °C, which is 1.3 °C below the 1981-2010 long-term average, making it the coldest May since 1996.

June: The first half of June was largely dry and warm, though less settled over Scotland towards mid-month. The second half saw temperatures broadly nearer to average, with some days very cool for the time of year, and numerous showery days over England including some thunderstorms, and some heavy convective outbursts especially in the south-east. The provisional UK mean temperature was 14.2 °C, which is 1.2 °C above the 1981-2010 long-term average.

July The first twelve days of July were mostly unsettled, with spells of heavy rain and showers, especially over England, while other parts of the UK saw less rain and more warmth at times. All areas were drier and much warmer by mid-month, with temperatures exceeding 30 °C on several days in some areas, and unbroken sunshine for many. In Northern Ireland, 31.3 °C was recorded on the 21st at Castlederg, County Tyrone, setting a new record as the highest temperature for any month. The final week was much more unsettled once again, with temperatures back to near average and frequent showery rain. The provisional UK mean temperature was 16.6 °C, which is 1.5 °C above the 1981-2010 long-term average. It was provisionally the equal fifth warmest July for the UK in a series from 1884.

August The first half of August was broadly unsettled, with plenty of rain between the 5th and 13th. The second half was drier, except for the 20th and 21st, with high pressure developing by the 23rd and remaining near northern UK thereafter. Scotland, especially the west, was often warm by day, whereas further south warm days were much fewer. Many areas were drier than usual for the month, with less than half the average total rainfall in some places, and the wettest areas were south-east England, eastern Scotland and Northern Ireland. Western Scotland fared well for sunshine, though many other areas were duller than average, especially central and eastern England where some stations had their dullest August in records going back 60 or more years. The provisional UK mean temperature was 15.0 °C, which is 0.1 °C above the 1981-2010 long-term average.

September The weather through much of September was reasonably settled and quiet, though there were outbreaks of rain at times. It was also rather warm, especially around the 7th/8th. A marked change came about on the 27th, with much more unsettled and notably cooler conditions for the last few days of the month. Mean monthly temperatures were well above average, with rainfall and sunshine near average, although Northern Ireland was particularly dull. The provisional UK mean temperature was 14.7 °C, which is 2.1 °C above the 1981-2010 long-term average. This was only slightly cooler than August’s mean temperature, and ranks it as the second warmest September in a series from 1884.

October The weather during most of October was unsettled and wet, though there was a drier spell across most areas between the 8th and 17th. Temperatures were above average for much of the time, and frosts were few, but sunshine was in short supply for some areas. The heaviest rain came in the closing days of the month, with some notable totals in Cumbria, and there were gales also on the 31st.The provisional UK mean temperature was 10.9 °C, which is 1.4 °C above the 1981-2010 long-term average.

November The weather during most of November was on the mild side, with many areas seeing some settled spells, however the last ten days of the month were much colder and more unsettled, with Storm Arwen of note on the 26th/27th. Temperatures were above average for much of the time, and frosts were generally few, especially in northern areas of the UK. The provisional UK mean temperature was 7.0 °C, which is 0.8 °C above the 1981-2010 long-term average. Northern areas were generally warmer relative to average than southern areas, with parts of south-east England actually slightly colder than average.

The overall impression was of a very cool spring up towards the end of May, followed by a warm June and July with spells of wet weather. August was rather autumnal in nature with a lack of settled weather. September was generally fine while October and November were as usual unsettled. more changeable weather through July and August. September was mainly dry and sunny, particularly in the middle part, but October and November were wet, mild and unsettled.

Survey effort was maintained throughout the breeding season owing to the Covid pandemic restricting overseas and national travel. Studies of the autumn migration season in Northumberland were significantly affected by a 15-day trip to Tarifa/Gibraltar from 4/9-18/9; this trip did though provide an opportunity to study the passage of Honey-buzzard and other raptors through the Straits of Gibraltar. This part of September is a good time to find late breeders and adult migrants; the 4 Allen sites rated as >0 could well have had their ratings raised with observations in this period; the number of autumnal adult migrants is also likely to have been higher with continual presence of the observer. One new site was found this year in the Study Area at Beacon Hill on the eastern side of Whitfield Moor in the Allen area, confirming the attraction of heather moor for the species.

Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Observed Occupied (no. sites)			Breeding Category (no. sites)			Number young fledged	National Survey (mainly July-August)
Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Display	Sit/ Rear	Fledge	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged	S	V	A	J
Devil’s Water	6	10	0	6	1	4	4	1	1	8 (4x2)	0	0	0	0
Allen	7	8	0	1	7	5	4	3	0	8 (1x2, 2x1+,4x>0)	6	13	8	4
Upper South Tyne	5	8	0	0	4	5	5	0	0	9 (4x2, 1x1+)	5	10	8	9
Lower South Tyne	2	4	0	2	2	1	1	1	0	2 (1x2)	2	4	3	2
Tipalt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tyne W	9	17	0	7	4	7	8	0	1	8 (1x2,1x1+, 5x1)	0	0	0	0
Tyne E	5	5	0	3	2	1	2	2	1	2 (1x1+, 1x>0)	0	0	0	0
Derwent	4	5	0	3	1	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
Total	38	57	0	22	21	23	24	9	5	37 (11x2, 5x1+, 5x1, 5x>0)	13	27	19	15

Table 41: Results for the Honey-buzzard Breeding Season in SW Northumberland by area in 2021

National Survey: S sites, V visits, A adults, J juveniles

Table 42 gives a breakdown of the numbers of males, females and juveniles in each part of the season. The male:female ratio normally declines as the season progresses with males most obvious in the display phase and the females more obvious in training flights with juveniles in the fledging phase. This was not the case in 2021 with males more conspicuous throughout: the male:female ratio varying from 21:11 (1.91) in display to 18:10 (1.80) in the rearing period and 19:13 (1.46) in fledging. Males were more conspicuous than females in the upland Allen area throughout. This has skewed the male:female ratio upwards in the rearing and fledging phases. No obvious gangs of juveniles, gathering before departure, were noted in late September, though a gathering of 3 juvenile at Ordley on 26/9 is a candidate for this. Lack of observations in mid-September, through absence, means that the context for the Ordley sightings was not available and these birds were classified as migrants, along with the bird seen at Swallowship on 24/9, which through its colour phase had not been bred at that site.

