Birds of Prey in Stafford

Wormella

Wormella

Well-Known Forumite
Are there any know BOP nest sites around the town center? @Goldilox swears he saw something hawk like the other day and there's an impressivly digested thing in a pellet form in our garden this morning.
 
tek-monkey

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
Seen a buzzard over on the old lines to gnosall a few years back but thats about it in Stafford itself. I'd be surprised if there wasn't something living over the marshes though, I've certainly seen 'something' hovering there last year, could have been disturbed by the egg chasers and is roaming further?
 
ATJ

ATJ

Well-Known Forumite
We've lived in Littleworth for five years now and have seen buzzards (up to six at once) and a hobby in previous years, we well as hearing a very noisy owl at night. So far this year I've heard but not seen buzzards and owls.

Judging by the number of mice the cat brings in, there's plenty of prey to go around.
 
Goldilox

Goldilox

How do I edit this?
It would have been too small for a buzzard. After a bit of a Google I think it's likely to have been a sparrowhawk, or perhaps a kestrel.
 
Glam

Glam

Mad Cat Woman
I think I have seen Red Kites round here, but not 100%.
I know where my little sister lives, there are buzzards, kites, sparrowhawks and a couple of other birds that I haven't got a clue about.
 
ATJ

ATJ

Well-Known Forumite
The other half says he's seen a sparrowhawk too so that's probably it. There's loads of widlife around the river and flood plain though, we've also seen badgers, foxes and herons
 
stoofer34

stoofer34

Well-Known Forumite
Buzzards are quite common down the Trent Valley on the Chase and Doxey Marshes (wasn't one reported shot recently at Doxey?)

S
 
gon2seed

gon2seed

(and me! - Ed)
Sparrowhawk devoured a Thrush in my garden last year. Rowley Park over of my back garden fence. Plenty of cover within mile of town centre. Doxey Marshes, Isabel Line, Balancing Lake by Rugby Club, school playing fields, railway sidings, Penk & Sow vallies, canals & Loads of trees. Plenty of oportunity for raptors. Seen plenty of Kestrels and number of S'hawks over the years.
 
J

JTL85

Well-Known Forumite
For the past few years a pair of Peregrine's have nested in the town centre. Last year you could hear the chicks calling quite a bit, I saw the parents returning with prey and saw them circling nearby.
 
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The Hawk

The Hawk

Well-Known Forumite
For obvious reasons, sadly, its best not to report specific nesting sites, but in rough order of likelihood (commonest first) birds of prey (excluding owls) that can be seen over Stafford town centre include Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and Peregrine. In summer you might see a Hobby passing over and very occasionally a Red Kite may drift over. Ospreys are also occasionally seen on migration (usually in Spring) and, on Doxey Marshes, Merlin and Marsh Harrier are not unheard of.
 
Gramaisc

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Buzzards can be bastards.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-36228004

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The Hawk

The Hawk

Well-Known Forumite
JTL85 said:
I'll edit my post to hide the nesting site. Would hate for the eggs to be nicked!
Click to expand...
To be honest the site you mentioned is pretty secure and it has previously been reported by at least one newspaper.

The biggest problem is the deliberate elimination of birds of prey, and other wildilfe, that "threaten" certain vested interests. For example, the Hen Harrier is virtually extinct in England, as a breeding species, just because it preys upon certain game birds, that certain landowners want to protect, so that they and their guests can blast them out of the sky themselves.

So, thanks to the grouse "industry" we are denied the sight of one of the most graceful birds this country has ever seen.
800820_Bird_Hen_Ha_3300098b.jpg
 
Withnail

Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
The Hawk said:
To be honest the site you mentioned is pretty secure and it has previously been reported by at least one newspaper.
Click to expand...
In fact, wasn't there a thread upon 'ere some moments ago whereby a mobile phone provider gave as their excuse for not sorting out their 'apparatus' that they couldn't do so because of nesting birds (reading between the lines it was obvious they were referring to Peregrines)?

Weren't they still using it as an excuse in October or thereabouts? Like, some many moments after it had ceased to be a nest site, that sort of thing?

I'd go with Sparrowhawk for the visual, Tawny Owl for the pellet - reckon there is a bounteous area for nesting sites within this general area.
 
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