Buzzard shot down - caught on camera

[old'un]

34 minutes ago, London Best said:

A bird with a wing broken by one pellet CLOSE TO THE BODY will fall like stone as if dead.

I still think that bird was dead and the bird found 9 days later was another bird.

[London Best]

6 minutes ago, old'un said:

I still think that bird was dead and the bird found 9 days later was another bird.

More than likely.

[NatureBoy]

20 minutes ago, ehb102 said:

A variety of viewpoints. Over on Twitter there's a nice "that's not a buzzard it's a crow" section. 

Would that be shooters? Or antis pretending to be shooters. Any link?        NB

[clangerman]

the police would have established within hours if this was real they obviously believed it as much as i did hopefully they are more than talking to who come up with it 

[Scully]

40 minutes ago, ehb102 said:

A variety of viewpoints. Over on Twitter there's a nice "that's not a buzzard it's a crow" section. 

I’m pleased someone else has mentioned this, as this was my first thought; it just doesn’t seem to be flying like a Buzzard to me. I’ve seen countless Buzzards rise to thermals ( as I’m sure we all have ) and the speed of the wing beats just doesn’t seem right to me. 
I may be totally wrong however, but it’s just niggling away at me. 
There is another bird in the background unless I’m mistaken. Could this have been the Buzzard being viewed? 
 

[Smokersmith]

Looked again ... and I think it's perhaps more likely to be a crow.

It certainly isn't the Buzzard they found .. which doesn't forgive that piece ....

[WalkedUp]

From the video it looks to me exactly like a Buzzard and it also looks like it was shot in the wing rather than folded. 

Whoever did this may have mistaken it for a crow as many people here have, or may have had bad intentions. Either way they should not have pulled the trigger. 

The bird that was found days later is unlikely to be the same one, I’m sure that if I did this I would want to destroy the evidence ASAP if it was an accident or malicious. The best thing for our sport is that the responsible person admits their mistake and accepts the punishment. 

[WalkedUp]

“On 10 October 2020, members of the public out walking stopped to watch a buzzard in flight, on land adjoining the south-west boundary of the RSPB’s Northward Hill reserve near High Halstow. One of them started filming it on a mobile phone when they suddenly heard a loud shot, and the bird crumpled and fell from the sky before their eyes.

The witnesses called the police on 101. Kent Police and the RSPB conducted a search of the area, but the body could not be found. However, a few days later, on 19 October, a birdwatcher reported seeing a buzzard with a broken wing close to where the buzzard had fallen.”

It’s just quite weird or misleading that it states “a few days later”, when it was  in fact nine days later.

[mel b3]

It's difficult to tell from the clip , but the bird is definitely flying more like a crow than a buzzard.

I'm not sure what to think really , any person that's stupid enough to shoot a buzzard next to some kind of sanctuary,  is a fool indeed , and deserves everything that they have coming to them , but that bird on the tailgate of the pick up , definitely hasn't been living on the ground for nine days.

[rbrowning2]

£1000.00 reward according to to news

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000pnby/south-east-today-lunchtime-news-16112020

the shooter needs to come forward , if it was a crow he has nothing to fear always assuming he shot within the law regarding general licences, nine days between the shot and finding the buzzard is strange, if they deliberately shot the buzzard you would expect then to recover it to remove the evidence. Something does not add up.

[Shufti]

I'm not convinced at all.

Edited November 16, 2020 by Shufti
mistake

[old'un]

Is it a crow or buzzard? looked at the video again and the small hawk to the left looks like a sparrow hawk, if it is a crow it could have just been mocking the hawk, but when the shot is taken I have watched the fall over and over and as the bird spins and tumbles you can see flashes of white/light brown feathers, this could just be the light.

[Smokersmith]

I think we can agree it was ‘retrievable’  ... pretty vertical in the drop!

[ShootingEgg]

Watched that video a few times over and if a buzzard then who ever is responsible needs to do the right thing and put their hands up. But as some others have said, it does look like crow wing beats. The part where the bird was found 9 days later still alive seems odd also. But if true then no defending that at all.

