Harriers

Harriers are among my favourite raptors, but their fortunes are constantly changing and they are subject to many pressures as most people will know, hopefully. It was a Hen Harrier that re-started me birding. I had done some as a youngster and went on holiday at the age of thirty to Scotland, having always kept an interest but been far too busy with the usual distractions to actually do any birding. However, you can't go to Scotland without looking at the wildlife, and we were lucky enough to see a beautiful male Hen Harrier, a rare sight even then. My then wife, Linda and I made a decision to take up birdwatching on that day. 


 At around that time you would go to Minsmere and there used to be a chap in the hide who would call up any sighting of a Marsh Harrier, it was the only place in the UK you could see reliably see them and there were about six pairs in the country. Their current status is well-known, and they are a familiar sight at many wetlands throughout England. We have had them sat in the field at back of our bungalow, although as a breeding site it would be more suited to the enigma that is Montague's. 


 Monty's have never increased their numbers in the same way, but have given birders the run-around for years, currently there are no known breeding birds, but I don't think we've seen the last of them. They have changed their breeding habits to include crop fields, and given co-operation from local farmers have succesfully raised young in the not too distant past. However they are migratory, and given hunting pressures on migration and their wintering grounds many don't return, although a few are still seen every year.

When I started birding there were a few "secret sites" where they could be seen, I think I saw my first in the New Forest. However the most well-known sight for many years was at Wootton, on The Wash near Kings Lynn. Usually distant, but on occasion wandering birds gave spectacular views. I once went there in my lunch-break and one flew across the road right in front of me, about twenty feet up! There were lots of Marsh Harriers around, and I'm not sure everyone ticked the correct species on occasion. There was subsequently a period when birds bred at various locations around The Wash. One "secret" site gave good views, there is a story of a photographer being arrested for venturing out on to the saltmarsh in an attempt to get closer. Locals would have told him the area is used for bombing practice by the RAF, perhaps he should have had a metal-detector as well as his camera! A bit further round the coast was the site where many people had their first views of these beautiful birds, when the RSPB set up an observation point at Frampton, just previous to the actual reserve being established. Before that sites were kept secret, although most local birders got to know. I used to sell photos at In Focus Titchwell, and had a photo of a male there (at an undisclosed site). The local RSPB reserve asked them to remove it because so many people were asking them where it was taken.                                                                         The semi-secrecy continued when birds moved to arable sites in Norfolk, these sites were wardened and they were quite happy to see a trickle of birders, provided no-one entered the fields. The last site I visited had at least two recently-fledged young flying around, I have only seen migrants since. They are on the edge of their range, whether climate change will see them breed again we can only hope. 


 The story of Hen Harriers is well known, and at last numbers seem to be improving slightly. I cannot understand the mentality of those who would kill such a beautiful bird to protect another species, whose numbers are artificially maintained, so they can kill them as well. Try photographing them in flight instead, it requires far more skill (grouse, not harriers). Most English birders only see wintering birds, and there used to be quite large roosts in many places, sadly at present there are ones and twos, but they are readily seen in winter, albeit often distantly. Every time I visit Frampton I hope for one to overfly the reserve, it does happen but thus far never when I've been there, although I regularly see them over the saltmarsh. There used to be a regular wintering bird at Sutton Bridge, near Peter Scott's old lighthouse, maybe one day it, or its offspring, will return.                                               There have also been a number of records of Northern Harrier, the most of any American raptor here. There was an article in BB as long ago as 1985, before the two were split, so it is obviously a fairly regular vagrant.

A birder starting out in the last ten years or so cannot know the excitement and disappointment that has been caused by Pallid Harriers over the years. When I began birding seriously my trusty Shell Guide (which we all used before Collins) listed three records, the latest being an immature shot in Yorkshire in 1952. Then, in 1993, there were five records, although only one was known of at the time, a two-day bird on Shetland. So most birders thought we would wait another forty years. Then in 1995, a steady trickle of birders visited a bird on Orkney. Although the bird had arrived on 18th April, it mated with a female Hen Harrier so news didn't get out until June, and even then sightings were erratic. However that didn't stop Ron Johns spending a week there after it was presumed gone. He had been in Madagascar but such was the kudos of the bird he gave it a go, and was right to have done so, it was seen again in September. Another record followed on Shetland in 2001, but there was an accepted sighting by two observers at Bramford Water Park near Ipswich in 1999. It wasn't suppressed, just never seen again. So hope grew for those of us that were unable to travel to northern islands. A bird in Norfolk in 2000 raised hopes, but although many saw it, including a top birder who was familiar with them but didn't want to be involved in the controversy, it was eventually photographed and shown to be a juvenile Monty's. I personally think the "wrong" photo was published and that it was a Pallid Harrier, but it really ceased to matter as a long-staying juvenile turned up on Christmas Eve 2002 at Stiffkey, staying until March 2003 in the area. However this was preceded by a 3rd year male at Elmley, which got the species on most people's lists. There were a further five records in 2003, and the bird has become annual ever since, except for 2008. Most records are immatures, but surely they will breed one day. Sadly the reason for so many records is loss of habitat in the steppes, I went to the breeding area in Kazakhstan in 2022 and the sight of a ghostly male drifting over the grasslands is something that will stay with me forever. 


 I've never got brilliant photos of Harriers, even abroad, but it's great to keep trying. Have a look at the raptors gallery https://www.aabirdpix.com/gallery.htm

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