Area	No. sites in season	No. adults in season			Display 16/4-14/6		Rearing 15/6-15/8			Fledging 16/8-19/9			Gangs of juveniles post-breeding
		Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Male	Female	Juvenile	Male	Female	Juvenile
Devil’s Water	6	6	4	10	6	3	1	1	0	4	3	8	0
Allen	7	6	2	8	1	0	7	2	0	4	1	4	0
Upper South Tyne	5	4	4	8	0	0	2	3	0	4	4	9	0
Lower South Tyne	2	2	2	4	2	2	2	1	0	1	0	2	0
Tipalt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tyne W	9	9	8	17	6	4	3	2	0	6	5	8	0
Tyne E	5	4	1	5	3	1	2	1	0	0	0	1	0
Derwent	4	4	1	5	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	38	35	22	57	21	11	18	10	0	19	13	32	0

Table 42: Number of Male, Female and Juvenile Honey-buzzard found in each phase of breeding season in 2021

Table 43 shows the migration picture for Honey-buzzard in 2021. Numbers were normal, with 8 adults seen in spring and 12 birds in autumn, comprising 2 adult male, 10 juvenile, departing in that order as expected. Productivity was normal in Northumberland this year at a minimum of 1.52 young/successful brood. BirdGuides counts showed a standard pattern to emigration with movement starting on 9 August. My one significant absence was in mid-September, which would have affected adult female and juvenile totals in particular. A reasonable breeding season is indicated in Scotland, but maybe not as successful as those of 2014, 2016 and 2017.

