My new hide was finished today. It is  made from willow and elder branches woven around some stout support poles. It is tucked away nicely on the edge of a bramble patch and pretty much invisible I would say. The roof is camouflaged tarpaulin covered with dead leaves, dried grasses and sticks.  More dead leaves were pushed into, and behind the willow to disguise it. From the front there is a good view which looks down the banks of the brook and a grassy area to the left. I have placed a nice "Kingfisher" perch  protruding over the water. It all looks very picturesque and inviting. Will it work? Well I can say 100% that it does and the way I found out was quite an amusing little story.  I had just finished after spending an hour applying the final camouflage touches. I sat inside and cut a hole  for the  camera lens, poked it through and was just admiring my handy work. After a minute or so there was  the noise of various alarm calls particularly from a Blackbird. A quick glance through the lens showed me the Buzzard now perched in full view and quite close on a massive mound of earth just in front. It was obvious what he was doing, feeding on Earth worms.

This is the kind of Buzzard photo that I have been hoping for this last week or so. I have a little rule when it comes to bird photography. That is, if you can't see the whites of the eyes then you are not close enough! So this is getting a bit nearer to a picture worthwhile. When I look at this picture it excites me to know that I have just scratched the surface as far as Buzzard photos are concerned. I am pretty sure that I will get better and better pictures of Buzzards pretty soon. He is not worried about the hide, has no idea that I am there and is only, eventually going to get really close to me. I can't wait! 

The other thing I am  looking for in a photo  is a bit of activity, the subject actually involved in interesting behaviour. The next picture certainly qualifies for this. I watched him on this earth mound scurrying around and intently watching, then diving to grab something. With the lens zoomed on him I could see that he was pulling worms from the soil and the picture below shows him with one. At first you think that he must be desperate to be eating worms like this but only a little bit of internet surfing has given me some interesting facts. There is more protein in Earth worms than fresh chicken breast, beef steak or soya bean. He can catch them very easily and took three or four in  just a minute or two. This means that, as far as expending energy, Earth worms are a very good source of protein indeed.  

Buzzards are known to be very variable in plumage and it is relatively easy to identify individuals by their markings. Therefore, this one has been given a name to enable me to distinguish it from another one in the territory. I am calling him, or her Buzby. His chest marks  reminds me of a nice thrush with a lovely speckled breast.