The not-so-cowardly lion

It may appear lethargic, but no one could argue with the hunting prowess of the common buzzard when it transforms into a surging missile intent on an unsuspecting victim

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OF all our raptors, common buzzards (Buteo buteo) are the most likely to provide us with the twin pleasures of sight and sound. In those peerless blue skies on sunny afternoons in late March, buzzards are invariably on the wing performing near-effortless spirals as they fire down salvoes of the softest, rising catlike call. Mewing buzzards in display are one of the most affecting indicators of the British spring and now part of its very essence.

There are at least 64,000 pairs spread more evenly through these islands than any other raptor, but this wasn't always the case. In the early 20th century, persecution had driven them to the western fringes and, even as late as the 1970s, the species was almost trapped to the west of a line between Southampton and Liverpool. Their strongholds were in the West Country, Wales and also in the Highlands of Scotland.