Date	Time	Locality	Age/Sex	Count	Direction	Movement
'April 16	14:10	Ordley (NY95 P)	Adult female	1	1 N	max 11C, min -1C, frost early-on, light S breeze, dry; 1 hour in shorts on patio this morning. Darling: I'm home!! At 14:10 while having lunch on the patio looked up into the sky, not sure why (maybe she'd called!), and there was the returning female Honey-buzzard circling high-up right over my house just below the cumulus cloud cover, having covered 7400km from west Africa in maybe 6 weeks. She hung for a while, peering down at constant height, and then glided deliberately to the S, losing height quickly, back to the Devil's Water, where she went into cover. This is my 19th April record for Honey-buzzard since 2006 when started recording for BirdTrack. But this is the earliest date so far, one day earlier than 17/04/08 when a female was at Farnley (Corbridge).
'May 18	12:57-13:44	Bywell (NZ06 L)	Adult male 4, Adult female 1	5	4 NW, 1 intruder	max 12C, min 5C, light NW breeze, sunny periods with occasional minor cloudy spells, dry, polar air – brilliant! The male Honey-buzzard at Bywell Cottagebank as last year, a slim bird with pale head/neck, narrow dark carpal area and very little black on wingtip – he was keeping low, keen on feeding at 12:41; at 13:12 he was up again floating over area to W; another male Honey-buzzard to E, also slim but purplish and quite fired up over Short Wood E but again keeping low – feeding, clearly a migrant intruder, keeping his distance from the tenant, at 12:57; Had further Honey-buzzard high in the sky and moving NW – a lone female at 13:01 going high and moving NW, 2 male up together at 13:18 before moving off NW, a lone male up at 13:44 before moving off NW, so that's 4 in total all following the A68 into Scotland! These migrants have been blocked by the wet weather: timing is everything.
'May 27	13:55	Prudhoe S (NZ16 A)	Adult male	1	1 intruder (then probably N)	max 16C, min 8C, light E breeze, sunny, dry, amazing! The pair of Honey-buzzard were settling in well at Prudhoe S with the darkish male up high over site at 12:45-12:46 and 13:01 and the female usually close to the trees at 12:44, 13:01, 13:55, 14:28 but with a long climb into the sky high-up from 13:55-14:00, disappearing into the base of a cloud. Another male, a pale-phase bird, was high-up over the site at 12:45 in stand-off with the presumed darker resident male; the pale bird went N, not to be seen again.
'June 2	15:01	Dipton Wood S (NY95 U)	Adult female	1	1 intruder	max 19C, min 10C, light E breeze, sunny after early mist, in shorts all day! Almost immediately at 15:01 had a female Honey-buzzard over the SW corner, hanging fairly low-down and moving very slowly to E; she was a dark bird, rather like a dark-phase juvenile in shade; think she was in hunting mode, slowly patrolling over the trees looking for a place to land for a walkabout; she did come down quickly and was not seen again. Last year's site is close to a Goshawk site but did not see the latter today. However, did have the male climbing quickly and then descending rapidly at 15:33 and 15:50, and the dark red-brown female keeping lower but also up above the canopy at 15:48 and 16:02; they didn't have any direct interaction! Neither deviated at all from the block of trees in which they nest so presume the female seen earlier is an intruder, probably a bird on its way to higher ground in Northumberland or Scotland. Did suspect that the frequent activity at the nest site was being used to deter invaders!
'Sept 1	16:42	Haltwhistle, North Wood (NY66 W)	Adult male 2	2	2 S	max 19C, min 11C, light E breeze, dull morning but noticed breaks appearing to W at 14:30 at Hexham and at 15:30 was on way to Haltwhistle, where the sun was out with a few wispy clouds around. The good thing about gloomy spells is that their ending always results in a good session as the restless and frustrated raptors get up in the air again. At 16:42 had the inspiring sight of 2 male Honey-buzzard soaring to great height and moving S, one local, the other moving in, so the great trek has begun!
'Sept 24	15:48	Swallowship (NY95 U)	Juvenile	1	1 rest	max 18C, min 12C, moderate W breeze, sunny, warm day .uncomfortable wind. A Honey-buzzard juvenile up at 15:48 over Swallowship 1 judged to be a pale-phase migrant as the 2 raised here were not this phase; it bounced around powerfully in the wind, putting up many pigeon and corvids but soon went down again most likely to resume feeding (11200); this is presumably a Scottish-bred bird, still a long way to go to Africa.
'Sept 26	14:45-16:44	Ordley (NY95 P)	Juvenile 3	3	3 rest	max 20C, min 10C, moderate W breeze, beautifully sunny autumn-day. Explored the local Honey-buzzard migrant scene today and found 3 birds in the Ordley area, all juveniles and likely Scottish-bred birds drifting slowly southwards, stopping in rich feeding areas. Had seen a single dark bird up at 14:45 and 16:12 from house so explored further, keeping a watch from 16:15-16:50. Had the dark Honey-buzzard up at 16:19, a Common Buzzard up at 16:24, a ruddy Honey-buzzard at 16:24, both Honey-buzzard up together down the valley to E at 16:27, a new Honey-buzzard flushed from a tree to N overlooking a stubble field at 16:44. So that's 3 Honey-buzzard migrants to add to the one at Swallowship on 24/9 – good breeding season in Scotland, which has had good weather this summer compared to the south of England.
'Oct 2	14:30	Throckley (NZ16 P)	Juvenile	1	1 SE	max 12C, min 6C, moderate SW breeze, dull, frequent showers, mild. Did have Honey-buzzard juvenile on trip: 1 at Throckley moving SE low-down with Corvids at 14:30,
'Oct 6	12:36-12:43	Bywell (NZ06 L)	Juvenile 2	2	2 SE	max 12C, min 9C, light NW breeze, beautiful sunshine with great visibility, all dust washed out by yesterday's deluge, dry. Had a brilliant day for Honey-buzzard migration, seeing 3 juvenile in all. Made Stocksfield Mount from 12:00-14:00, seeing a juvenile soaring to moderate height from Bywell Cottagebank at 12:36 (12202) and then moving off smartly to SE, disappearing quickly – a long way to go to Africa still! The next juvenile was up at 12:43, soaring very high from Bywell Cottagebank and then moving SE. These two birds had clearly had a stop-over for feeding and must have spent yesterday staring at the rain and getting on with feeding. There were loads of wasps around the ivy so plenty of food still available
'Oct 6	16:19	Dipton Wood S (NY95 U)	Juvenile	1	1 from N (moving S)	max 12C, min 9C, light NW breeze, beautiful sunshine with great visibility, all dust washed out by yesterday's deluge, dry. Highlight of the day was the third juvenile Honey-buzzard coming out of the sky at 16:19, obviously looking for a place to stay the night; it circled in flap-flap-glide mode looking quite aggressive before descending down into the middle of Dipton Wood (12203). Often see juvenile Honey-buzzard emigrating out of their roost at noon but very rarely see them drop out the sky like this!
'Oct 21	16:30-16:52	Dotland (NY95 J)	Juvenile	1	1 rest	max 9C, min 4C, moderate NW breeze, sunny and dry but much cooler, note max below 10C, a sign of late autumn setting in. A dark-phase Honey-buzzard was seen floating around Blackhall Plantation at 16:30 and 16:52, clearly holding it as temporary territory; this is a popular area for the Peth Foot pair and they sometimes take the young there for flying practice.
'Oct 21	17:10	Dipton Wood Main (NY96 Q)	Juvenile	1	1 S	max 9C, min 4C, moderate NW breeze, sunny and dry but much cooler, note max below 10C, a sign of late autumn setting in. A pale-phase Honey-buzzard was seen at 17:10, up from Swallowship and drifting S over Dipton Wood, maybe coming down to roost; it brought up a Red Kite over Dipton Wood W hanging over a field. So that was brilliant – after a late breeding season, would fully expect Scottish Honey-buzzard to still be passing through.
Summary/ Comments:
April 1: May: 6 June: 1 September: 6 October: 6	12-13: 2 13-14: 5 14-15: 1 16-17: 3 17-18: 1 resting: 5 intruder: 3	Devil's Water: 9 Tyne Valley W: 7 Tyne Valley E: 2 Upper South Tyne: 2	Adult male: 7 Adult female: 3 Juvenile: 10	20		IN: 1 N, 4 NW, 3 intruder OUT: 4 S, 3 SE, 5 resting
Coverage was good this year except for the period from 4/9-18/9 when in Tarifa/Gibraltar, affecting female and juvenile counts.	The times may reflect observer activity as much as anything else. The times at which resting birds and intruders have been noted are not included in the analysis.	The most popular route noted this year was via Tyne Valley W and the Devils' Water where much of the fieldwork was concentrated.	Overall numbers were similar to those in 2020. Eight adults were seen in spring. In autumn 12 birds were noted, 2 of which were male and 10 juvenile; the males exited before the juveniles as usual. .	The total this year was in the normal range.	The predominant direction was N/NW in spring and S/SE in autumn.	Once again on Trektellen high numbers of Common Buzzard were reported from 1/9-31/10 in Lancashire and Yorkshire in 2021. At Winter Hill (Bolton) and Bury (Greater Manchester) 46 birds (0.46 per hour) were recorded at the former and 45 (0.20 an hour) at the latter. Due S at Painswick Beacon in the Cotswolds 25 were noted (0.25 per hour). On the E side of the country at Spurn on Humber 66 were seen (0.17 per hour), nearly all (63) in September. Other sites were fairly evenly split between September and October. 14 birds were over Bury in November. Honey-buzzard totals noted were derisory from August to November, just singles at 3-4 sites. The question is: are all these birds really Common Buzzard or are some Honey-buzzard, particularly juveniles, which are very difficult to separate? Common Buzzard is not a migrant in the normal sense of the word in England.

Table 43: Visible Migration Movements noted for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland in 2021

The overall results for the 2022 Honey-buzzard breeding season are given in Table 44.

The study area was restricted mainly to the core area of Devil’s Water and Tyne Valley this year with occasional forays to Allen, upper South Tyne and Tyne Valley E. There were extensive absences this year with resumption of international conferences and family meetings after the interruptions from 2020-2021 with Covid. The main absences were: 4/4-18/4 Crete; 19/6-24/6 Budapest; 3/7-20/7 Marciac, France; 9/8-12/8 Liverpool; 16/8-28/8 Chamonix, France; 24/9-29/9 London, Leeds; 20/10-27/10 Devon. The rising local Black Kite population also increased pressure on survey time. The overall totals found as a whole of 23 sites occupied by 35 adult birds was the lowest since 2002 but to show this did not represent a decline in abundance, the numbers in the core area were maintained with 14 sites occupied by 21 birds, compared to 15 sites. 27 birds in 2021 and 14 sites, 26 birds in 2020. In the core area the number of juveniles raised was 22 at 14 sites (8x2, 5x1+, 1x>0) compared to 16 (5x2, 1x1+, 5x1) in 2021 and 17 (3x2, 11x1) in 2020. Just one further juvenile was known to fledge outside the core area -- in Tyne Valley E --- in 2022 making the overall total of 23 (8x2, 5x1+, 2x>0) compared to an overall total of 37 juveniles (11x2, 5x1+, 5x1, 5x>0) in 2021 when coverage was much higher. Two nests were flagged as >0, indicating the site was occupied around or just before fledging time but no young were actually seen; the presumption is that such sites were successful; 1 of these sites was in the Tyne Valley W and the other in Tyne Valley E. For the 13 sites where young were definitely seen, total 21, the number of young per pair is 1.61+, compared to 1.52+ in 2021 and 1.17+ in 2020. Wasp numbers were moderate. In the mild late autumn, wasp numbers held up well, still being seen on flowering ivy at Ordley in mid-November. Overall the core area was maintained with usual high productivity.

