Somerset Bird News
Hi David,
Thanks for taking the trouble to share your interesting sighting. I've read through your description a couple of times and, from the information you've provided, you seem to be basing your identification on two key features: a) 'looked big of a Buzzard'; and, 'they hang in the breeze differently'.
Location and timing are also very useful pointers but probably there were additional features that you noticed (especially given your long experience) but didn't note down. You also state that the bird was quite distant from you and that it was a dull day, but it's not clear whether or not you were using binoculars (which can often provide 7, 8 or even 10 times as much information compared to the naked eye).
Unfortunately, overall size is not a useful feature to separate Common and Honey Buzzard because their biometrics overlap. And, as you probably already know, irrespective of training and experience, humans are not well equipped with sensory tools to allow very accurate size assessment at distance anyway.
Wind speed, temperature and topography can all affect air flows, which in turns dictates the posture that any Buzzard adopts to maintain a fixed point in the air. Sometimes this means no flapping is required at all, the hawk hangs almost motionlessly in the sky. In different conditions occasional flapping may be required and on other occasions a Buzzard may need to lower and fully spread its tail and flap almost continuously to maintain the lift required to remain static in the air.
Please review the attached two photos by clicking on the website link below. These two Buzzards are adopting completely different postures which could both be described as 'hovering' but the hawk without the fanned tail is probably more accurately referred to as 'hanging' in the air. This is probably the more frequently observed 'kestrel-like' behaviour exhibited by Common Buzzard.
Please also take a look at the following video produced by the BTO, which provides some excellent information on separating Common and Honey Buzzard:
http://www.bto.org/about-birds/bird-id/bto-bird-id-summer-buzzards-common-buzzard-and-honey-buzzard
So the posture adopted by Common Buzzards when hovering/hanging is largely dictated by atmospheric conditions, and varies greatly. By comparison, Honey Buzzards rarely hover except when displaying (but such behaviour is invariably accompanied by wing-clapping).
So if it wasn't a Honey Buzzard, could it have been something else? Given your clear impression (based on extensive experience of Common Buzzard over many years) that it was something different, I'm wondering if it might have been a Marsh Harrier. Although a Taunton Park and Ride is surely not what could be described as a typical habitat for this species 
, it's certainly possible. Late migrant Harriers are still arriving from the South and non-breeders can be seen anywhere in Somerset nowadays.
Size again is similar, but because their plumage is generally darker than a typical (if there is such a thing) Common Buzzard in our region, they can certainly appear larger on occasions. Marsh Harriers hover frequently but this behaviour tends to be done suddenly in short bursts, whilst they are on the move (much like you have described). The longer tail is generally quite noticeably but this is not always the case, especially if observing without binoculars.
In summary, I think Honey Buzzard can be firmly ruled out, but, given the clear impression you gained about it not being a Common Buzzard, I believe that there's a reasonable chance that it could have been a Marsh Harrier.
It might be worth you taking a closer look at Marsh Harrier in your ID guide and viewing some images and videos on the web with this in mind.
Not sure any of this will help but keep watching anyway.
Best regards,
Nick
