# French motorway birds of prey



## shirleydeputy

Hi

Just wondering if anybody can identify the birds of prey that we see so much sitting on the fences bordering the French roads. I'm no expert but I don't believe they are kestrels which we see so often in this country. They seemed bigger and were not hovering.

On our way down to Spain in January we saw around 15 of these birds at various spots in non built up areas. (So obviously not rare then!)

They were motionless, sitting upright and always facing the road. They were various shades of brown and with typical bird of prey beak and claws. 

We only travelled about third of the distance through France on cross country motorways so it felt like we saw a high proprtion of these birds given the distance involved.

It felt like they were on sentry duty watching over the traffic and certainly broke up the journey for us!
Thanks for reading this......
Shirley


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## PENJPET

I believe they are buzzards, we too have seen them on our way down to the Alps over the past 2 years. Sometimes we have seen many for miles always about 1 mile appart. Some are darker than others, I presume they are different sexs.

Never seem to see much other wildlife during these journeys maybe a couple of deer here and there and the odd fox, but nothing much else.


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## 100127

Yup, they are definitely buzzards.


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## SpeedyDux

The ones I've seen on fence posts in France (and likewise not far from where I live) are Buzzards. Sometimes I see them circling high in the sky above the nearby Ring Road, or the M4, or M32. 


SD


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## teemyob

*Buzzrads*

Yes, they are probably Buzzards. Often seen circling in the skies and can be quite aggressive.

TM


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## pippin

Motionless?

That's because they are plastic replicas designed to scare other birds away for safety reasons.

No? Oh well, just a thought!!

Incidentally a buzzard in Welsh is bwncath, cath  being cat - because of the mewing sound they make in flight.

Be careful when pronouncing buzzard in French buse.

It sounds very similar to their vernacular word for cowsh1t, for which I cannot find the spelling.

We discovered the problem when talking about booze (liquor) - they went very quiet then burst out laughing!

The nuances of pronounciation of the three words are virtually impossible for the English-speaker to master.

From the mine of useless information.


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## Spacerunner

When we were down south in France a couple of years ago we kept seeing large birds of prey circling high in the sky.

On enquiring at a campsite reception we were told they were vultures!

Quickly made a mental note not to lie too still when sunbathing.

Once, when driving through a forested area we had a large bird of prey flying alongside the cab window for several hundred yards, it looked like a Golden Eagle!

These are migrating spoonbills we spotted at St Valery sur Somme.


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## raynipper

Many Buzzards up here in Normandy. As you say they seem to sit on electric poles about a mile apart. This one was injured and had to be fed milk and brandy till it flew off a few days later.

Ray.


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## trevorf

Milk and BRANDY?

Did it manage to fly off in a straight line :lol: :lol: :lol: 




Trevor


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## thieawin

Not just France

In Bulgaria in early February saw over 100 between Bansko and Bourgas, a 6 hour drive

Sitting on posts and in trees, looking very cold, ruffled and n miserable


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## Jodi1

I agre they are probably Buzzards. They can sort of hover if there is a strong enough wind as they are able to fly into it and manage to stay still with an occasional wing twitch.

We used to live in West Berlin before the wall came down and we were able to travel along a specified route through East Germany to the West. It was the first time I saw red kites as they are scavengers and spent alot of time flying over the autobahns checking out for any road kill. We occasionally saw the rarer black kite.


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## rosalan

As everyone agrees, they are Buzzards. These tend to be lone creatures when hunting and have quite a large territory to themselves.
On very rare occasions you may see a field with a fairly large number together, this may indicate a local infestation of their prey. I saw this once in Hungary where there were too many to count, sitting in a field, I assume they were having a feast day.
They come in a wide variety of colours which can make them look like different birds.
Vultures in Spain can be quite impressive when seen on rocky outcrops.... looking down on you....waiting!
Alan


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## Suenliam

I used to work about 10 miles from Dumfries and if I didn't see at least one buzzard on the way then it was a surprise. They come in various shades some being quite dark others much lighter. In our travels in France I think I can remember them as being generally darker than ours. 

We frequently see black kites in France. Only red ones near us in Galloway.

I remember being at the Millau bridge watching the "buzzard" soaring over the Gorge. However, when I thought about how far away it was and the fact that I could still see it I realised it was a vulture and had lots of friends looking for lunch  

We were fortunate enough to see a small family of wild boar when travelling down a small country road. They were just on the edge of a wood and we only caught a glimpse.

Can't wait to get back to check out the wildlife there.

Sue


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## Jented

Hi.
Stockenchurch? cutting on the M4,Red Kites a plenty,near Oxford services. 
Ted


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## Frantone

*Bird recognition*

I've got a bird recognition app on my iPhone which has been useful. 
It includes sounds and whilst identifying a duck yesterday I played it's call and all the ducks I was trying to identify paddled over to where I was sitting. 
TonyP


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## Bracken606

In France & Spain there are a number of Birds of Prey, predominently Buzzards are the ones hanging around the roads on poles or slope soaring on the thermals.

