The one that (mostly) got away!

We always have absolutely loads of rooks (and a few jackdaws, they seem to get on well together!) in the big horse chesnut tree in our garden but they're nowhere near as interesting as some of the other birds, like the heron, which are always either too far away or I'm too slow to catch in a photo.

For some weeks now I've been watching a pair of buzzards but I haven't been able to get a decent shot. Then, this morning, I heard a bit of a commotion outside and I couldn't believe it - there were the buzzards, the closest they've ever been, and the rooks were doing some kind of dive-bombing thing at them.

I don't know much about bird behaviour so I have no idea whether the buzzards were trying to catch rooks for their lunch, whether they were all competing for some other food source, or whether the rooks were simply defending their own bit of airspace around 'their' tree but it was fascinating to watch. And the rooks won.

You can imagine how annoyed I am that I cut most of the buzzard out of the bottom of the frame but trust me, it's by far the best buzzard shot I've managed so far!

I may not comment much over the next few days as I've got to get at least a rough first draft of an assignment done before my tutorial on Saturday. My brain is so frazzled from over three years of going from one course to another without a break that I'll be glad when it's over!