National Honey-buzzard Survey 2020-2021

Fieldwork completed in S/SE of Study Area for 2020: 21/06-01/09 with one site extended to 09/09

  1. Hexhamshire, Ordley

    1. 21/06/20: male in and out of site, 6 sample stills 1  2  3  4  5  6, 1 clip, watch: 12:45-13:20.

    2. 06/07/20: male in and out of site, 3 sample stills 1  2  3, 15:10-17:00.

    3. 12/07/20: male flying out to W doing butterfly display, 16:45-17:00.

    4. 21/07/20: male moving into site, 1 sample still 1; female out of site and moving back in, 5 sample stills 2  3  4  5  6, 10:30-12:40.

    5. 01/08/20: male up about 2km to the SW of the site, 2.5km away from observer, floating over forest near a pasture, 1 sample still 1, 13:00-17:05.

    6. 09/08/20: none seen: 12:40-16:05.

    7. 15/08/20: none seen: 14:30-18:15.

    8. 17/08/20: male out to forage, clip 56 secs long 1; 4 sample stills 1  2  3  4 plus brightened cropped stills 5  6, 12:45-13:30.

    9. 19/08/20: none seen: 19:00-19:45.

    10. 20/08/20: male coming in fast to the site from the E: 3 sample stills 1  2  3, 12:05-12:50, 15:10-15:40.

    11. 22/08/20: female and juvenile up low-down, clip 23 secs long 1, 5 sample stills 1  2  3  4  5; male above and quickly off to forage, 1 sample still 6: 12:40-13:00.

    12. 31/08/20: juvenile overhead, low-down above my field: 16:20-17:00.

  2. Tyne Valley E, Dukeshagg

    1. 23/06/20: male in and out of site, 4 sample stills 1  2  3  4, 11:20-14:10.

    2. 08/07/20: none seen, 15:55-17:10.

    3. 18/07/20: none seen, 15:05-17:40.

    4. 26/07/20: female up briefly, 1 sample still 1, 15:55-18:30.

    5. 11/08/20: none seen: 13:55-15:45.

    6. 26/08/20: juvenile perched in tree close to nest site, 6 sample stills 1  2  3  4  5  6, 15:45-17:25.

  3. Derwent, Slaley Forest E

    1. 25/06/20: perched male, 6 sample stills 1  2  3  4  5  6, 15:35-17:35.

    2. 14/07/20: male floating around trees, out to forage, 6 sample stills 1  2  3  4  5  6, 15:20-17:10.

    3. 29/07/20: female circling around area for over 8 min; broken down into 3 video clips: 1  2  3, with 6 sample derived stills 1  2  3  4  5  6, 15:10-17:05.

    4. 30/08/20: 4 birds up in the air, an adult pair with junior plus a female intruder; 2 video clips 1  2, first of adult pair displaying, second of juvenile soaring below, with 4 sample derived stills of pair 1  2  3  4 and 2 of juvenile 1  2; 2 sample stills of the 2 females 1  2, 14:30-16:30.

  4. Tyne Valley W, Bywell

    1. 30/06/20: none seen, 11:20-13:15.

    2. 11/07/20: male up briefly, 4 sample stills 1  2  3  4, 16:00-16:45.

    3. 06/08/20: none seen, 15:35-17:35.

    4. 19/08/20: male and female up in display, with some dives and chasing, 2 clips 1 2, juvenile emerges briefly at end of 1; another clip 3 showing the juvenile flying low-down and landing in the top of a tree. 1 sample still of male 1, 2 of female 2  3, 2 of male and female 4  5, 1 of male and juvenile 6, 13:00-14:30.

  5. Tyne Valley E, Throckley N

    1. 04/07/20: none seen, 15:00-16:30.

    2. 05/08/20: none seen: 16:00-17:40.

    3. 24/08/20: family group up briefly, including a weak-flying juvenile. 1 sample still of the group 1, 2 of male 2  3, 1 of female 4, 1 of juvenile 5, 11:35-12:50.

  6. Tyne Valley W, March Burn

    1. 07/07/20: none seen, 17:05-19:00.

    2. 31/07/20: male foraging, close to site, 4 sample stills 1  2  3  4; later returning to site under cover, 12:45-15:05.

    3. 23/08/20: none seen, 16:10-17:50.

    4. 24/08/20: male seen in nesting area from vantage point: 13:00-14:10.

    5. 09/09/20: 2 strong-flying dark-phase juveniles were up over this site with both in view at one time, 4 sample stills of juvenile 2 1  2  3  4, 1 sample still of juvenile 1 5 ; late record for first juveniles suggests that you need September visits to complete the survey at some sites:15:00-16:00. 10085

  7. Tyne Valley E, Stanley Burn

    1. 08/07/20: female up, 5 sample stills 1  2  3  4  5, 15:55-17:10.

    2. 18/07/20: none seen, 15:05-17:40.

    3. 26/07/20: none seen, 15:55-18:30.

    4. 11/08/20: none seen: 13:55-15:45.

    5. 26/08/20: none seen: 15:45-17:25.

    6. 01/09/20: a family party of 3 birds (male, female, dark-phase juvenile) up for 12 min in display; 6 sample stills 1 female/juvenile; 2  3 male, female, juvenile; 4  5 juvenile; 6 female: 15:10-17:00.

  8. Derwent, Blanchland

    1. 16/07/20: male out to forage, 6 sample stills 1  2  3  4  5  6, 15:15-16:55.

    2. 17/08/20: male patrolling, 5 sample stills 1  2  3  4  5; female up briefly, 1 sample still 1, 15:40-17:30.

    3. 31/08/20: a male out foraging to S, 3 sample stills 1  2  3; a female escorting a juvenile, 1 sample still 4, 13:40-15:50.

  9. Tyne Valley W, Hexham N

    1. 22/07/20: none seen, 13:15-15:30.

    2. 02/08/20: female into site, male out foraging, 3 sample stills 1  2  3, 14:40-17:30.

    3. 22/08/20: family group of male, female, 2 juvenile up briefly, clip 52 secs, with the pair going on to display high-up. Sample stills: 1 of the pair 1, 1 of the male 2, 1 of the female 3, 3 of the family group 4  5  6, 13:15-15:15.

    4. 29/08/20: male up in stiff breeze testing conditions for family flight, which did not materialise, 6 sample stills 1  2  3  4  5  6, 10:10-12:45.

  10. Hexhamshire, West Dipton

    1. 24/07/20: male out to forage, 4 sample stills 1  2  3  4, female out later, 2 sample stills 5  6, 14:45-16:30.

    2. 12/08/20: family party of juvenile, female, male up in air together, clip, 4 derived stills for juvenile 20  21  22  23, 2 derived stills for all 3 birds 26  29, 1 derived still for male 40, 14:55-17:10.

Nick Rossiter 2020-2021

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