Aditionally there are Kestrals, Kites and if you are really lucky in mountainous areas of France you can see Peregrines and Golden Eagles. Also there are Sparrowhawks, Merlins and Vultures.

In Spain there was record of golden eagles picking up tortoise and dropping them from great heights to smash the shell, this was in and around the cork trees in Spain but they are no longer found in these regions and keep to the mountains with the near extinction of the tortoise.

Additionaly you may be really lucky to see Falco Biarmicus Fledgii which is the European variant of the Lanner Falcon.

Simon.


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## Jented

Hi Frantone.
do NOT!! play it whilst sitting out in the Fens,you may get SHOT!!
Cuckoo!!


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## JeanLuc

Bracken606 said:


> In Spain there was record of golden eagles picking up tortoise and dropping them from great heights to smash the shell, this was in and around the cork trees in Spain but they are no longer found in these regions and keep to the mountains with the near extinction of the tortoise.
> Simon.


I've not heard of Golden Eagles doing that, but the Lammergeier, or Bearded Vulture, certainly does. It is found in southern Europe, including mountainous parts of the Iberian Peninsular, although it is scarce. It's main diet is bone marrow, which it obtains by dropping bones from a great height to smash them on rocks below. I guess a tortoise is as good as a bone? I've never seen one of these magnificent birds, but it's on my life's wish list.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bearded_Vulture
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Bearded_Vulture


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## Bracken606

Philip,

The 'Eagle & the Tortoise' was a Nature programme many years ago by Attenborough, it was recorded in a very small area of spain and just one family of Eagles regularly did this with the parents teaching the young birds. Discussion of eagles doing this in relation to a greek myth can be found here

http://www.qi.com/talk/viewtopic.php?start=0&t=6664

The extent of the other information comes from my tuition at the british school of falconry where i was taught by Steve and Emma Ford the number 1 authority of hunting with birds of prey in the world. In fact they were asked to go to the UAE and Saudi Arabia in order to teach european methods to the royals there.

Hope this helps,

Simon.


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## Jented

Hi.
We saw that program Bracken,it was super,and the Batuler? eagles,these locked Talons at some height,then spirrald down to earth,letting go at the last moment,it was mentioned that they sometimes crashed,still locked together . A super program,well worth a look if you can recapture it sometime.
Jented]


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## JeanLuc

Bracken606 said:


> The extent of the other information comes from my tuition at the british school of falconry where i was taught by Steve and Emma Ford the number 1 authority of hunting with birds of prey in the world. In fact they were asked to go to the UAE and Saudi Arabia in order to teach european methods to the royals there.
> Simon.


Respect! Seriously


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## DTPCHEMICALS

Be cautious when one of these aproaches.


Dave p


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## pippin

Ah yes Dave - I recognise that as a Romanian Shag, female of the species!


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## flyingpig

Yes, Buzzards.
Cornwall is teeming with them! If you drive the A30, you will spot any amount. apparently they pray on small beetles, rabbits, mice etc. They tend to hang around road verges waiting for insects killed by traffic.

Ken


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## scouter

yep,

Buzzards, lots around now, both here at home and on the continent.

Vultures are generally much bigger and were reintroduced around the Gorge Du Tarn, just upstream from that fancy bridge. There's a visitor centre and from midday onwards when there's plenty of thermals and updraft there's lots of them soaring and then shooting off in different directions looking for their lunch and dinner.

It was a bit disconcerting in the local village when going for supplies late afternoon to see 2 or 3 sat on the rooftops watching village life below

cheers alan


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## pippin

I am gutted that my brilliant post in response to that picture by Dave has not been commented upon.


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## DTPCHEMICALS

Yes pippin I thought you comment worthy of a mention.
This species of Shag is popular throughout the continent and is most commonly found at ground level. Much easier to spot than the Buzzards. Usually habit street corners where traffic is slow.
Dave p


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## pippin

Don't forget that there is the Greater Shag and the Lesser Shag!


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## motormouth

I was reliably informed that the vultures are most likely to be Griffin (white heads).


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## JeanLuc

pippin said:


> Don't forget that there is the Greater Shag and the Lesser Shag!


This one looks more like a Common Shag to me!


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## pippin

I remember in Japan in the 60's seeing a lot of the Fukada Shag variety and very beautiful birds they were too!


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## 113016

flyingpig said:


> Yes, Buzzards.
> Cornwall is teeming with them! If you drive the A30, you will spot any amount. apparently they pray on small beetles, rabbits, mice etc. They tend to hang around road verges waiting for insects killed by traffic.
> 
> Ken


I was driving happily between Spain & Portugal once and I did see lots on top of a dead animal. Not a pretty sight!
A bit eerie!
Bl**dy big things!


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