Bowland's first harrier chicks of 2011

27 May 2011

Well, what a week it has been here in Bowland, we have had just one day this week that has felt like ‘spring’, the rest of the week the Bowland fells have been shrouded with cloud and been subject to heavy rain and at the beginning of the week, extremely strong winds. It can’t have been easy out there for our Hen harriers.

There is lots to report since my last post, with the exciting news being that we have our first chicks of 2011! On the first (and only) fine day this week, I decided to go up and check on the nest where young were due to have hatched. After just 30 mins of watching, the male arrived with food which he passed to the female. She did a very short flight around the nest before dropping onto it with the food confirming the presence of young. All being well, this will be the nest that will host the camera that will allow us to show recorded images of a harrier nest at the Lancashire County Council’s Bowland Visitor Centre at Beacon Fell. This has been running for the last four years and is a partnership between RSPB, United Utilities, Lancashire County Council’s Countryside Service and Natural England. The kit has been tested and is working well so I’ll let you know once it’s operational!

At the end of last week, I went up onto the fell with the RSPB’s Bowland assistant warden to watch one of the nests to ensure all was well. After a couple of hours of nothing happening we were suddenly swept up in a flurry of activity. A food pass was received by the female who sat off the nest to feed before spending a bit of time flying up and down above the nest, presumably having a bit of a wing stretch. During this time the male disappeared but just a couple of minutes later we were watching three male harriers clashing in mid-air! The tussle didn’t last long before they all went their separate ways, but it was a sight to see and great to know that there are at least 3 males in the area providing for four females.

Unfortunately there is also some sad news to report. Since the last time I posted, one of our 6 nests has failed. The female was not seen for a number of days and on inspection of the nest site she had indeed deserted so we are now down to five active nests on the UU estate. But you’ll be pleased to hear that all five of those are, as I write, doing well and we are expecting more young to hatch next week.

So there are some of the ups and downs of harrier monitoring! Fortunately there are more ups than downs and it is a real pleasure to be employed to monitor these magnificent raptors in Bowland.