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Photographing Buzzards
Vain attempts at photographing common and honey buzzards…
I am convinced that of all the birds of prey I can realistically expect to see in the wild the buzzard is the most elusive, to my camera that is. I have more chance of a golden eagle landing on my garden bird feeder than I have of photographing a buzzard at any height of less than a thousand metres. The rings of Saturn come into focus before a buzzard does and I’m close to throwing in the towel. Like my old chef told me; ‘If at first you don’t succeed, give up’.
Buzzards and I go along way back, my brother and I used to look at one which would perch on a telegraph pole close to my Grandfather’s house in Germany. Thirty five years on and it still annoys me, it obviously knew that I was too small to hold a camera and long lens which is why it made itself visible to us. That was in the early Seventies, roll on to 2010 and my brother and I, older and no more wiser are walking along a country lane bent double under the weight of cameras and long lenses when the biggest buzzard on the planet and the only one in the world ever to sit on some grass took off and shot past us like a Gazelle with wings. Once the heart palpatations eased and we both stopped swearing we looked up to see this magnificent bird gliding along on the air currents high above.
As frustrating as it is they are still a wonderful sight, their flight patterns are effortless even when they do venture closer to earth and swoop down along river banks. I have watched them many times, always from a distance which makes photographing them difficult to pointless but I never tire of seeing them. What the buzzard gives us, particularly in the UK is the sight of a large predator and a welcome respite from blackbirds and pigeons. We need birds of prey like these and we need humans to stop interfering with them, they get enough hassle from gulls and crows as it is. No, they should be left alone and encouraged to fly a bit closer to some irate photographer in the middle of a field in deepest, darkest Lincolnshire….
Buzzard over Lincolnshire
I’d be pleased with that shot - I think you’ll need a lot of time and luck to better it.
I suppose it’s the challenge that makes it worthwhile but I wish they’d throw us a bone evey now and then !
Cheers
Rod
June 7, 2010 @ 11:25 am
You guys need to cheat like the great nature photographers out there.
Go fix yourself some buzzard bait and - road kill or other such carcasses and throw that in a field with a blind nearby (preferably upwind) and wait for the buggers - um buzzards to investigate.
They will come - they are inquisitive and seemingly always hungry. I once knew a man that would lure them down by getting his stepson to lay still in the fields ofTidewater, VA. The kid thought it was cool when they would land and he would scare them by getting up. We thought it was macabre and a way of acting out otherwise hidden wish fullfillment on L’s part.
Wish you could see them here - they perch on homes in flocks (or whatever a group of buzzards is called) and spread their wings to warm and dry them in the mornings. Spooky to see the buzzards in a heraldic pose - an architectural detail that belongs in a Tim Burton movie. But alas, it is part of my daily life. . .
Out in Hinkley, Ohio they have a buzzard cult and have a big town celebration every year when the buzzards come in for the season. . .
Good luck!
L
June 7, 2010 @ 8:14 pm
Rod,
Very true, keep calm and carry on!!
Miles
June 7, 2010 @ 10:47 pm
Laura,
I know about the tricks but I prefer to be honest, same as with the insects-I don’t feel the need to kill one just to photograph it.
It’s amazing what a bit of bird food and a feeder erased out with Photoshop can do, not for me though.
I do envy your wildlife population Laura, makes ours look pretty dull at times.
Miles
June 7, 2010 @ 10:49 pm