Eyes Like a Hawk

I turned round from photographing a spider to see this buzzard on the telegraph pole on the other side of the field. Totally the wrong lens on the camera, I cautiously crept inside to rectify the situation but very pessimistically, in that they normally don't hang around once they see you.

The buzzards in our area like the field because it's a haven for small animals and has a few rabbit warrens under the hedge. Ever opportunistic they sit on the telegraph poles picking off the babies or the ones with myxy. They have 170° field of vision, can turn their heads nearly 180° to see behind and can look for rodents at a height of 15,000 ft holding the head motionless whilst the body is moving! Their eyesight is 3-4 times sharper than ours! The ears are located behind and just below the eyes having very good hearing. I've watched far too many nature programes to think I stood a chance of changing the lens in full view and setting up the shot! ........Then there was the exposure!!!

Over 100 experimental shots later, kneeling on saturated grass, freezing, with the dogs woofing occasionally he was still there luckily and so was I! I wanted the flight shot and sat him out but when he finally did go he went in the other direction.

The white background is in fact a cloud of steam from a steam train which puffed and whistled it's way down the line - we sometimes get the Orient Express but as I was on the floor I couldn't see.

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