Buzzards are majestic birds, but they are also rather messy eaters. I discover this as I watch – in amazement – as one feasts on a pigeon just a few metres in front of me.
We are in a hide in a secluded woodland that forms part of a sprawling farm full of wildlife.
Sitting comfortably behind one-way glass, we wait quietly for the buzzard, which nests close by, to visit.
It flies in briefly, but is spooked by some dog walkers passing by in the distance high up on a ridge.
Buzzards are, thankfully, a common sight in the UK now. They are the UK’s most common and widespread bird of prey, with the RSPB putting the breeding population at between 63,000 and 87,500 pairs.
Despite this, it is hard to get a really good look at one, as they are generally - and wisely - wary of getting close to humans and have very sharp eyesight. Typically, we might spot them soaring above us, their wings in a shallow V and their tails fanned, or perched on a fencepost at the side of a road.
My previous attempts at photographing buzzards have been well, underwhelming, to say the least. Some flight shots against a blue sky, a few on distant posts… nothing to do justice to this fantastic bird.
But my chances of doing so are about to change. We spot a buzzard sitting high in a tree, looking around and then calling to another bird.
It then stretches those large wings and swoops down to the plucking post in front of us.
Des Ong, the wildlife photographer who established this remarkable hide with the help of farm manager Chris, has urged us to be very cautious when the bird first lands. As we witnessed earlier, it can be easily frightened off, so any noise from within the hide could scupper our chances of a prolonged visit.
Before long, the buzzard begins its task of plucking its meal and a mass of feathers soon accumulates below it.
Then it begins to feed. It’s an extraordinary sight as it works its way through the pigeon. I’ll spare the details for those still trying to enjoy their breakfast, or of a delicate disposition, but suffice to say it was a lesson in pigeon biology.
Along with the two others enjoying this hide experience with me, I’m rattling off photos, capturing every detail of the bird’s mealtime, and shooting video. It’s a rare privilege and sometimes I just stop to watch, stunned by the view in front of me.
I enjoy trying to capture feathers flying, the bird eating a morsel of meat, and the moments when it spreads its wings, which span more than a metre.
We watch for about half an hour as the buzzard feeds, at one point dropping on to the grass, surrounded by the feathers it has plucked.
Then it’s off, and we assume the spectacle is over.
Rainclouds rush in overhead and it becomes almost apocalyptically dark. A tremendous downpour begins, pounding the top of the hide.
To our amazement, a second buzzard flies in. Its markings are different to the first and it is here for the leftovers. With raindrops gathering on its feathers it gorges on the remains of the pigeon for about 10 minutes before there is little left to eat. In nature, nothing goes to waste.
The clouds clear and the sun reappears in time for the return of the farm manager, who picks us up in his 4x4 and asks us if we had enjoyed our visit.
But our experience is far from over.
After a packed lunch back near the farmhouse, with horses and goats for company, we walk to the second hide, just a few steps away.
It is now about 3.30pm in the afternoon, and we are hoping for a visit from another of the farm’s resident birds of prey - the kestrel, a species that has declined since the 1970s, and is now on the Amber list. The RSPB says there are 31,000 breeding pairs in the UK - and at least one pair live on this farm.
The hide has scrim netting on the front and a Perspex frame at the front with a hole through which we poke our lenses, training them on the branch and posts in front of us.
We wait patiently and a male kestrel, with its beautiful grey head and reddish back, flies in and lands on the branch.
Kestrels are famously seen hovering, their heads remarkably still in flight, on roadsides as they hunt for their prey - typically voles and other rodents, although they will also take beetles, which they can spot from 50m with their remarkable eyesight. Their ability to see in ultraviolet light means they can even spot the urine trails of their prey.
Here, Chris has left them some food to encourage their visit, and we are once again treated to a much closer view than you might normally enjoy.
The male stays for a few minutes before flying off, but we are treated to two more visits from the pair that call the farm home before it is time for us to take a break.
As the light begins to fade, we return to the same hide for the final session of the day.
