Project Common Buzzard - How I planned these photos

Where I live, near the south west coast of Norway, it's not uncommon for the buzzards to spend the winter in the area due to our usually mild weather. In the nearby farmlands they also have a good chance of catching rodents and other kind of prey.

I had spotted a buzzard in this area, and decided to start a project to see if it would result in any decent photos. A stone wall between to fields seemed like a good spot, since it had the perfect height when I mounted my camera on a tripod from inside my popup blind.

But more importantly, there was nothing in the background that would distract if the bird decided to land here. The rule of thumb is to have a greater distance to your background than to your subject in order to isolate it and get a blurry background.

A young common buzzard on the stone wall during rainy weather.

During the winter, I see no harm in providing some additional food for birds - regardless if it is for the smaller songbirds in the garden og the larger birds of prey. So with some fresh chicken and mice I had caught in a mousetrap, I started to feed where I wanted the buzzards to land.

A waiting game

Now it is mostly a matter of patience. It can take weeks before a bird of prey spots the food, and even longer before it decides to come down. Buzzards are especially weary, and may sit for hours to scout for any danger before arriving. I deployed my trail camera to get notified as soon as anything appeared.

The adult buzzard on the stone wall with a soft background.

Some weeks went by before the first common buzzard landed and started feeding. Not long after, a second bird arrived together with the first individual. I suspect it was an adult with one of their chickens. So finally they found the prey - now it was time for the next step.

Putting out the blind

As soon as the buzzards started feeding regularly, I put out my popup photo blind. As suspected, the birds became a bit sceptical to the tent in the middle of the field, but after a couple of days they came back again. The downside with a popup blind in an open field is of course if the wind starts to become too strong. More than once I've had to save the tent, and deploying it after the weather has calmed down.

Knowing the routine

Having a trail camera recording every movement, gives valuable information about the buzzards habits. They often arrive right before sunrise, before taking a longer break during the middle of the day. Most days, one or more birds visits the feeding site at the end of the day as well.

But strolling out in the area in the middle of the day to get the afternoon action is a bad strategy. The birds may be in the area and see you entering the hide. A safer approach is to start early when it's still dark outside, and be ready when the first light appears.

So far I've been able to photograph three different common buzzards on the stone wall. By being patient in the beginning and letting them get used to the food and my blind, my project has already succeeded. Now it's time for experimenting with new backgrounds, maybe some backlight and different perspectives.

Visit my gallery for more photographs of buzzards.