Weather report for England 2022 (from the Met Office https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/summaries/index ):

April. The weather during the early part of April was rather unsettled, especially during the 3rd-6th. The first ten days were also rather cold, although it became warmer than average through the middle part of the month. Towards mid-month it became more settled generally, with high pressure in charge for much of the rest of the month, though much of the final week was rather cooler. Clear skies ensured that sunshine totals were above average in many areas, but there were more air frosts than average. The provisional UK mean temperature was 8.1 °C, which is 0.2 °C above the 1991-2020 long-term average. Maximum temperature anomalies were around +1 °C in parts of England, Wales and western Scotland, while minimum temperatures were slightly below average for some areas. Most areas had less rainfall than average, the exceptions being much of northern Scotland and parts of Northern Ireland, and there was less than half the average rainfall for much of England, indeed less than a quarter of average in some eastern parts. The UK overall had 68% of average rainfall. Sunshine was above average in many areas, most especially parts of eastern England, with an overall figure of 107% of average.

May The weather during much of May was mostly quiet and uneventful, rather unsettled and showery for much of the time but with a few warmer and brighter days. Temperatures were mostly above average, especially by night, but the latter part of the month was cooler. There were thunderstorms on several days during the month, mainly for England and Northern Ireland. North-western areas of the UK had a wet month, though some areas of England and Wales were slightly drier than average. Sunshine totals were below average in many areas, especially towards the north-west. The provisional UK mean temperature was 11.8 °C, which is 1.2 °C above the long-term average. Maximum temperature anomalies were up to +2 °C in some easternmost counties of England, while minimum temperatures were around 2 °C above average for most of Scotland and Northern Ireland. The western side of Scotland had a wet month, with double the average rainfall amount in a few places, and parts of Northern Ireland were rather wetter than average, whereas for England and Wales rainfall was near or rather below average. The UK overall had 107% of average rainfall. Sunshine was below average in most areas, with only eastern and south-east England getting close to average, with an overall figure of 79% of average.

June. The weather during much of June was mostly quiet and uneventful, though with a warm spell in mid-month which peaked on the 17th giving the warmest day of the year so far. It was showery at times, especially just after the warm spell and again in the closing days of the month. The provisional UK mean temperature was 13.9 °C, which is 0.6 °C above the long-term average. Temperatures were highest relative to average in northern and eastern areas, particularly for maxima. Rainfall was slightly above average in some western areas, but towards the east it was a drier than average month, with 76% of average rainfall for the UK overall. Northern Ireland had a dull month, but most other areas were sunnier than average, with a UK figure of 114% of average.

July The weather during July was dominated by dry spells and generally above-average temperatures. The south-east was particularly dry. Record-breaking temperatures were recorded on the 18th and 19th. The provisional UK mean temperature was 16.6 °C, which is 1.3 °C above the long-term average. Temperatures were highest relative to average in eastern areas, particularly for maxima which were 3 °C above average in East Anglia. It was provisionally the UK’s seventh warmest July in a series from 1884, and very similar to 2021. Rainfall was slightly above average in parts of northwest Scotland, but other areas had a drier than average month, with less than a quarter of the average south-east of a line from Lincolnshire to Cornwall; the UK had 56% of average. It was a sunnier than average month in the south and south-east, but north-western parts of the UK were rather dull, with an overall figure of 103% of average.

August The weather during August was dominated by high pressure during the first half of the month, and the second week became very hot. The high pressure eventually moved away to leave more showery conditions, with thunderstorms in places on some days, though the final week was drier once more. It was another drier than average month, and there was plenty of sunshine, especially early on. The provisional UK mean temperature was 16.7 °C, which is 1.5 °C above the long-term average. It was warmest relative to average in eastern and southern England, particularly for maxima which were up to 4 °C above average in places. It was provisionally the UK’s fifth warmest August in a series from 1884. Rainfall ranged from near average to only 20% of average, with some parts of England and Wales particularly dry, though the south-east was generally not as dry as in July; the UK had 54% of average. It was a sunnier than average month in all areas except the far northwest, with an overall sunshine figure of 128% of average, making it the UK’s fourth sunniest August in a series from 1919.

September The first part of September was warm, though it soon became unsettled in most regions. After the 12th it became cooler and more autumnal, and the last few days were particularly cool, with frosts in prone locations. It was generally drier around mid-month, but more showery again later, and the last day of the month was wet for most areas. The provisional UK mean temperature was 13.4 °C, which is 0.5 °C above the long-term average. It was warmest relative to average in northern areas, with temperatures barely above average in the south. Rainfall was broadly near average overall, rather dry in north-west Scotland and East Anglia, although some parts of south-east England, eastern Scotland and Northern Ireland had well over 150% of the month’s average; the UK had 111% of average. It was a sunnier than average month in south-west Scotland, but rather dull over Wales, with an overall sunshine figure of 92% of average.

October Most of October was warmer than average, though the second week was rather cooler, and the last ten days were especially mild relative to average, with a notable lack of frosts. At the same time, the month was predominantly unsettled in most regions, with no dry spells longer than a couple of days. However, sunshine was above average for most of the country, especially central and eastern areas. The provisional UK mean temperature was 11.5 °C, which is 1.8 °C above the long-term average. Maximum temperatures were nearly 3 °C above average in parts of south-east England, while minimum temperatures were furthest above average in central Scotland. This was provisionally the 7th warmest October in a series from 1884. Rainfall was broadly near or above average overall, but it was rather dry in many east-coast locations, while parts of Northern Ireland were much wetter than average. The UK as a whole had 115% of average rainfall. It was a sunnier than average month for most of England, parts of Wales and the east coast of Scotland, but rather dull over western Scotland, with an overall sunshine figure of 114% of average.

