Time marches on, and spring along with it. The heather clad slopes still look a dull winter brown, but the bilberry is growing apace, and is a stunning bright, fresh green, in contrast to the heather. The first cohort of chicks is beginning to appear out of the nests of stonechat, dipper, grey wagtail, meadow pipit, etc. And the male green hairstreak butterflies do battle with each other over the bilberry on sunny days.
Last week I took a group of college students for a guided walk on the estate. The weather was a bit wet and windy, and got progressively worse as we went up the moorland track. Try to imagine the scene: I’m doing my hardest to try and enthuse them with the joys of the uplands, but people are getting wetter and colder all the time. The cloud level is low, and then, suddenly, there’s an adult male hen harrier working his way along the slope just above us.
He seems to make light work of the conditions, gracefully taking the very wet and blustery conditions in his stride. By now most people are watching him intently, and a quiet buzz of excitement is apparent in some of them – this is one of the rarest breeding birds in England. Then, as suddenly as he appeared, he’s gone into the cloud.
These are the sort of moments I really enjoy, when you least expect something, you are rewarded for your patience.
Patience seems to be the key word this year. Last time I posted we had three nests with eggs confirmed, but this has crept up to five now, and we believe we have six nests – the heavy rain as I write preventing us from confirming this last one. Whilst we are still locating new nests, our first nest should now contain at least one or two chicks, and we will know for sure how many by the end of next week.
The first merlin nest of the year has also been located. This small falcon nests slightly later than many others, with egg laying usually starting in the first week of May.
Hopefully have a few more nests to report next week!