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'Ever watchful'. A Male Marsh Harrier, Circus aeruginosus...Surveying the reed bed and hanging on the wind in the late afternoon golden sunlight. East Yorkshire. Before breeding, a pair will undertake aerial displays including a sky-dance comprising of deep undulations, with the male making mock attacks on the female. Aerial food passes take place as the male drops prey to the female that she catches in mid-air.
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Marsh Harrier Notes:
The courtship of the Marsh Harrier is certainly a sight to behold - wheeling and tumbling through the sky, male and female partners lock talons in mid-air. Look out for this rare bird over reedbeds in Yorkshire, East Anglia, Somerset and the South East.
Species information
Category: Birds of prey
Statistics
Length: 48-55cm
Wingspan: 1.2m
Weight: 540-670g
Average lifespan: 6 years
Conservation status
Classified in the UK as Amber under the Birds of Conservation Concern 4: the Red List for Birds (2015). Protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981.
When to see
January to December
About
The Marsh Harrier nests in large reedbeds where it feeds on frogs, small mammals and birds, such as moorhen and coot. Once very rare, it has recently spread from its stronghold in East Anglia to other parts of the country where reedbed habitat is found. Although the marsh harrier is typically a migrant bird, arriving here to breed in April and leaving in October to winter in Africa, an increasing number are choosing to overwinter in the UK. During the breeding season, males perform amazing courtship displays, wheeling at great heights then diving towards the ground while performing a series of tumbles; sometimes the female will join him and they will lock talons mid-air.
How to identify
The largest of the harriers, the Marsh Harrier creates a distinctive V-shape in the air by holding its wings up. Females are chocolate-brown with a golden-yellow crown and throat. Males have a brown back, gingery belly, pale head and neck, and long, grey wings with black tips.
Distribution
East Anglia, South East England, the Somerset Levels, parts of North West England and parts of East Scotland including Loch Leven and Loch of Kinnordy
Habitats
GrasslandFreshwaterFarmlandCoastalWetlands
Did you know?
In 1971, after years of persecution and habitat loss, only one nesting female remained in the whole country. Today, after decades of conservation effort, there are nearly 400 pairs in the UK. TWT Notes.
'Springwatch' is a wildlife TV programme in the UK.
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Photos and textures used are my own.
Dunnock - Prunella Modularis
Our garden
Many thanks as always to all those kind enough to view fave and comment on my photos.
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A young badger I filmed back in May tucking in to raisins, the soundtrack is provided by a young woodpecker looking out of its hole above me.
Edit:
My short Badger video has made it's way on to the 'BBC Spring Watch twitter' page... I've added a link here and at the bottom of the comments.
Just love the tones...... Been to reedbeds at all different times of the year, late spring though and you get these gorgeous colours which change with the light... Just add a bird & I'm ecstatic!
Please see Suffolk April 2017 album. www.flickr.com/photos/wendycoops224/albums/72157682818547896
This Comma has been hibernating in a family members garage, but they are about to have the roof repaired so we have transported it into my greenhouse and hopefully less disturbances in the coming months. The male Comma is slightly darker than the female, and both sexes have a brighter golden form called Hutchinsoni, which is produced by the earliest caterpillars that developed in spring.
Fulmar in flight at Bempton Cliffs.
Although they are gull-like, Fulmars are "tubenose" (having large, raised nasal tubes), more closely related to albatrosses.
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I always advise people not to trust the fungi one finds in Epping Forest - here is a good illustration why. These flies visit a variety of unsavoury places before alighting on edible oyster mushrooms.
A truly great spring for wildlife as we now head into the wonders of summer
Black-Necked Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis)
RSPB St Aidens
Many thanks as always to all those who view my photos. Your comments and faves are very much appreciated and welcome.
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Please see Local Birds & Wildlife 2017 set www.flickr.com/photos/wendycoops224/albums/72157677498251730