Buteo sitting on a raised hide

I really like to watch and photography birds of prey and from time to time I get to see some of them either flying or sitting somewhere. This Buteo was sitting on a conifer near a wide open grassland where it was hunting. From time to time it was flying down and returning if it didn't catch something (probably a mouse). All Buteo species are to some extent opportunistic when it comes to hunting, and prey on almost any type of small animal as it becomes available to them. However, most have a strong preference for small mammals, mostly rodents.

I was happy that it didn't fly away eventhough I got pretty close to it. It is always funny how close you can get to birds like this when sitting in the car. But when trying to get close to them just by walking up to them they often recognize you as a human and flee.

Buteo usi8ng a conifer as a hiding spot for hunting. Picture: Florian Glechner.

At the Inn River I usually look for smaller birds and birds that can be found in the water. But Buteos are always a good type of bird to get a little bit more variety in different bird species that I photography on a day. Along with falcons or the white tailed eagle they are the birds of prey I look out when I visit the Inn River or the eastern part of Austria.