Sketching Buzzards

I sketched these buzzards some
years ago. They make such nice subjects to paint.

But recently I've been fascinated by a pair circling in the
valley below my studio and decided it was time to start a new
composition. It took me a long time to get up close to them. I set up
a feeding station in a valley close to my home and gallery in Thixendale, North Yorkshire, last autumn, and I am only just starting
to get the shots I need.

It took me a while to get them
feeding regularly but thankfully the process has had other benefits. It helped
me out with a problem I have living in a rural setting: rats. All winter-long I
battle with these unpleasant invaders. They come off the fields after harvest
and head for the house and outbuildings - even trying to dig down under the
bricks to tunnel their way in. I am against using poison because of the impact
it would have on the rest of the wildlife that thrives here and so my only
option is to trap them. It’s a nasty job, especially when it comes to disposing
of the carcasses.

Then I thought I could turn the
rats into buzzard-bait. Most birds of prey, except buzzards and red kites, find
rats too tough and even a fox will turn its nose up at one. But thankfully buzzards
are partial to them.

I fed the buzzards every day for
two months before I dared put up a hide without disturbing them. Even then my
first attempt scared them off. It took me another 10 days to re-acclimatise
them. Finally after three months, and 85 rats, I’d done it and they were
feeding there regularly.

I think this photograph could make
a suitable pose for a new painting. What do you think?