About the project

This is a partnership project between Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council, Forestry Commission Wales and Wales Raptor Study Group.

The scheme offers a unique opportunity to view on-screen images from a honey buzzard nest in south Wales. Visitors can observe the development of the young chicks including intimate moments of feeding and behaviour.

A display area of photographs and information complements the viewing opportunity. Informative and friendly volunteers are on-site daily to engage with the public about the scheme and the birds.

There is no opportunity for viewing the honey buzzards in their habitat and we are keeping the location of the nest site confidential in order to protect the birds.

© Steve Roberts

The 2007 Season

On the 11th May the male Honey Buzzard appeared and began to refurbish the nest with fresh conifer twigs.
On the 22nd May the female joined her mate and the next building continued.

This is the first time the start of nest building of a Honey Buzzard has been witnessed in the UK.

• A live video feed of the 2007 nest began on the 20th June.
• 29th June - first chick hatches
• 2nd July - second chick hatches
• 9th July - both chicks doing well, the eldest is already beginning to lose its infant 'fluffy-white' appearance.
• 17th July - The two chicks can now feed themselves, taking larvae from the wasp nests the parents bring in. One chick is much bigger than the other, about twice the size.
• 27th July - The chicks have been ringed for monitoring purposes so you may see a blue ring on their legs. They both have their adult feathers growing now.
• 'The chicks flew the nest in the middle of August.  They will have started their migration to Africa in early September.

The 2005 Season

The project was successfully launched on Friday 15 July, 2005 at Afan Forest Park visitor centre in the Afan valley in Port Talbot. It saw hundreds of visitors and generated excitement and local support.

The female laid two eggs in June.

A first chick hatched on the night of Monday 4 July / early morning of Tuesday 5 July, but was sadly blown off the nest in high winds.

A second chick hatched on Thurs 7 July, growing healthily and we were able to show wonderful images of the female bringing in wasp nests and frogs to feed the youngster.

Throughout the entire duration of the project in 2005, the male honey buzzard was not been seen at the nest site.

Sadly, the remaining chick was predated by a goshawk.

The fact that rare and scarce birds are predated upon by raptors, including goshawks, is well documented. Although it is sad that the honey buzzard lost the remaining chick to a goshawk, it is unlikely to have had a significant effect on the honey buzzard population in Wales. In general, honey buzzard productivity in Wales, since the first nest was discovered in 1991, has been very good.

There are probably well over 400 goshawk pairs in Wales now (the actual number is unknown as there has been no complete survey). They are very effective predators and take a wide range of prey, including grey squirrels, but principally they take bird species such as carrion crows and wood pigeons.