This Common Buzzard chick is about a week old, and is a lucky survivor. When this nest was checked for activity a few weeks ago by local ornithologist Rab Rae, it had six eggs, and was suspected to have two female buzzards laying. The brood of six was soon reduced to five just after hatching, but now only two chicks remain. This is a sure sign that food supply in this Buzzard territory is low.
A hidden camera placed on the nest for a couple of hours today revealed that the dominant chick is getting much more food than its weaker sibling, a common occurrence at the nests of birds of prey. One photo did show the smaller chick being fed a whole Common Toad, though, so there is still hope it might managed to survive.
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| The Common Buzzard family - two adults and two juveniles. The weaker chick is about half the size of its sibling. |
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| The female buzzard looks straight at the camera as he chick waits for the next mouthful. |
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| The smaller buzzard chick gets a feed of Toad. |
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