Fife man Gordon Baxter watched in amazement as a large buzzard carried a weasel right over his head.
Gordon was walking at Falkland Estate last week when the bird of prey sank its talons into the mammal and made off with it.
Buzzards catch their prey on the ground and have been known to eat weasels but it’s not a particularly common sight.
Gordon managed to capture a few photographs of the weasel hanging from the bird’s claws but said it was gone within seconds.
The weasel ‘lost the fight’
“I was heading back towards the stables when a buzzard suddenly appeared round the trees carrying a weasel,” he said.
“Three seconds later they were gone, with the buzzard flying off round the hill.
“I know that a weasel may attack a buzzard, but this one clearly came off second best.”
Gordon, from Crail, added: “I think I could stand in the same place for the rest of my life and never see anything like this again.
“I was just lucky that I managed to get three half-decent photographs.”
The weasel was dead.”
Gordon considers himself fortunate to have seen the bird carrying its dinner.
“The weasel was dead. Its flesh was actually ripped,” he said.
“I was talking to a guy who is a professor of biology and he was saying a weasel would actually attack a buzzard.
“It clearly lost this fight.”
Weasels can grow to around 12 inches long and weigh around a pound.
They have sharp claws and are known to be ruthless killers, attacking rabbits and even large game birds.
What do buzzards eat?
Buzzards are the UK’s most common bird of prey and they are not picky eaters.
They normally enjoy small mammals such as voles, mice and shrews.
But they are known to also eat bigger animals like rabbits and even other birds.
Frogs, snakes, weasels, rats and even hares also make it into their varied diet.
The buzzard population has quadrupled since the 1970s and it is now a common sight in the countryside around Scotland.
In 2018, Tom Davidson from Ceres was repeatedly attacked by a buzzard as he jogged near his home.
He was dive-bombed dozens of times in what he said was a “terrifying incident”.
The RSPB said aggressive behaviour from buzzards towards humans was rare.