November Most of November was warmer than average, with fewer frosts than average, though it became colder at times towards the end. The month was predominantly unsettled in most regions, with no dry spells longer than three or four days. Sunshine was broadly close to average across the country, albeit with some regional variations. The provisional UK mean temperature was 8.2 °C, which is 1.8 °C above the long-term average. Minimum temperatures were around 2½ °C above average in parts of south-east England. This was provisionally the third warmest November in a series from 1884 (only 1994 and 2011 were warmer). Rainfall was well above average overall, with only parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland significantly drier than average, and some places in the Western Isles, eastern Scotland and southern England had double their monthly average rainfall. The UK as a whole had 130% of average rainfall. Sunshine was well below average in some eastern areas, but above average in some other areas, with an overall sunshine figure of 95% of average.

Spring weather was unremarkable with a cloudy May, albeit with warm overcast nights, leading into an average June though on the dry side. July and the first half of August saw above average temperatures with a spectacular peak of 37C on 19/7. It was mainly dry during this period but the worst effects of this were avoided through occasional spells of rain and cooler temperatures as we went beyond mid-August. So while lawns went a little brown, the effects of the drought were not too severe and the vegetation quickly recovered from 15/8 as spells of rain occurred. September was sunny for the first week but then became more autumnal with spells of rain and cooler temperatures. October was wet but mild with no air frosts.

Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Observed Occupied (no. sites)			Breeding Category (no. sites)			Number young fledged
Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Display	Sit/ Rear	Fledge	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged
Devil’s Water	6	10	0	6	2	6	6	0	0	9 (3x2, 3x1+)
Allen	4	7	0	3	1	0	0	1	3	0
Upper South Tyne	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Lower South Tyne	2	3	0	2	0	0	0	1	1	0
Tipalt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tyne W	8	11	0	7	2	8	8	0	0	13 (5x2 ,2x1+, 1x>0)
Tyne E	2	3	0	2	1	1	1	1	0	1 (1x>0)
Derwent	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	23	35	0	20	7	15	15	3	5	23 (8x,2 5x1+, 2x>0)

Table 44: Results for the Honey-buzzard Breeding Season in SW Northumberland by area in 2022

Table 45 gives a breakdown of the numbers of males, females and juveniles in each part of the season. The male:female ratio normally declines as the season progresses with males most obvious in the display phase and the females more obvious in training flights with juveniles in the fledging phase. The male:female ratio varied from 15:11 (1.36) in display to 7:2 (3.50) in the rearing period and 4:4 (1.00) in fledging. So as expected males were more conspicuous than females in the display phase and were still,more visible in the rearing phase as they perform much of the foraging at distance. However in the fledging phase, the numbers of male and female were equal. The sample is small though as NR was absent for much of the 2nd half of August.

Area	No. sites in season	No. adults in season			Display 24/4-15/6		Rearing 25/6-16/8			Fledging 28/8-15/9			Gangs of juveniles post-breeding
		Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Male	Female	Juvenile	Male	Female	Juvenile
Devil’s Water	6	6	4	10	5	4	2	0	0	2	0	9	0
Allen	4	3	2	5	2	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Upper South Tyne	1	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lower South Tyne	2	2	1	3	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tipalt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tyne W	8	5	6	11	4	4	2	1	0	2	4	12	0
Tyne E	2	2	1	3	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Derwent	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	23	19	14	33	15	11	7	2	0	4	4	21	0

Table 45: Number of Male, Female and Juvenile Honey-buzzard found in each phase of breeding season in 2022

Table 46 shows the migration picture for Honey-buzzard in 2022. Coverage in spring was good but absences of NR in autumn as outlined earlier meant that the early autumn migration, mainly of adult males in the 2nd half of August, was completely missed this year and coverage of juvenile passage was also subnormal. A number of females were seen in the first half of September, including four in the peak period indicated by BirdGuides of 9/9-14/9 when 77 were reported on their news service. The bottom row in the table gives commentary on each facet of the migration noted.

