Harrier gathering

 

The Harriers at the settling beds have been performing superbly over the last couple of weeks. I've been trying to get down at dusk as often as possible - mainly to get a glimpse of the Hen Harrier - but in the meantime hte Marshies have been putting on quite a display. The other evening I experienced a great gathering, in the company of a couple of avid Ely10 fans, Sally and David. Always hard to count without missing the beauty of the individual birds, we had over a dozen birds up together at any one time, and at one stage most of them seemed curiously interested in one small patch of reeds. The whole spectacle was full of different interactions - individual birds chasing others, some birds suddenly dropping low, others circling at height, while in the distance more birds were arriving on casually bowed wings. 

A ragged blanket of mizzly rain drew close as the skies darkened - could it be that the oncoming weather had prompted an increased urgency to find a suitable roosting spot? On fine evenings, the birds seem to arrive unhurriedly and drop into the reeds only when darkness obscures their movements. Windy evenings see the appearence of perhaps a certain 'nervousness', as the birds spend a long time patrolling the roost site - as if to make doubly sure there are no dangers hidden by the white noise and interference in the rustling reeds.

The Hen arrived just before 4pm, and did its usual brief back-and-forth, just above reed height, before dropping into its usual roosting spot. As per usual, a tantalising view that ensured I'll be back before too long.