Buzzards

For years I kept a commonplace book, and then they became unused.  The computer or blog to a certain degree fills in that spot when you want to record something, so writing almost becomes extinct.  But when I don't have my computer to hand I write down that which interests me as I did in Whitby.

Well what got my fancy was a Winston Churchill quote;

"Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time" 

As a statement it is probably close to my own thinking, this week I have been recording on Facebook the stupidity of our wildlife minister Richard Benyon's idea to take the eggs and destroy the nests of the buzzard so that pheasant chicks can be reared for slaughter by the guns.  Figures; 40,000 pairs of buzzards compared to 40 million pheasants raised annually for the shoot, luckily I wasn't the only person aghast at such a destructive policy and right has triumphed. 

The buzzard is my totem bird, years ago one May Sunday walking with my dog up on the downs I witnessed something special.  A large young buzzard strolling without care and concern in the field, worried I stayed too watch, and then realised that the two parent buzzards were also keeping an eye on him.  He was being handed his territory, which consisted of the Lansdown race course and all its surrounding fields.  After that I would see him on his waiting posts for small rodents in the long grass, or hunting a particular field for worms.  He was exceptionally tame and always slow and majestic in his walk.  Once he seemed to follow the car from the race track down to a favourite wood as I opened the door of the car he flew in and settled in the tree above me agreeing that the place was too crowded.

Magnificent creatures, slowly wheeling overhead, that there existence should be threatened by the Tory estate millionares, to follow the demise of so many other birds such as the golden eagles in Scotland beggars belief..

This is a gentle rant, read George Monbiot on the subject ;)