Date	Time	Locality	Age/Sex	Count	Direction	Movement
'May 5	14:13	Stocksfield E (NZ06 Q)	Adult female	1	1 SW (then probably W)	maximum 14C, minimum 10C, light W breeze, some brief sunny spells and feeling humid, mild.. At 14:13 a female Honey-buzzard was spotted over the Stocksfield E ridge, moving SW, but probably aiming to eventually move W
'May 18	14:46	Swallowship (NY95 U)	Adult female	1	1 intruder	maximum 14C, minimum 8C, fresh W breeze, bright start, then mainly cloudy with one heavy shower.. Had 3 Honey-buzzard up for 10 secs at 14:46 over the ridge to W, very close together, in some contention, in the fresh breeze. Looked like 2 female and a male so maybe one female is a migrant, stalled on migration by the fresh winds, and is engaging with the resident pair. Honey-buzzard are not yet very visible this spring; they are spending most of their time feeding below the canopy rather than displaying.
'Sept 9	15:40	Shilford (NZ06 F)	Adult female	1	1 E	maximum 15C, minimum 13C, light NE, very gloomy day, heavy rain in bursts, no sun. A Honey-buzzard female soaring low-down over Shilford at 15:35 and moving smartly to E at low altitude and disappearing to view at 15:45
'Sept 9	15:50	Eltringham (NZ06 R)	Adult female	1	1 E	maximum 15C, minimum 13C, light NE, very gloomy day, heavy rain in bursts, no sun. 3 Honey-buzzard, a family group of female and 2 juvenile, up at Eltringham at 15:50, some display together but female then climbed high and disappeared E.
'Sept 11	11:52	March Burn (NY95 Z)	Adult female	1	1 S	maximum 19C, minimum 15C, light S becoming moderate, much brighter day, dry until 17:00 when light rain arrived on time. Main aim was Honey-buzzard where had a female up at 11:36 checking the area, joined up in the air by 2 juvenile at 11:49; she emigrated at 11:52, soaring higher and higher into the sky and moving S.
'Sept 13	12:39	Hexham (NY96 H)	Adult female	1	1 E	maximum 17C, minimum 10C, light NW, sunny all day, Did have a Honey-buzzard female soaring at 12:39 and moving off far to E (emigrating)
'Oct 7	18:00	Ordley (NY95 P)	Juvenile	1	rest	maximum 13C, minimum 7C, fresh SW, heavy rain in morning, sunny with heavy showers in afternoon. Went for local walk from 17:30-18:45 and bumped into a juvenile dark-phase Honey-buzzard (12120), which was floating around quite rapidly over the fields to NW of my house at Ordley
'Oct 8	14:34-14:49	Bywell (NZ06 L)	Juvenile 2	2	2 rest	maximum 12C, minimum 8C, moderate W, dry, sunny spells, clear by evening, felt warmer today. Had productive field trip to Stocksfield Mount from 13:20-15:30, finding 2 Honey-buzzard juvenile, 1 over Eltringham at 14:34 (12121), other over Bywell Short Wood, heavily mobbed by Rook at 14:49 (12122)
Summary/ Comments:
May: 2 September: 4 October: 3	11-12: 1 12-13: 1 14-15: 1 15-16: 2 resting: 3 intruder: 1	Devil's Water: 2 Tyne Valley W: 7	Adult male: 0 Adult female: 6 Juvenile: 3	9		IN: 1 SW, 1 intruder OUT: 1 S, 3 E, 3 resting
Coverage was good this year in spring but was poor in late summer and autumn through absences except for the first half of September.	The times may reflect observer activity as much as anything else. The times at which resting birds and intruders have been noted are not included in the analysis.	The most popular route noted this year was via Tyne Valley W in particular and the Devils' Water (together the core area) where much of the fieldwork was concentrated.	No males were observed in spring. The main emigration period for males is the second half of August when absent. My presence in the first part of September, the peak period for emigration of females, did reveal 4 emigrating females from 9/9 to 13/9 when big movement noted on BirdGuides. Coverage was weak in the main juvenile emigration period.	The total this year was below that of recent years except for 2019.	The predominant direction was E/S in autumn on a small sample.	Numbers on BirdGuides were exceptionally high this year suggesting that my relatively low totals are through observer absences rather than actual low numbers. On BirdGuides the annual total was 380 with spring total of 152 and autumn total of 228, about double recent totals. In June 87 were seen, indicating a late arrival. In September 136 were noted, suggesting a successful breeding season with 77 in 6 days from 9th-14th when NR recorded 4 females emigrating from the study area. These birds were recorded at S/SE England 28, Yorkshire 18, SW England 12, Midlands 6, NW England 4, Scotland 3, Channel Islands 3, East Anglia 2, Wales 1 (probably Irish bird at Pembroke). This is a typical pattern for British birds emigrating, moving S, with a slight E bias, from their breeding areas.

Table 46: Visible Migration Movements noted for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland in 2022

The overall results for the 2023 Honey-buzzard breeding season are given in Table 47.

The study area continued to be restricted mainly to the core area of Devil’s Water and Tyne Valley this year with occasional forays to other areas. There were extensive absences this year with resumption of international conferences and family meetings after the interruptions from 2020-2021 with Covid. The main absences were: 18/7-21/7 Dumfries; 25/7-31/7 Munich via Amsterdam; 7/8-11/8 Liverpool; 23/8-13/9 Georgia; 18/9-23/9 Devon; 10/12-28/12 Kenya. An operation on NR on 9/5 led into a recuperation period of about a month, including driving not permitted until 23/5. This might have affected the display period results but a significant catch up in late May and early June enabled coverage to be completed at a good number of sites. The rising local Black Kite population also increased pressure on survey time, but did take me to more sites outside the core study area as the Kite's occupied area increased. The overall totals found as a whole of 29 sites occupied by 43 adult birds was an improvement on 2022 owing to a bit more widespread coverage in the display period. The numbers in the core area were steady in 2023 with 15 sites occupied by 22 birds, compared to 14 sites, 21 birds in 2022 and 15 sites, 27 birds in 2021. The breeding season did appear to run slightly late and this together with my absence in the main fledging season in Georgia, meant that the results here are fragmentary, certainly not a guide to the actual breeding success. Only two juveniles were seen but a further 3 occupied nests were found mid-August when young were likely to be on the tree branches. Wasp numbers were moderate. In the mild late autumn, wasp numbers held up well, still being seen on flowering ivy at Ordley in mid-November (last 17/11). Overall the core area was maintained numbers-wise but productivity was unknown.

Weather report for England 2023 (from the Met Office https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/summaries/index ):

April was a predominantly unsettled month, with little in the way of consistent warmth, though it was more settled for a time around mid-month, when it became warmer especially over Scotland. This was followed by a return to rather chilly and unsettled conditions until just before month-end. Temperatures fluctuated somewhat, but averaged out to around normal, with Northern Ireland warmest relative to average, and with maximum temperatures a little below normal over most of England. The provisional UK mean temperature for the month was 7.8 °C, which is 0.1 °C below average. Rainfall was close to average overall, but with regional variations, most parts of Scotland being drier than average, but southern and eastern parts of England being rather wet, most notably in Kent, and for the UK overall rainfall was 97% of average. Sunshine was also close to normal overall, but with northern areas generally brighter relative to average than the south and west, giving 102% of average for the UK overall.

May The very start of May was quite settled and fine, but the weather soon turned much more unsettled from the south-west, with widespread falls of rain between the 4th and the 11th. Heavy thunderstorms and locally torrential rain caused flooding in many southern and eastern areas of England on the 9th. Towards mid-month things settled down, with high pressure building, and from the 12th onwards any falls of rain were mostly localised and light. This period was also a rather sunny period for many areas, in contrast to much of the rest of this spring, with the fine and settled weather lasting for the rest of the month, though at times a lot of cloud covered eastern coastal areas. Temperatures were above average for the majority of the time, though nowhere reached 24 °C until May 27th. The provisional UK mean temperature for the month was 11.6 °C, which is 1.0 °C above average. Rainfall was above average in a band from Devon to Norfolk, whereas much of Wales, Scotland and north-west England had well below half the average, and for the UK overall rainfall was 55% of average. Sunshine was slightly below average for some northern and eastern areas, but above average for Wales and western/central parts of England, giving 108% of average for the UK overall.

