Harrier Madness
71 Pallid Harriers counted from Shuamta alone. The bird in the photo is an adult male Pallid Harrier. Photo by Bart Hoekstra.
B-A-T-U-M-I!
The best day of the season on Station 2! So far. Mixed groups of Black Kite, Honey Buzzard, Marsh, Pallid and Montagu's Harrier everywhere since the morning, making it challenging but also highly interesting to keep track of the numbers, species and different age/sex combinations. Birds were often close to the station, especially male Pallids gave very good views. The true highlight of the day were Marsh Harriers - we counted the highest number of Marsh ever recorded by the BRC (also the best total among all the counts on Trektellen): a 814 birds. Both stations combined, it makes more than 1200 individuals of this fascinating species counted today by our team.
Adult female Pallid Harrier. Photo by Bart Hoekstra.
The more Marsh Harriers you see, the more you appreciate them. Photo by Triin Kaasiku.
The view from Station 2 - especially nice on a misty day like today. Photo by Bart Hoekstra.