Buizerd Buteo buteo met allure van Wespendief Pernis apivorus

In 2005, an exceptionally late onset of laying in a Common Buzzard pair from the southern Netherlands was detected. A nest visit on 1 July showed an incubating Buzzard, but no signs of faeces were yet visible underneath the nesting tree. During the second visit on 2 August, an almost fully-grown nestling was seen (estimated at 35 days old, with some downy feathers on the head). This back-calculates to an estimated start of laying of 23 May or even slightly later. In the records of the Dutch Raptor Group, in 1984-2004 only 1 pair was found to have started laying after 20 May (out of 8295 pairs). To avoid misunderstandings: the breeding bird and the nestling were really Common Buzzards, not European Honey Buzzards Pernis apivorus !