June began fine and settled, with temperatures around average, but from the 9th it became warm and humid, and rather less settled, with thunderstorms breaking out in many areas. It remained very warm or hot for most of the rest of the month, but cooled down again in the final few days. It also became rather unsettled generally towards the end of the month. Temperatures were above average in all areas, with daytime temperatures well above normal, most especially in western areas, parts of western Scotland having mean maximum temperatures as much as 4 °C above average. The provisional UK mean temperature for June was 15.8 °C, which is 2.5 °C above average, making it the warmest June in a series from 1884. Rainfall was slightly above average in parts of the English Midlands and some north-western areas, but below normal in most other areas, with East Anglia and south Wales particularly dry, and for the UK overall rainfall was 68% of average. Sunshine was above normal everywhere, especially in northern and western areas, with 144% of average overall, making it provisionally the fourth sunniest June in a series since 1910, and the sunniest since 1957.

July was an unsettled month - often cool, dull, windy and with a lot of rainfall, in stark contrast to June. The jet stream was generally shifted much further south than in June, with the weather often rather autumnal in character. Any hints of drier and warmer weather proved short-lived. Through the month, a succession of frontal systems made regular west to-east progress across the UK. Although there was a brief very warm spell around the 7th9th, the hottest places just touching 30°C, this soon broke down with thunderstorms. Temperatures were generally below average, particularly daily maximum temperatures, frequently failing to reach above 20°C. Rainfall was above average throughout the UK, with more than 200% of average across the west of Northern Ireland, Lancashire, Merseyside and the Manchester area and parts of Devon, Dorset and Wiltshire. The UK overall rainfall total was 170% of average overall, making this provisionally the wettest July since 2009 and sixth wettest July in the series. Northern Ireland provisionally recorded its wettest July on record with 207%, just ahead of July 1936. Sunshine was below normal, particularly across southern and western areas with the UK recording 81%.

August The often unseasonably unsettled weather brought various impacts through the month. Storm Antoni brought strong winds and heavy rain on 5th August, with the Met Office issuing an amber wind warning for parts of Wales and south-west England – and many people on holiday at this time of year. A number of events were cancelled including the Cardigan County Show and Big Welsh Bite food and drink festival at Pontypridd. In the south-west, train services between Exeter and Penzance were disrupted and around 1500 properties experienced power cuts in Cornwall. Trains were cancelled in the Brighton area and an event was also cancelled on the Isle of Wight. Some flooding occurred in parts of north-east Scotland and in northeast England around Whitby, Scarborough, Redcar and Cleveland. After a thundery breakdown, storm Betty on 18th to 19th brought strong winds and heavy rain although with no significant weather impacts reported. Another low-pressure system brought some heavy rain on the 25th to 27th August affecting parts of northwest, northeast and southeast England and southeast Scotland. Parts of Merseyside and north Cheshire were affected by surface water flooding and there were two fatalities when a car was submerged at a rail underpass in Liverpool. The M57 was closed and the M53 was also affected by flooding.

September High pressure influenced the UK's weather for the first half of September, bringing fine, sunny, dry conditions and the most significant spell of warmth since June. From 4th to 10th, the UK experienced a significant heatwave with temperatures exceeding 30°C somewhere in the UK for seven consecutive days: a September record. Temperatures in England reached 32°C on 6th, 7th, 9th and 10th, and 33.5°C at Faversham (Kent) on 10th, making this the hottest day of the year. This has only occurred in September on four previous occasions in 2016, 1954, 1949 and 1919. On 8th, 28.0°C at Castlederg (County Tyrone) set a new Northern Ireland September record. However, the heat brought several outbreaks of thunderstorms and intense downpours with rainfall rates of 20 to 30mm per hour, with impacts from flash-flooding. The second half of the month saw an abrupt change to much more unsettled and autumnal weather with westerly weather bringing Atlantic low pressure systems and significant rain. There were some very wet and windy days, notably storm Agnes from 27th to 28th, although fortunately the storm was weakening by the time it reached the UK. Maximum and minimum temperatures for the month overall were well above average, particularly across the southern half of the UK, with maximum temperature anomalies in some parts of the south-east 3.5 to 4°C above average. The UK monthly mean temperature was 15.2°C, 2.2°C above the 1991-2020 average making this the UK’s equal-warmest September in the series from 1884 (shared with 2006). For England and Wales this was the warmest September on record. The rainfall pattern was variable but rather wet overall with 131% for the UK. Some locations experiencing torrential downpours were particularly wet, for example parts of south and east Devon. Sunshine totals were slightly above average for the UK with 112%.

October The first half of October mostly comprised a north-south contrast in weather across the UK. England and Wales were generally nearer the influence of high pressure over the near-continent, with a particularly warm and sunny spell of weather from 6th to 10th. Temperatures reached the low 20s °C widely across England and Wales with 25°C in the south-east on 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th, more than 8°C above average for the time of year. This was the most significant spell of October warmth since 2011. However, Scotland missed out on most of the warmth but instead borne the brunt of Atlantic frontal systems and associated rainfall. This included some exceptionally wet weather on 6th and 7th from an 'atmospheric river' event. Scotland overall received 64.1mm in these two days, making this its wettest 2day period on record. Fronts sweeping across the UK from 12th to 13th brought widespread wet and cooler weather to the UK more generally, and a final end to any lingering late summer warmth. The second half of the month was unsettled and very wet at times. Widespread, prolonged and heavy rainfall from storm Babet from 18th to 21st caused brought serious flooding problems to many areas, with eastern Scotland worst affected. This, together with some very strong winds, brought atrocious weather conditions with 150 to 200mm of rain falling in the wettest areas. The Met Office issued two red warnings for rain in this area, and the county of Angus recorded its wettest day on record in a series from 1891. More widely, England and Wales also provisionally recorded its third-wettest 3-day period on record. Temperatures for October overall were near average in Scotland but above normal elsewhere, particularly across southern England with anomalies of 1.5 to 2°C. This was provisionally the equal-sixth wettest October on record for the UK in a series from 1836, while eastern Scotland had its wettest October on record. In Scotland, Angus, Dundee, Fife and Kincardineshire recorded their wettest October, in England Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire and the Isle of Wight, and in Northern Ireland counties Armagh and Down, with well over twice the October average rainfall. It was a rather dull month, with 92% of average sunshine hours. Northern England was particularly dull with 78%.

