Rare buzzards bring bird watchers flocking to Dovestone

SCORES OF bird watchers are flocking to a Saddleworth beauty spot to catch a glimpse of rare visitors – rough-legged buzzards.

Three birds, believed to have travelled from Scandinavia, have set up a temporary home near Dovestone reservoir at Greenfield.

And they have attracted groups of avid twitchers, complete with binoculars and long-focus lens cameras, to make personal records of the sightings. 

Dave O’Hare, RSPB’s Dovestone site manager, said: “These are the first rough-legged buzzards to have stayed in the same area locally for many years.

“It has been a real treat for local birdwatchers who have caught up with the birds. Two were seen together and there may have been a third too.”

Tim Melling, RSPB senior conservation officer, said the buzzards — with their distinctive feathered legs — spend winter in Britain but are seen passing through coastal areas in spring and summer.

He said: “The sightings at Dovestone are particularly noteworthy as there appears to be up to three different birds. They will be attracted here by the abundant food and excellent feeding habitat.

“They don’t breed in Britain but breed in Scandinavia and Russia and North America. Some spend winter either in their breeding range but most wander further south in Europe.

“They are quite difficult to identify from pale Common Buzzards,” he explained.  “But they are a little larger, longer-winged, and characteristically have a white tail with a black band at the tip.

“They feed mainly on rabbits and voles here and lemmings on their breeding grounds. They usually winter in the eastern half of Britain, either in moorlands, or on coastal saltmarsh.”

And his colleague Dave forecast: “The birds could hang around until March, but are likely to move away to the coast if snow blankets the hills. They can’t find voles if snow covers the moors.

“We have had lots of calls not just from birdwatchers but from people wanting to know what the crowds are looking at.”

The RSPB recommends birdwatchers park at Binn Green Car Park and walk up the road if they planning to look for the birds from the from the top of the valley.

There are added bonuses with bramblings and siskins and Dovestone’s own resident peregrine falcons on view. Telescopes are set up every Sunday at the Ashway Gap picnic area.

Meantime, people can now take a tour of the Peak District National Park from the comfort of their own home.

The Peak District has become the first national park to be virtually accessible, opening its diverse landscapes to the digital world of Google Street View so people can click and see the traffic-free trails wherever they are.