The return of the Buzzard

I feel especially privileged today, having recently visited a Buzzard’s nest on the edge of the forest. Although the Buzzard is a common and widespread bird nationally, it is one that has, until relatively recently, been decidedly uncommon within Norfolk. Buzzard populations have changed dramatically over the last two hundred years. The species was common throughout most of mainland Britain during the early 1800s but from the second half of that century there was a pronounced decline in numbers. The decline was linked to the levels of persecution associated with game rearing interests, the Buzzard all but exterminated from large parts of its former breeding range.

Relief for the Buzzard came following the outbreak of the First World War, as keepers were called to fight for their country. Although the level of keepering continued to fall after the war had ended, new threats appeared. During the 1950s and 1960s Buzzards, like certain other top predators, suffered from the effects of organochlorine pesticides that had found their way into the food chain. Productivity declined, as nesting attempts failed through eggshell thinning and subsequent breakage, and the population again slipped away. Another problem was the arrival of myxomatosis and the rapid and pronounced decline in Rabbit numbers, the Rabbit being a favoured prey species for the Buzzard.

It is only over the last couple of decades that things have improved and we have seen a tremendous eastwards expansion of Buzzard populations, with birds moving out from strongholds in the west of the country. The first modern breeding record for Norfolk did not come until 1992, when a pair in central Norfolk raised two young. The year that I arrived in Norfolk saw just two confirmed breeding attempts and over the time that I have lived here I have seen more and more Buzzards within the county. Over the last few years, they have been regular around Thetford and this spring, for the first time, I have seen one regularly where I walk my dogs in the forest. The most recent Norfolk Bird Report (that for 2007) suggests a population of 30-40 breeding pairs within the county and this will almost certainly increase over time.

Work carried out on populations colonising other parts of the country would suggest that we could achieve a much larger breeding population, particularly as we appear to have a mixture of habitats suitable for hunting and breeding. The light, sandy soils of the Brecks, for instance, support good numbers of Rabbits and there are many small woodlots and blocks of plantation woodland to provide nesting opportunities. So, while I will always feel privileged to see nestling Buzzards at close quarters, I feel especially privileged today to have seen my first ‘local’ Buzzard chick.