[Perazzishot]

Watched it countless times on a big screen. Initially there are 2 buzzards in the film.

When watching the flight of the shot bird it is a buzzard, when you watch it fall as it gets to the hedge line you can see it is brown not black.

It is also dead in the air. I would suspect someone is on the other side of that hedge decoying pigeons as it appears both buzzards had come in to the decoys.

The shooting is stupid and indefensible and the shooters should be easily found from the the list of people with permission to shoot the farmers ground.

However the RSPB are up to something here, and it is sinister in its timing and credibility. 

To spin it on the other side this is an RSPB reserve and the RSPB do employ shooters to protect some of their most endangered species of birds. It could easily have been within the confines of the reserve and shot under licence for the protection of red listed species if they had come forward with evidence of predation.

But that being witnessed by the public would not be good for their profile.

Once more with the death of a BOP with the RSPB involved more questions, smoke and mirrors than answers!

[Saltings]

a friend and his brother were pigeon shooting   armed police etc turned up allegations were made they had shot a buzzed  checked everything and left no dramas    it turned out a woman with a spotting scope over a mile away made the call  she was bragging to my friend about what she did as his immediate neighbor in a small village   the word spread     turned out  she reported every body for everything     i have watched the video its strange how  implied  hook billed killers seem to be shot on video  not any other species   given a possible crime   footage of vehicle / person who shot     found days later it stinks to me

[Perazzishot]

The reserve does have breeding Avocets.

But strangely enough not a single mention on the reserves blog or forum!

https://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/reserves-a-z/northward-hill/

[NatureBoy]

Come on folks. It ant no crow! That's a buzzard! Other bird a kestrel comes up to mob it and slides away. Unusual in October as kestrel shouldn't be holding territory then. See both most days. Trees look well in leaf to. A buzzards been shot of that there's no doubt! Could it of been under licence if it's an out door unit behind that hedge. Was it a shooter, someone with legal gun and permission? A man has been spoken to! . . . Was it the same bird found 9 days layer in good condition. We will probally never know or find out. If there was a prosecution pending would the police let them put out this film and there biased info so long after the event? Doubt it  . . . Was it filmed how/when they saying? What and how they say it is very clear. Perfect. As others have said something not right about how they spinning it. Bearing in mine they always banging on about how important and FACTS are. . . . . Do any of the Kent boi's or anyone know the reserve/ location they mention? Shouldn't be hard to find as they give details. NG powerlines in back ground. What looks like large farm buildings, village and quite possibly a truck parked facing camera. i would say the pic of the bird on tail gate has been added. It had not been struggling on the ground for 9 days. Strange they so keen to kill it if it had survived that time and recovered from shock and as some antis recon it been eating. In there interest it died though? . . . In the X-ray pics 3 of (the old pellets) look like they could have been easily removed. It had been living with them. Fresh pellet in flesh in the broken wing. Bones and break on long bone there and don't look that bad considering. I have had/ cared for plenty of birds/BOP's with damaged/missing  wings, feet and eyes.  I wonder if the police ever get fed up with them tampering with evidence (Chris) or jumping in and putting there spin on things. . . . I wonder if the bird hadn't been found and died they would of still put that footage out. What do i know! . . . . . . I still think that pic on RPUK site heading of eagle "flying" with feet in a trap don't look right. There rabid mob are av'n right ol rant about this. and still banging on about Beefy. Totally Bonkers!!!  . . Worth a look!  . . . . . .A they still expect to be taken seriously at the top table.               NB

[NatureBoy]

Well done Neil Dale NOBS for having a go back at them on twitter RSPB birders.           NB

[Jim Neal]

My 2 pence worth:

It's definitely a buzzard that got shot in that film.  They can look very similar to crows from a distance when accelerating with fast wing beats but watch just before the shot, it sets its wings out to soar and that's no crow.  Not crow behaviour through any of its flight captured on that film.  Unless the shooter was extremely well camouflaged, a crow would have jinked away long before the shot... think how canny they are at spotting a bloke raising a gun!

