Live Pictures from Buzzard Nest
3 Chicks Hatched!!
If you go down to the Assynt Visitor Centre in Lochinver you will see a local Buzzard sitting on her cliff nest! A small camera has been carefully installed to relay real-time images to the Visitor Centre.
This is a brilliant chance to see the fascinating behaviour of Buzzards at the nest. The female laid three eggs, which is the average. Two eggs hatched on 16th May 2012 and the third on 18th May.
The parents have been bringing in lots of food. The food has been mainly field voles, but we have seen frogs, slow worms, mice, lizards, two blackbirds and a collard dove. There were initial worries that the smallest of the chicks was missing out on the food. However, they are all now doing really well and looking very healthy.
This nest is on a small crag not far from Lochinver on land owned by the community. The picture quality is superb, although on windy days the nest does sway about a bit.
All the activity at the Buzzard nest is proving to be a real hit with both visitors and locals alike. One day a number of folk were rushing up the stairs to look at an otter in the bay, then down the stairs to see the buzzard chicks having a bit of a scrap. Never a dull moment!
Assynt Tourism Group would like to thank the Highland Council Rangers, The Assynt Foundation, Scottish Natural Heritage, Ken and Lyn Fairchild and the hardy souls who helped carry heavy equipment a long way up mountains. The camera gear was installed by Peter Mackay from Inverness.
Andy Summers
Highland Council, Senior Countryside Ranger