Over the past 20 years buzzards have become a common sight in the skies, as they circle slowly in the thermals often with their mewing call.

I recall that in my youth you had to go into the lower Grampian hills to have any chance of seeing a buzzard, rarely seen on lowland agricultural ground.

The growth of the rabbit population has undoubtedly been a key to their success, but this dependence on mainly one animal, saw their population plummet after myxamatosis nearly wiped out rabbits. The population re-grew dramatically again until about 2010. Then a combination of the very severe winter of 2010, along with an outbreak of rabbit pox, has seen the local buzzard population in trouble again. Some areas still have reasonable numbers of rabbits, whilst others have very few.

Before 2010, I in common with others would occasionally ferret or shoot some rabbits to control their numbers, and damage they do.

Since 2010, I have done neither, and have become very tolerant of rabbits and am leaving them unmolested to build back their numbers for the sake of the buzzards, and to a lesser extent the kites.

Where before 2010 I had 3 nesting pairs in the vicinity of the house, since 2010 there is only 1 pair of skinny birds, and I don’t think they have bred successfully this year.