Somehow we have reached June. It certainly doesn’t feel that way sitting out on the hill, last week I was out there fully waterproofed up with fleece and woolly hat and it felt like March ... the lack of harriers just added to that feeling. The only thing making it feel like it really was June was the brood of fledgling ring ouzels I had the pleasure of watching flying about, dropping in and out of the heather with their parents keeping a watchful eye out.
To read Andre’s blog about harrier nests with young gives me a heavy feeling in my heart. A year ago I blogged about the opportunity to view footage of a hen harrier nest at the Bowland Visitors Centre Beacon Fell and yet today I can only report that the last harrier seen in Bowland was on the 23rd May.
The last news from Stephen Murphy (Natural England), was that female 74843 is still alive and well. She has dramatically reduced the mileage she's been putting under her wings and has been residing back in North Yorkshire where she spent the winter.
Other species continue to keep motivation levels up, the first merlin chicks of the season hatched over the weekend, the peregrine chicks are growing strong and ring ouzels, especially in the Langden valley are a joy to watch ... it’s almost hard not to spot one up there at the moment!