Ever wondered what it would be like to be involved in round the clock protection of a rare breeding bird? With just three pairs of hen harrier nesting in England this year (there should be well over 300) we are at a point where their nests are so precious they need to be monitored 24 hours a day.
Over the course of the next few weeks, I will be posting a series of guest blogs from our Over Night Protection Staff in order to give you some idea of what it is like to be on the front line protecting England’s hen harriers.
Hi Folks,
My name is Ronald and I am one of the 5 hen harrier chicks in Bowland. I am just over a month old and quite new to all this blogging and social media stuff but I thought I would give it a go. My mum says I’m the first ever hen harrier to post a blog so let me know what you think.
I hatched about a month ago in a nest in a deep heather patch on one of the Bowland hills. I am a boy and have four big sisters so the nest is never quiet. It was them who called me Ronald for a joke because I was so small at first I was like a little runt. It wasn’t much fun being Ronald the Runt, but now that I am older they wouldn’t dare call me names as my beak and talons are quite sharp. At first the weather was really cold and wet but our mum kept us all dry and warm when it got really horrible. It was ok but my big sisters kept sitting on me and I kept getting squashed. It’s much better now that the sun is shining and I am quite strong now.
(C) Mick Demain - can you work out which is Ronald?
My mum looks after us most of the time and spends ages keeping the nest neat and tidy, my big sisters are so messy you know. Dad spends most of the time working away from home hunting for food and I only see him when he has caught something and brings it to mum. She feeds us and was careful at first to make sure my big sisters didn’t grab all the food. Mum’s older than dad and she keeps him working hard to catch food. He is still wearing his brown feathers and looks a bit like mum but smaller. His feathers are getting really tatty now so he is due for a new silver suit next season.
Mealtimes are my favourite part of the day and there is always plenty to eat, I like voles and meadow pipits best. The nice boys who look after us from the nightshift team bring us up extra food every day and leave it on a post a bit away from our nest. Mum says it’s called diversionary feeding (you can read more about it here). At first I wasn’t too keen on it and much preferred the stuff my dad brought us but I am quite used to it now. Mum and dad can be a bit cheeky as sometimes they will take food from the post and fly about with it for a while before mum brings it to us, I think they are just pretending to us that they have caught it to look cool. They tell me that we are famous, quite the stars of social media at the moment!
Anyway, must go, next time I will tell you about our new satellite tags and ID rings. Mum is bringing in food so I’d better get in the dinner queue!