Finding Active Buzzard Nests
Active Buzzard nests are notoriously difficult to find. The nests are deep, and during the 7 week incubation period the female Buzzard keeps herself well hidden within the nest. Added to this, an established pair will have a number of potential nests in their territory.
It’s not until the eggs hatch and the chicks are active enough to make themselves seen that the nests become more obvious. Also, at this time, “whitewash” starts to accumulate at the base of the tree from the chicks’ amazing ability to project faeces several metres from the rim of the nest.
Last year the chicks were about 10 days old when we finally discovered the nest, and we then spent many weeks watching the ups and downs of Buzzard family life. https://woodcockwood.com/buzzards-at-the-nest/.
Since then we have made a concerted effort to identify all the potential nests within the Buzzards’ territory.
Nest Sites
Although they will nest on cliffs, or even on the ground, we normally think of Buzzards as nesting in trees, which is where they seem to prefer when there’s a choice. If so, the nests will be high up, and usually very close to the trunk, where the branches offer most support to the large structure. If the nest is in a wooded area, it is likely to be towards the edge of the woodland, close to the fields and open space they use for hunting.
Woodcock Wood and the neighbouring woodland plots have an irregular line of mature Corsican pine 100 to 150 metres deep, separating the farmland from the oak and chestnut coppice. It’s the perfect spot for the Buzzards.
An Established Territory Has Numerous Nests
In established territories there will be a number of nests which are reused or added to year on year. It’s unclear why they build so many. It may be something to do with nest hygiene, as the used nest can get extremely rank from the remains of the meat brought to the young, and changing the nest site each year is a healthy option. It could also be a display feature showing potential rivals that this is a well used territory, or, following the death of one of the pair, the need for the replacement bird to make its own mark on the territory, and to build a nest or two. Males and females contribute to nest building.
Whatever the reason, the nests are surprisingly difficult to spot given their size, and trying to identify the nest that may be in use is even more tricky.
The most recent find 
Active Nest
Over the winter we put a lot of time into tracking down the potential nests in the pines. By April we had found nine, thought this must be the total, and then subsequently found two more.
The most recent one is situated in the central area of the pines towards the opposite side to last year’s nest. It had been “decorated” with fresh branches, a good indication that the Buzzards had recently been working on it … and we thought we had cracked the problem of finding the active nest.
The Male’s Display Helps
The other clue to identifying the active nest is to watch the birds. Early in the year the pair will be actively displaying, and during this performance the male will often include dramatic dives towards the nest site.
This year we saw far less displaying than in 2020 – bad luck on our part, as this is the time to see them at their most exhilarating: see https://woodcockwood.com/the-common-buzzard/. But we saw sufficient to get the idea that they may be nesting towards the opposite side of the wood to last year.
During our visits to the wood we would routinely do a circuit of the nests. Initially we would take a look at them all, but we decided that some looked rather ragged and too flat to be active, and we narrowed the observations down to four nests.
Crows – the Old Enemy
When the female is sitting tight the male has two tasks, bringing food to the female, and defending the territory. Normally he will mange this on his own, but when the occasion demands, both male and female will combine to drive off any threats to their territory, especially passing Buzzards.
This year we’ve also seen a lot of competition between a nesting pair of Carrion Crows and the Buzzards. They are old rivals. Recently, when the male Buzzard has come up, one or both crows have launched noisy and highly aggressive attacks. For a week or so this was a regular occurrence, and at times the crows were really persistent.
The Nest Site Confirmed
We were finally rewarded on 8th June when we got our first view of the female Buzzard in one of the nests – but not the newly decorated one. It turned out to be right on the edge of the wood, confirming the position the diving display had suggested.
If the timetable is the same as 2020, this is about the time the first egg will be hatching, and hence the movement we saw may have been the female attending to this.
Having found the nest, we will now set up a small hide, wait and watch.