Plenty of hen harrier sightings but still no pair just about sums it up, I'm afraid. We are now in the last chance saloon for this season. Thanks to a remarkably dedicated cohort of volunteers, on-site monitoring has been both thorough and discreet. We have had at least one watcher covertly monitoring the site for at least a part of every day since mid-February so we haven't missed much, despite the ubiquitous and wearying wind that has accompanied us almost every day for over six weeks now. Despite the project area being elevated, exposed and lacking shelter at the lookout locations, the volunteers have stuck it out whatever the weather and could not have been more conscientious.

After the three March appearances (two adult females and an adult male mentioned in my previous blog) we have had five sightings in April. Four of these were female ringtails (one of which was immature), the fifth an adult (possibly sub-adult) male. On the basis of the most detailed observations and notes I could make at the time, I conservatively estimate that, so far this season, we have had at least four different individuals on, over or immediately around the site. However, as (bad) luck would have it, we have never had more than one bird at a time in the vicinity. If I was paranoid and subscribed to anthropomorphism I could almost suspect a hen harrier conspiracy against us.

Seriously though, as far as I am aware there isn't a single known breeding pair of hen harriers anywhere in Northumberland so far this year, and we must ask ourselves why not. Lack of suitable ground is emphatically not the problem - Northumberland alone could accommodate many tens of pairs. Likewise, lack of food sources or poor Spring weather cannot be blamed. The problem is simple, stark and obvious: lack of numbers. As to why - I'll come back to this vexed question at later date, so watch this space....