November The first half of November was unsettled and stormy at times with the ongoing influence of Atlantic low pressure systems and strong winds and heavy rain of most note. Storm Ciaran on 1st to 2nd was an exceptionally severe storm for the Channel Islands and northern France but fortunately a 'near miss' for southern England. Further south, winds were comparable to the 'Great Storm' of 16 October 1987. Storm Debi also brought some very strong winds on 13th, particularly affecting Northern Ireland, North Wales and north-west England. These storms contributed to mounting rainfall accumulations through a very wet autumn in some areas. 30 to 50mm of rain fell across southern England from storm Ciaran and a further 30 to 50mm across Northern Ireland and parts of north-west England from storm Debi - with over 100mm across upland areas. There were some incursions of colder air at times with -7.1°C recorded at Altnaharra, Sutherland on 16th, and frosts as far south as Kent with -0.8°C at East Malling, Kent on 12th, though nothing extreme for the time of year. In contrast, the second half of November saw rather quieter autumnal weather with a continued mild Atlantic influence until the last week. However, from 24th, a northerly airflow introduced drier but much colder weather, with some hard frosts (for example -4.8°C at Hurn, Dorset on 8th), and some wintry precipitation, particularly in the north and east. Temperatures for November were near average overall (anomaly -0.1°C); slightly below across northern Scotland. Despite the wet first half of the month, rainfall totals were near average across much of England, Wales and eastern Scotland, although it was wetter than average for some southern counties. Western Scotland and Northern Ireland were drier than average. Overall the UK received slightly above-average sunshine hours (112%), but with a variable pattern: west parts of Wales and south-west England (for example) were notably dull whereas for the bulk of the rest of England this was a fairly sunny month.

The season was marked with fine weather in May and June for the display period, unsettled and often cool weather in July and August for the rearing period and fine weather in most of September for the outward migration period (when NR was in Georgia). October was unsettled and mild. So conditions were good for observing birds displaying in spring but the birds could have been put under pressure in rearing young by some quite cool unsettled spells in July and August. This seemed to delay the Honey-buzzard breeding season a little with no young observed in the air at Ordley on 19/8, normally one of the first sites to fledge. Indeed it was not until 20/8 and 22/8 that the first juveniles were seen in the air, at Towsbank and Bywell respectively.

Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Observed Occupied (no. sites)			Breeding Category (no. sites)			Number young fledged
Area	No. sites	No. adults	No. nests found	Display	Sit/ Rear	Fledge	Conf	Prob	Poss	Number young fledged
Devil’s Water	7	13	0	7	1	1	1	6	0	1 (1x>0)
Allen	3	4	0	3	0	1	1	1	1	1 (1x>0)
Upper South Tyne	2	3	0	1	0	1	1	1	0	1 (1x1+)
Lower South Tyne	2	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	0
Tipalt	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0
Tyne W	8	9	0	8	2	1	1	6	1	1 (1x1+)
Tyne E	3	6	0	3	0	0	1	2	0	1 (1x>0)
Derwent	3	5	0	3	0	0	0	3	0	0
Total	29	43	0	28	3	4	5	20	4	5 (2x1+, 3x>0)

Table 47: Results for the Honey-buzzard Breeding Season in SW Northumberland by area in 2023

Table 48 gives a breakdown of the numbers of males, females and juveniles in each part of the season. The male:female ratio normally declines as the season progresses with males most obvious in the display phase and the females more obvious in training flights with juveniles in the fledging phase. The male:female ratio varied from 24:14 (1.71) in display to 5:2 (2.50) in the rearing period and 2:2 (1.00) in fledging. So as expected males were more conspicuous than females in the display phase and were still,more visible in the rearing phase as they perform much of the foraging at distance. However in the fledging phase, the numbers of male and female were equal. The sample is small though as NR was absent in Georgia for much of the fledging period.

Area	No. sites in season	No. adults in season			Display 30/4-16/6		Rearing 17/6-19/8			Fledging 20/8-15/9			Gangs of juveniles post-breeding
		Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Male	Female	Juvenile	Male	Female	Juvenile
Devil’s Water	7	7	6	13	7	5	1	1	0	0	0	9	0
Allen	3	3	1	4	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Upper South Tyne	2	2	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	0
Lower South Tyne	2	2	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tipalt	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tyne W	8	6	3	9	6	3	2	0	0	1	1	1	0
Tyne E	3	3	3	6	2	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Derwent	3	3	2	5	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	29	27	16	43	24	14	5	2	0	2	2	2	0

Table 48: Number of Male, Female and Juvenile Honey-buzzard found in each phase of breeding season in 2023

Table 49 shows the migration picture for Honey-buzzard in 2023. Coverage was generally poor this year except for late spring. The bottom row in the table gives commentary on each facet of the migration noted.

Date	Time	Locality	Age/Sex	Count	Direction	Movement
'Oct 1	13:31-13:33	Ordley (NY95 P)	Juvenile	1	1 rest	maximum 16C, minimum 10C, light W, mainly sunny. A juvenile Honey-buzzard up over the nest site from 13:31-13:33 climbing fairly high (13310), probably a Scottish bird.
Summary/ Comments:
October: 1	resting: 1	Devil's Water: 1	Juvenile: 1	1		OUT: 1 resting
Coverage was not widespread in most of May but was good in late spring. Coverage was non-existent in the late summer and early autumn period through absences. It was difficult picking up momentum after the Georgia trip for the late flow of juveniles.			No adults were observed in spring. The main emigration period for males is the second half of August when absent. The main emigration period for females is the first half of September when also absent.	The total this year was unusually low.		Numbers of migrants on BirdGuides were lower than in the exception year of 2022 but were still higher than any year since 2017 at 279 suggesting that my absolutely low totals are through observer absences rather than actual low numbers. On BirdGuides the annual total was 279 with spring total of 88 and autumn total of 191. In May, the busiest spring month, 56 were seen. In August-September 84-85 were noted each month.

Table 49: Visible Migration Movements noted for Honey-buzzard in SW Northumberland in 2023

Some photographs of habitat used by Honey-buzzard in Northumberland are shown at Honey-buzzard habitat

Details of the timing of the season and the survey techniques used are given at Honey-buzzard techniques

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