Beckton Raptors

April 4th



The usual dawn visit resulted in a good morning right from the start, on arrival the female Kestrel was in the nest box. She was looking around for the male so it looks like the box has been accepted for breeding, she will now spend much of her time tied to the box whilst he provides prey.

As it stands she has not laid as yet, the usual average for eggs is late April, unlike peregrines who lay about a month earlier.

However I do wonder with London’s Kestrel’s, will they lay earlier than the norm like London’s Peregrines?

6.15am

9.40am

Moving on from here I drove through the Sewage works and came across another Raptor, the resident Common Buzzard which I thought had departed. 

It was feeding in the road picking off Earth Worms bought out by the overnight rain, easy pickings for it as I watched it feed.

Got some photos off on a high ISO in the very bad light, not great but ok.

If someone had told me a few years back that a Common Buzzard would spend its winter here at Beckton Sewage works, I would have said you’re off your trolley. Obviously a change in its fortunes, it is becoming more common and established and can compete in an urban environment even with half a dozen Crows giving it grief.

It just ignores them basically, as I have said before the rabbits on site are a massive carrot for this big raptor.

After this I had a look round site watching the skies as usual, low and behold another 2 Common Buzzards went over, at this rate they will be breeding on site soon – one for the future?