In a tree above the branches which the kestrel has just visited is one of the barn owl boxes on the farm. A live camera feed enables us to see the barn owls stirring.
It is not long before we see three of these beautiful ghostly white birds begin their nighttime activities. One lands high in a tree, then takes flight over the fields, just out of view - presumably hunting. We see one with a large rodent disappear back into a box.
And then, finally, what we had been waiting for. A barn owl silently flies in, landing on the branch in front of us, which is cleverly lit to enable us to capture photographs of this most striking of birds.
Another barn owl – or possibly the same bird – visits again later, affording different views.
And just before 11pm, when the lights are due to go out, we are treated to a third visit.
It is the end of a quite magical experience, offering prolonged, close-up views of birds of prey. It’s a wildlife photographer’s – and nature lover’s – dream scenario.
You can book a session in the buzzard, kestrel or barn owl hides - or a combination - at desong.co.uk. The farm, near Market Harborough in South Leicestershire, is about an hour away for photographers in the Cambridge region.
Captivating Nature - How Des Ong helps photographers enjoy incredible encounters
Wildlife photographer Des Ong runs the hide experience as part of his Captivating Nature business.
“I was born and raised in the Malay peninsula. I was brought up on the edge of the rainforest and the nature and wildlife stuck with me. What you experience as a child shapes you, I think,” says Des.
Having come to the UK as a teenager to study hotel management in the 1980s, Des found he was drawn back to his love of animals and entered the pet industry as a product manager.
“We were doing things to improve the lives of pets and that got me excited. It was very successful,” he said.
“One of my special areas was keeping tropical corals in captivity,” says Des, who also studied marine biology with the Open University. “I was doing a lot of work to enable aquarists to reproduce coral in captivity and writing articles for magazines. There weren’t any stock images to support them because it was a specialist areas, so I thought, how difficult can I be? I’ll do it myself.
“I realised it wasn’t just point and shoot. Being a very curious person, I decided to do City & Guilds photography in the evening and I got hooked. Any spare minute I got, and at weekends, I would go out and photograph wildlife and nature.”
In 2011, Des decided on a career change.
“I thought why not try wildlife photography as a profession? I had a go initially organising trips to Malaysian Borneo - the top half of the island - because I was from that area and spoke the language. I was able to fit in my family while I was there on an extended trip.
“It gradually progressed and now I do trips all over the world.”
From a private two-person trip to Kenya to photographing the endemic wildlife of Madagascar, and a seven-day adventure in the Carpathian Mountains to see brown bears, Des leads photographers on some extraordinary tours.
“Being a small company I try not to do what everyone else is doing,” Des notes.
A good example is Des’ tiger tour.
“Everyone goes to central India, which is cheaper and a lot of tour operators go there. The infrastructure is a lot more mature, so it’s easy to get about. But there are many, many people who go there. In a reserve, when a tiger is spotted, 20 vehicles can descend on them and they practically surround the tiger. But the tigers are not as easy to see because the paths are quite big,” says Des.
“I go to southern India to a reserve that has the highest density of prey animals so it supports a very good tiger population. They restrict the number of vehicles, so at any one time we’ll see about half a dozen at most. I work with a local photographer who is really experienced. We also have a very good tracker.
“On the last trip I had a guest who has been to six reserves, and he said ours was the best by a long way.”
Between trips abroad, Des offers visits to his hide and provides workshops with advice if needed.
“It’s an arable farm and I met the general manager years ago and he asked why not come and take some pictures? I fell in love with the place. About a quarter of it is woodland. I said why don’t we set up some hides?” recalls Des
The buzzard hide has been running since 2016, with the kestrel and barn owl hide added later.
“The owner is very supportive and wants it to be wildlife-friendly, and it brings income to the farm too,” says Des.
“We put food out to encourage them, but we don’t use live prey and we minimise human contact. What we put out is only enough as a supplement - they still go out and look for food. We are sensitive about their needs and welfare.”
[Read more: Night of the owls - An extraordinary wildlife experience in South Cambridgeshire]
Love nature? Look out for our Nature coverage inside the Culture section of the Cambridge Independent.
