Possible Osprey sighting at Hawkridge Reservoir 13/1/15 3.30 pm It was perched upright in trees opposite car park then flew low across water. Saw it 1/4 hour later gliding across water in reverse direction. Visibility was extremely poor (sleet and rain) so may have been a buzzard as I have never seen an osprey before.
Well done for recording your sighting and for posting the details in such a clear and honest manner. At this time of year our Ospreys should be on the wintering grounds, primarily in West Africa. So, as you suggest, the hawk you saw was most likely a pale more Common Buzzard
However, not all birds read the guide books, or at least follow the statements contained within them, so the possibility of an Osprey in Somerset in January (albeit highly unlikely) can never be ruled out completely.
For information, Robin Morrison (a regular contributor to this MessageBoard) published some excellent images of a pale morph Common Buzzard on his Flickr feed, captured in Somerset just a few days ago. Please cut and past the following web address into your browser (and scroll down half the page):
www.flickr.com/photos/68911555@N03/
Or click on the website link at the bottom of this message.
Thanks for the information, I hope that I have not misled people by my first (and possibly last) post. My wife and I were parked there hoping to see the Mandarin Ducks with no luck but visibility was very poor.
I suppose that it was the very light colouring of the breast area and the darker band that could be seen across its chest that caused me to think it could be an Osprey. However, in my defence my optical equipment consists of an 8X21 binoculars (given free when joining the National Trust) and the weather was awful. I appreciate now, that the time of year and the great variation in colouring of buzzards would prove it much more likely to have been a buzzard.
Just back from 90 minutes spent at Hawkridge Reservoir during a window in the rain showers. No sign of an Osprey but on arrival I located a Common Buzzard perched in trees at the edge of the Reservoir near the SW corner. It flew around twice whilst I was there, calling, so almost certainly it's home territory. It was a medium morph individual but with a particularly contrasting pale and dark breast-band, so just possibly the hawk you saw?
Species seen:
1 Common Buzzard - present throughout, perched in different trees and soaring around low, calling.
1 Sparrowhawk (adult) - flew over lazily into the stiff SW breeze.
Also:
7 Mandarin Duck (3 male and 4 female) - tucked in close to the bank mid-way along the NW edge of the Reservoir, directly opposite the main lay-by.
2 Great Crested Grebe
4 Little Grebe
33 Mallard
2 Teal
1 Moorhen
2 Raven
120+ Jackdaw - single flock wheeling around quite high up.
Please don't be put off posting observations on here in the future. No problem if you're not sure of the identification. A brief description of plumage and behaviour is helpful, plus a suggestion of what you think it might be is fine. There's plenty of people who will do their best to provide help and guidance.
