Do you remember me telling you about that satellite tagged male hen harrier, which was loitering around the Fens? Well, within 48 hours, it was back in the north west of England, near the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve at Martin Mere, in south west Lancs (thanks to Natural England for the info). Brilliant! Oh, and thanks to whoever pointed him in the right direction!
Never mind 73584 (his satellite id), as he is affectionately known… things are really beginning to happen here in Bowland now. In the last two days birds have been seen at five different sites on the United Utilities Estate. Hurrah!! Things were still looking very quiet at the beginning of the week, and I don’t mind saying that I was getting a little concerned as the days advanced towards April. However, things are beginning to look up.
Given the sunny weather (though still a bit chilly at 400m above sea level) I had hoped that there might have been a little bit of sky dancing by the harriers, but so far nothing to report on that front.
The first ring ouzels have been reported on the estate today, and wheatear are, I understand, in the country in good numbers, though I’ve yet to see one. To my mind this is the most exciting time of year, with such optimism for what the spring will bring in terms of arriving migrants, new growth and the production of young of all types. I even get optimistic about the weather, remembering those long, hot summers of my long gone youth! Or was that just a figment of my imagination?
Unfortunately (grumble, gripe), I’ve been stuck at my desk all this week trying to finalise lots of different things before I allow myself out onto the hills. One of these tasks was sorting some jobs for our hen harrier nest viewing scheme, which we run with UU, Natural England and Lancs County Council. This involves a remote camera transmitting pictures of activity at a secret harrier nest site to the Bowland Visitor Centre, Beacon Fell. Unfortunately, for various reasons, we are unable to provide live pictures, and instead record the pictures and play them back.
Assuming everything goes to plan, we hope to be showing images by mid/ late May, when the eggs have hatched. Fingers crossed the birds nest in the ‘right’ place, the equipment works perfectly, the weather behaves, and doesn’t blow anything away, etc… I’ll let you know how we get on.
Anyway, hopefully more to report soon.
And happy Mothers Day to all the mothers reading this.
Pete