I have been off this forum far too long! This is the first of a series of short single-species updates.
Regular visitors to the reserve with be aware that a pair of marsh harriers have nested again. However, we think they are different birds from those that reared four young last year. The male appears to be a year older than last year's male would be this year, and the female is behaving very differently.
The male has been bringing food several times a day, young rabbits being his favourite. The usual pattern is that he flies over the reed bed, the female comes up to meet him, he drops the food for her to catch, and then she takes it to a feeding area before returning to the nest. However, last night she flew straight to the nest, which means that the eggs have started to hatch. Now we wait to see how many young appear in about 5 weeks time...