The blogging baton has been passed my way this week as Mr Quintrell is currently enjoying a well earned break down in sunny Cornwall. So, for this week I thought I'd update readers on a few of Radipole’s star species.
First up are our well watched Marsh Harriers. We’ve already said about them breeding at Radipole and we have also gone through Harrier identification so for this post I’ll take you back through the last three weeks and dish the dirt.
On the morning of April 1st our ‘new’ female turned up at Radipole. The following afternoon war broke out but this soon turned to flirting as mentioned in Nick’s blog on 20th April. The following week nest building started. Firstly the birds were carrying larger sticks which would make the base and bulk of the nest; then grass and moss was being brought in which suggested that eggs were imminent. This proved true on the 21st April when all went quiet over the reed beds. There was no sign of the female which is actually a good thing as she would be spending most of her time incubating the eggs.
Birds of prey lay eggs in two day intervals but start incubation as soon as the first is laid. This means that they will hatch at two day intervals which results in there being chicks of different sizes. If food is hard to come by during the summer the larger chicks will eat the smaller one which allows at least some chicks to survive and hopefully fledge the nest when fully grown. This all seems quite gory but its nature’s way of getting through difficult times.
Since the 21st we’ve seen the male bringing food in for the female which is something you really must get down and see. They pass the food from one to another in mid air which is predictably called a food pass. This spectacular show occurs several times a day so with a bit of patience you can see this from the North hide.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on developments over the next few weeks and we’ll be sure to keep you updated.
Male Marsh Harrier taken from the North Hide just after bringing food in for the female.
Picture by Allan Neilson