Overtaken by a bird of prey

[Digeroo]

Was driving alone yesterday and realised there was a bird of prey flying beside me.  At 40 mph it was clearly winning so did not see its head.


It was surprisingly large.  Think it was a buzzard.  Not seen one so close before.

[Digeroo]

[Robert_Brenchley]

It probably was a buzzard if it was big, though they're not particularly fast. A peregrine can dive at 180mph; there must be a lot of birds of prey which can beat 40 if they want to. Buzzards used to be known as 'rabbit hawks' in some areas, as this was their main prey. They must be able to move in order to catch them.

[Unwashed]

I'm not sure what bird of prey would do that.  Sparrowhawks certainly fly alongside hedges at speed, but I wouldn't describe a sparrowhark as big, and it's very improbable you encountered a goshawk.  It's possible it was a harrier, they're certainly fast and big and it's the kind of thing one might possibly do, but they're rare and you'll have had to be on some kind of heath really.  I've not seen buzzards or kites fly low, fast and level.

Could it have been a rook?  It's just the kind of thing a rook would do and 40mph is no problem.

[Geoff H]

I have seen buzzards flying low. deliberate tactic to skim over a hedge and perhaps surprise a bunny though  usually they seem to prefer to sit up on a hedge top or post and just swoop down.
My one close up of a kite in Wales was one flying fast up a lane away from me at hedge height - the forked tail was the giveaway. My best view from a car was driving along the coast road in West Wales North of Newquay. The road was on the cliff top and a peregrine just sailed up the cliff face and kept pace with the car from a few yards away. I was in the passenger seat so we eyeballed each other for a few seconds.

[tonybloke]

We get marsh harriers, buzzards, hen harriers, plus all the usual small harriers around here, and I've seen all of them flying fast and low!! Marsh harriers will fly alongside our van @ over 45 mph, it's really a beautiful sight.

[Robert_Brenchley]

The only goshawk I've seen was high up and circling; I thought it was a buizzard till I got the binoculars on it, and saw the sparrowhawk shape. But low along hedges would be typical accipiter hunting behaviour. They're nothing like as rare as they were, but still unlikely.