An Odd Buzzard

A3052 near Crealy, Devon
On waiting at the junction leaving Crealy around 2pm (after the weekly, wear the kids out trip) a Buzzard flew very low over the road and across the junction. So low in fact, it nearly got hit by an oncoming car! As it banked to avoid said car a few metres away in front of me, I was immediately drawn to the amount of white on the upper part of the tail and a thin black bar across the end of the upper tail. It was an otherwise, (plumage wise) very Common Buzzard sort bird. I wish I could have studied the plumage in greater detail but I was sat in a car and the sighting was over all to quickly. I did manage to log the direction it was heading but the kids wanted to get home and there’s a lot of farmland around there with little or no access. So time wasn’t on my side and I also wasn’t able to pop back due to other commitments.

Now I’ve seen a number of paler Buzzards in the area this year. So they aren’t an unusual site to me but if I’m honest, this bird stood out a bit. The general jizz of the bird seemed different to me too but I can’t really put my finger on it. I guess we all have that gut feeling when we think we’ve seen something a bit different?

Initial research keeps pointing me towards Rough-legged Buzzard. I know “don’t be silly Spencer” so, I must stress that I’m not for one minute saying this bird is one. However, I really think it was interesting enough to warrant further investigation and I will be checking the area in more detail over the next few days. If this is one though, WOW, it would be a damn good record for Devon. And I will of course put the news out via the various media sources if I come across the bird and can give a positive ID. I would however need a very clear and precise photo to be 100% sure of that.