We recently took in a rather bedraggled young Buzzard. It was found stuck in the mud of the River Orwell, having been mobbed by the resident pair of Peregrine Falcons.
When it arrived, the mud had congealed on to most of its tail and wing feathers, so our falconers carefully bathed it in warm water to try and release it. This needed to be repeated a couple of times as the water quickly got very dirty!
Once clean, the bird was checked over before being put in a warm box to dry off. It was discovered to have frounce, a yeast infection which causes pain and swelling to the birds digestive tract. This is easily treated with the right medication, and it was given the appropriate treatment.
The Buzzard is spending some time in our aviaries whilst being treated for frounce, and will be able to build up some weight in preparation for the coming winter before it’s released.
During the 60s and 70s, Peregrine numbers dropped drastically, but they have recovered well and are now found in many new areas, including urban areas such as Norwich and Ipswich. Peregrines are highly specialised aerial predators and can easily tackle prey as large as themselves, such as pigeons and ducks. It is likely that this was a young bird dispersing that drifted into the resident Peregrine territory and was therefore being told to clear off.
UPDATE - We were pleased to receive this video of the Buzzard being released somewhere slightly less muddy by the original finder.