Northumberland 16 March: What happened to the 2008 Northumbrian chicks?

If you followed the progress of the Northumberland hen harrier juveniles in 2008, you may be wondering what happened to them once they fledged that summer. Well, here’s an update…

In 2008, five female chicks successfully fledged from the only known hen harrier nest in Northumberland. This nest was one of just ten successful nests in the whole of England last year and represented 15% of England’s hen harrier chicks last year.

The juveniles were ringed and the eldest two, Rainbow Dancer and Blue Sky (named by the local school, possibly after My Little Ponies?) fitted with radio transmitters. This enabled their movements to be tracked during the winter, providing valuable data to a number of organisations.

Where did they go?

July 2008: Cruising Northumberland

In mid July, both tagged juveniles stayed within a 20 mile radius of their nesting site in Northumberland. By the end of the month the sisters had parted company. We have not picked up any signals from Rainbow Dancer since August 2008, but her sister has been on quite a journey…

August 2008: Harrier Holiday in Lancashire

By the middle of the month Blue Sky was hanging out in Lancashire. She must have liked it there because stayed for a few weeks before heading home to Northumberland.

September 2008: Scotland Calling

At the end of month our trackers picked up a signal from Blue Sky along the South West coast of Scotland.

November 2008: On the Road Again

If that wasn’t enough travelling, our girl popped up in Warwickshire before heading back to a favourite patch in Bowland, Lancashire.