Thanks to volunteer Phil for his report & photos
Recent Sightings Friday 24th November – A very special moorland visitor
A few weeks ago I wrote an article for this webpage about the successful comeback of the marsh harrier. Little did expect that in just a few weeks I would be writing an article about it’s close cousin the hen harrier. However on Friday the reserve was host to one of these magnificent birds which provided some wonderful all day viewing on both the North and South Brooks.
The hen harrier is a bird of prey which in the UK breeds on upland moors, where it can find plenty of cover, and food in the form of small mammals and birds ranging in size from meadow pipits to grouse. In past times it would also take free range chickens from which it derives its name. Their diet can include red grouse, which brings them into conflict with intensive grouse rearing for shooting practices. Hen harriers had been persecuted to extinction as a breeding bird on mainland Britain by 1900, but managed to recover their population naturally. However, ongoing illegal killing and disturbance threatens to drive the birds to the brink once more. In 2013, hen harriers failed to breed successfully in England for the first time in almost half a century and in Scotland, their numbers fell by 20% between 2004 and 2010.
Various studies have been quoted about how management of moorland for grouse shooting benefits other bird species, but other evidence points to problems of deforestation of our uplands in favour of heather causing flooding problems due to excessive water run-off. I won’t try to debate these issues here but suffice it to say that RSPB is committed to basing its environmental and habitat management practices on thorough reputable scientific research. It is currently running a Hen Harrier LIFE Project which can be summarised as follows
Working cross-border to secure a future for one of the UK's most beautiful and threatened birds of prey. Running until 2019, the LIFE project combines satellite tagging, on-the-ground monitoring, nest protection, investigations work, awareness-raising; and working with volunteer raptor field workers, landowners and local communities to protect hen harriers across northern England and southern and eastern Scotland
This is a short extract from another page on this site where you can read more
http://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/conservation/henharrierlife/
While the hen harrier is under threat it does appear to be less so on some of the offshore Scottish Islands such as Mull and Orkney, where I have seen them before.
This is actually the 3rd autumn in a row that we have had a visit from one of these rare birds, so in a sense it is not unusual as they do migrate south for the winter. Nevertheless it caused a lot of excitement and several visitors said to me that it was the first time they had ever seen a hen harrier. It certainly turned the day into a very special one for most people who saw it. Here are a couple more photos, this time taken by Chris & Juliet Moore (-thank you).
It could be seen quartering over most of the reserve, being seen on North Brooks outside Nettley’s Hide and perhaps more often from West Mead, and Winpenny where I had my closest views.
The bird was a “ringtail”, a term commonly used to denote either an adult female or a juvenile which share the same generally brown plumage. The adult male is a very pale slightly blueish grey with black wingtips. The most obvious feature, and one which can be spotted quite easily from a distance is a prominent white band that goes across the base of the tail which is also present in the male but is much less obvious.
The name “ringtail” refers to the barring on the tail which becomes more evident when it hovers or wheels and spreads its tail feathers. The next photo is not sharp but it gives the impression well enough.
This spectacular barring on the tail and the underwings give the hen harrier much more interesting looking plumage then the female and juvenile marsh harriers. The similar but smaller Montagu’s harrier, at the most northerly of its range in the UK and thus very rare here, also displays this barring in females and juveniles and is also sometimes referred to as a ringtail.
Another fascinating feature of the hen harrier is its rather owl-like face which gives it acute hearing, helping it to find prey on the ground. You can just gain a sense of the face in this photo.
The bird drifts relatively low to the ground when hunting, in many ways rather like a short-eared owl.
When I could tear myself away I was able to find a good set of waders on the reserve. Black tailed godwit numbers seem to be slowly on the increase – I counted 61 on the North Brooks which was more than recorded on the WeBS count earlier in the week. A few dunlin were present, along with a distant little stint occasionally visible from Winpenny. The single redshank seen last week was still on the North Brooks, and several snipe once again were showing in typical cryptic fashion in the favoured spot in front of Nettley’s Hide. A green sandpiper put in an appearance on the North Brooks and several ruff were present, as they have been throughout the autumn. I was finally able to take a recognisable photograph of one on the North Brooks.
I found my first fieldfare of the season perched high in a tree.
A few redwings were also in the same flock and several perched on the ash tree near the path junction to Nettley’s Hide, which is better known in late summer as the brown hairstreak master tree.
A small group of fallow deer were to be seen right outside Nettley’s Hide, one showing off its hind quarters.
And to round off a wonderful day the sun started to emerge as the afternoon progressed, producing once again a beautiful evening sky.