Great news! We are now showing live film from an occupied hen harrier nest. Engineer Peter Mackay, along with Alan Leitch and Brian Ribbands were out on the West Mainland hills yesterday installing the camera with it's solar powered battery. The weather was perfect - dry, calm and not too hot for tracking through the heather.
The female hen harrier is sitting on a clutch of 5 eggs and we are expecting them to hatch some time next week over a period of days. The females we have filmed in previous years have almost all managed to rear 4 chicks to fledging so I am hoping this year will be no different. Orkney has upwards of 80 breeding females, the male being polygamous which means he often has more than one mate. Orkney is therefore vitally important to the continued survival of this magnificent bird of prey, especially when you consider there was only one successful nest in England last year.
This is the 7th year we have installed a camera on a hen harrier nest with the live film showing in the Tourist Information Centre. Although there were some technical hitches in the early days, the HD camera we now use produces superb picures. I was in the VIC this morning and the film was attracting a lot of attention from passengers from the cruise liner the Carribean Princess, currently on call in Kirkwall. So, if you are passing through Kirkwall, do drop in and have a look at what is going on in the nest.
Wher's the link to it?
Home again, home again.
Check it: http://sarahwestsblog.blogspot.co.uk/