You can see as the bird falls it's not black but dark brown mottled with paler colour.  Buzzards can vary a lot in colour and the bird on that truck tailgate is NOT the bird that was shot from the sky.  I've got a buzzard that hangs around my patch which is almost leucistic, even paler than the one on that truck... the bird falling from the sky is much darker.

That was not a hard enough hit to the vital organs in my opinion for it to be dead in the air, it was winged, hence helicoptering down.  There isn't a shooter alive who hasn't utterly convinced themselves that they've shot a bird stone dead and delayed picking it... only to find 10 minutes later it's not there for some strange reason!  Lots of times it looks like you've stoned it but the bird will vanish under its own steam.

I noticed the same thing as @NatureBoy in that the trees in the background look to have full leaf on them.  Even on the alleged date of 10th October they'd be starting to look a little bit like autumn is underway.  The mid-ground fields...arable, surely.  Stubble or even standing cereals?  Foreground scrub & hedgerow looks very green & lush.  Can't see enough detail to pick out haws/sloes or any such clues.  I don't think this was filmed on the 10th of October regardless of the year.

I think it's way too coincidental that this has "happened" but wasn't made public until straight after Beefy has come out and said his piece.  I think it's been stored in the bank for such a time as it was deemed worthy of using.  It might even be a completely set up event.  What are the chances of someone happening to be filming a buzzard and it gets shot?  If I was her I'd be doing the lottery this weekend.

Conclusion: I smell a rat.

[wymberley]

18 hours ago, ehb102 said:

A variety of viewpoints. Over on Twitter there's a nice "that's not a buzzard it's a crow" section. 

Fair enough, but that is not what your final remark was suggesting.

[ehb102]

24 minutes ago, wymberley said:

Fair enough, but that is not what your final remark was suggesting.

Oh, please! It's hardly a secret that Pigeon Watch has a wide variety of opinions, many of which are at the absolutely opposite end of the spectrum to me on almost everything. Of course someone is going to say it wasn't a buzzard. There are lots of people here who will argue black is white because they can and it's on the Internet. Evidence all over these forums.

[clangerman]

8 minutes ago, ehb102 said:

Oh, please! It's hardly a secret that Pigeon Watch has a wide variety of opinions, many of which are at the absolutely opposite end of the spectrum to me on almost everything. Of course someone is going to say it wasn't a buzzard. There are lots of people here who will argue black is white because they can and it's on the Internet. Evidence all over these forums.

i’m glad you put it up everyone from shooting orgs to the nuts should be asking WHERE is the arrest or charge either kent  police can’t do their job or they are concealing this is a deliberate attempt to smear shooters action or explanations kent police NOW! 

[NatureBoy]

Unfortunately once again we will only get one side of this story. Police statement if a reward has been offered? This should of been easy for law to sort if a crime had been committed as reported. Great fund raiser as intended. Some interesting comments and posts on there social media. Like RSPB  just sharing a pic of what the poster says is a "shot" sparrow hawk they "found" with out question. It's NOT a sparrow hawk but a buzzard. Instead of them asking for more pics and what/where/when. Why not,  How do you know it was shot?, have you a crime number and if so why didn't they correctly ID it? . . . .  Wondered why Dr NO n Co took so long to share it. Saw it up on shooting sites way before theirs. RSPB stealing attention from them and funding they after to push there agenda, with there latest effort by putting up pics "someone" sent them of what they say is a pheasant predating a lapwings nest? From 2012. Mmmm. They must of taken some finding, and very convenient and clear if a "nest cam"?   NB 

[Fellside]

There are now some interesting angles and questions on this - none of which involve any doubt that the the bird was a buzzard. However, there are several so called facts which, let’s say, don’t sit together easily. If it is phony, it will certainly back fire on the RSPB in a big way. Is it possible to gain clarity from the police constabulary in question or press the RSPB for answers re this rather strange case? Any legal beagles out there?