Weekend rapture

I am going to start my weekend early, as on thursday I set a new garden record of 10 circling Buzzards in the late morning. To be honest, I'm not sure what my previous record was, probably 4 or so, although my record for Hampshire is 11 a few miles away at Lee.
I was looking for early displaying birds at Lee a couple of weeks back as it was a nice day and came across 4, birds not displaying, but one behaving very aggressively, particularly towards one rather tatty looking individual. I managed a few rather poor shots of the high up raptors, and its interesting to see a Buzzard being knocked upside down by another. The very striking pale aggressor looked so much like a Rough legged Buzzard in markings and in its slightly more robust body, that I stopped photographing it to watch it hoping to catch a view of its back, but it wasn't playing the game.

I am pretty sure that this pale bird was one of my 10 on thursday, I am also pretty sure that it is just an unsually strikingly marked pale Common Buzzard although by no means certain. Its quite hard to believe its the same species as these two that were hanging about in the vicinity..

or this one with no tail banding whatsoever

Anyway, a very variable species which I could (and do sometimes) watch for hours. On saturday, glorious sunshine in the morning had me heading out into the garden pretending to do gardening. Fortunately I had my most important gardening tool with me, binoculars. Unfortunately I didn't have my second most important gardening tool with me, a camera, as the batteries were on charge in the kitchen. Weeds were the big winners as Buzzards came over in ones, twos, threes and fours, much to the distaste of two Sparrowhawks, and I was treated to some excellent low views and great interactions before recording a total of eight Buzzards all circling together.
After a while they had all dispersed and disappeared and I wandered up to the shed with full intentions of grabbing a hoe. I glanced over the wall, and sat on a television aerial 4 houses up was a spectacularly powerful looking raptor. I did a double take and mentally pinched myself. No, I wasn't dreaming or imagining things, it was without doubt a Peregrine. A first for me here. I ran indoors, grabbed the batteries out of the charger, fumbled about trying to fit them upside down, and eventually ran back up the garden. It was still there. However, as I readied myself, my shirt sleeve caught on a cut off branch of a now dead creeper which had been growing on the garage wall which sprang back against the wall with a sound like a pistol shot. Peregrine gone. And I was frustrated for the rest of the day.
Sunday's gardening was more organised. Camera charged and ready on the garden table, eyes in the sky and not on the vegetable beds. Disappointingly two Buzzards passed over very high, and then nothing for an hour. Then a single bird circled over a bit lower which I tried to photograph really badly, but while I was doing so, two Sparrowhawks again arrived which were almost in range, so I concentrated on one of those

As I was looking through the viewfinder, another bird arrived, and.... hang on.... deep forked tail! Red Kite! Another first for me as a garden spot although I have seen them on a couple of occasions locally.

So all in all I am giving up going birding in anywhere but my back garden where I am fully expecting tomorrow morning to see a couple of Gyr Falcons and a Golden Eagle.