Sunday 17 April 2016

MONTAGU'S HARRIER & Red Kite - Axe Estuary

WHAT AN AFTERNOON!

I popped to Black Hole Marsh early afternoon to see if the Knot that Ian Mc found yesterday was still around. Sure enough it was still there, still in Winter plumage so a rather boring individual to look at. Two Whimbrel on the estuary from Tower Hide were the only other birds of interest, that is until I spotted a large bird of prey being harassed by a corvid over Bridge Marsh/A3052... It was a Red Kite! This is the second or third Kite to be seen so far this Spring so it was nice to finally spot one. I quickly sent out a message to the locals and then another raptor flew through my field of view. RINGTAIL HARRIER! Back to the phone to send more messages. A minute or two later Tim Wright phoned saying he and Phil were watching a probable Monties, and I said yes me too! Turns out they had seen Hen Harrier written on the board so knew there was something there, albeit misidentified. Although a visitor likely saw the bird first, it was still nice to pick it up myself without prior knowledge of it. What a jammy git - lucked into one in 2013 and now 2016 too! It's a shame the visitor didn't realise it was a Monties, would have been a terrific record for a visitor to get here, especially as this is a well-watched patch.

It went to roost early evening so hopefully it'll wait until light tomorrow morning before moving off. Here's a few pics. Please forgive the poor quality; it was half a kilometre away. Stunning colour on this individual, definitely better than the 2013 bird!










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