Fly Flatts, Mystery Buzzard sp. !

 

                                  A very short lived Queensbury sunrise.

Fly Flatts Buzzard sp.    Mystery bird lower.

                              Much larger than upper Common Buzzard.

                        Constantly mobbed by Buzzard

                        Very pale underwings and underbody

                              Very wide rounded wings

                                    Nearly as white as Ospreys underside

                                Deep belly, long white tail

                                 with black bar

                                     Head as white as a gulls with cinnamon sides

                                   Light grey upper parts , Head white and cinnamon

                     All very poor images not doing justice to the bird as

       over a mile away in dark light and drizzle.

Weather conditions... Moderate SW>4 with very dark clouds and haze over moor with heavy drizzle showers at 9 degrees.

                     Very little present in the conditions other than the small group of Meadow Pipits were still on and around the shore. A good passage of gulls all >SW with 123 LBBs, 9 Herring and a single Common gull.

                  As I was tackling up, a last scan through the bins produced what I thought was a gull on the west bank right at the north end. All I could make out was a white head and finding it unusual for a gull to be on the west bank I got the scope back up on its legs for a better view.

               As I got the bird in view it took off towards the west ridge where it was immediately mobbed by a Common Buzzard. 

The first outstanding features were Buzzard species but very pale looking, nearly Opsrey coloured, with a long brilliant white tail and black band across the lower edge. Its head was part white but showing an orange, cinnamon sides to the head, a bit reminiscent of Honey Buzzard. It had a very deep Goshawk type breast with some barring against its light plumage.

          The under wings were near white whilst the upper wings were a light grey but unable to make out any distinguishing features on the upper or lower wings. The wings were very broad and rounded with very little elbow showing.

         It looked much larger than the Common Buzzard which continued to mob it throughout which made it all the more unusual as I have never seen Buzzards mobbing each other up here.

       This is probably the raptor DJS got a quick and distant view of from Cold Edge yesterday heading across the Flat Moor which he described as a big raptor, remarking " it was big ".

           The bird dropped down into the valley heading for the Castle Carr plantation area.

                  It could turn out to be just a large female pale phase Common Buzzard but I,m not ruling out Rough Legged Buzzard as yet ?

BS