Inhaltsverzeichnis für April 2017 in Bird Watching

FOR MANY if not most birders, and I include myself among them, spring involves a process of relearning birdsongs, of ‘getting your ear in’ all over again. But, as we show on page 26, that’s part of the fun of it, and learning to listen for birds will enhance your overall birding experience (and boost your #My200BirdYear list). Elsewhere we take closer looks at two species, Yellowhammer (page 34) and Woodcock (page 71) that are facing a challenging future. Our countryside would be the poorer for the loss of either, so getting to know them better is an essential first step to saving them. Finally, take a look at our Gear section, on page 90. We’ve got a review of a great pair of 8x32 binoculars, a reader offer…

APRIL IS ONE of the most exciting times of the year. Bird movement is building up to a maximum, with migratory species rushing back to the breeding territories to get on with the mating game. And bird song is in the crescendo phase, as new-in migrants join the resident birds in the dawn chorus, or throughout the day. What a time to be out birdwatching! Here are five birds to brighten any April day. RARITY RATINGS Common, widely distributed Localised – always a treat Very scarce or rare REED BUNTING The Mitchell Beazely Bird Watchers’ Pocket Guide described the Reed Bunting as having an “irritating, tinkling song”. The song is repetitive and simplistic, but it is so much part of the ambience of a reed-lined wetland scene that it is…

“Their adaptability means it’s surprisingly hard to get a handle on how many breeding Mallards might be dispersed across different habitats” DESPITE BEING ONE of our most familiar birds, common or garden Mallards can occasionally pose an identification challenge. For generations, this species has been bred into an array of domesticated strains, which, as well as being different colours, can be much larger or smaller than true wild Mallards. Escapees will freely mingle and interbreed with their natural cousins, and this mixed stock can lead to wild ducks displaying odd characteristics, occasionally catching out beginner birdwatchers. In their wild form, drake Mallards are unmistakable, and, being both adaptable and habituated to humans, they are found in nearly all areas and habitats across Britain and Ireland, absent only from remote mountainous…

“The grass... looked too ‘summery’, the gravel too dry. And surely there has never been a Bluethroat in February, has there?” WHEN I WAS a young man, back in the mid 1980s, in the days of free university education and student grants, Interrailing in the summer holidays was, if you will pardon my French, de rigueur. For about £120 (which seemed cheap even then) you could travel just about anywhere in Europe (apart from the still Communist east, if I remember rightly) for a month. It was September 1985 when my friend Simon and I headed off to have a look round Europe on a shoestring. Naturally, I wanted to do a bit of birding, and armed with a copy of Gooders’ Where to Watch Birds in Europe, persuaded my…

Birdwatchers are being urged to help map breeding records of the declining Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Numbers of the sparrow-sized birds have fallen in recent years, and it is now on the UK Red List. RSPB research suggests the birds have not been breeding successfully. Now, two conservationists, Ken and Linda Smith, with more than 30 years experience of monitoring woodpecker nests, are hoping to build a clear picture of where the birds are and how well they are breeding. They began their research in 2015, and have followed 10 nests each year, but in 2017 they hope to be able to study more. Now is the time to look and listen out for these birds. In March, Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers are more obvious, with the birds calling and drumming to…

BIRD BILL RESEARCH Citizen scientists have helped researchers uncover new secrets about the evolution of bird’s bills. Researchers at the University of Sheffield asked the public to help measure bill shapes from more than 2,000 species, 3D scanned from specimens at the Natural History Museum and the Manchester Museum. Using the crowdsourced data, the team were able show that the diversity of bird bills expanded early in their evolutionary history. The most unusual beak shapes often involved periods of exceptionally fast change, but once extremes were reached, the changes to bird bills over time became much smaller. Members of the public logged onto the website markmybird.org, which allowed anyone to access 3D models of the bills. RAISE A GLASS TO GROUSE The Famous Grouse is toasting the success of its…

1 BIRKS OF ABERFELDY Woodland and water birds are plentiful at this popular site in the Highlands 2 CARSAIG Strangely underused by birdwatchers, this lovely site offers the visitor a wealth of birds to enjoy 3 SCARBOROUGH See migrants and nesting seabirds around the cliffs of this classic beach resort 4 BRECHFA POOL A site noted for its flora and plants, it is also home to Mute Swan, Coot and Lapwing nests, among others 5 CHALKNEY WOOD A lovely woodland spot to enjoy some spring birdwatching. Look for Fieldfare and more! 6 BROADMOOR COMMON This ‘warblers’ paradise’ also offers yellowhammer among its regular birds 7 BREDON HILL Prominent landmark makes a great place to look for grounded spring migrants 8 HORN HILL Enjoy tremendous trees in wonderful woodland on this…

THIS WAS MY annual holiday destination as a kid, but why did I not know how great the bird life was here? Scarborough has the best Peregrine site in Britain, housed in a Kittiwake colony. You are so close you would think you would need a license to stand on Marine Drive and look at it! A voluntary scheme is put in place during the breeding season to show walkers birds in the area, which also include, of course, breeding Kittiwakes, Fulmar, Herring Gull and passing migrants like Black Redstart and Yellowbrowed Warbler. Castle Hill is another amazing spot, not just because of its history, but because it’s a magnet for drawing migrants like Red-breasted and Pied Flycatcher, Pallas’s and Radde’s Warbler and Redstart. I even travelled here many years…

THIS IS A SMALL reserve in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) alongside Haugh Wood, and a warbler’s paradise. Essentially, this is an area of grassy heath but with damp hollows, lots of scattered trees with patches of Gorse and Hawthorn thickets, which the Yellowhammers enjoy. There are also patches of oak and birch woodland and the walk is extended to bring in some hillside and woodland with conifers and a stream to add to the interest. There are one or two good sites nearby, so you could spend the whole day here! Back to the common, listen for the Grasshopper Warbler, watch for a hunting Barn Owl or a roding Woodcock. The whole area is known as the Woolhope Dome where millions of years ago the whole area…

EXMOOR, A LAND of exposed, weather-beaten heights and deep combes, has been shaped by nature and people for centuries. Designated a National Park in 1954, it straddles the county boundary between Somerset and Devon, with the larger part of the moor being in Somerset. The River Exe rises on the Exe Plain at the heart of Exmoor, meandering its way through Somerset and Devon before finding the sea on the East Devon coast. The higher-reaches of the young river, just outside Winsford, are fast-flowing and flanked by trees – a haven for birds including Pied Flycatcher and Redstart. The rock-strewn river bed is a favourite haunt of Dipper, where they can scuttle under the water and find a reliable supply of caddis fly etc on which to feed. Other wildlife…

DUSK SETTLES OVER a forest clearing. A Nightjar churrs. Tawny Owls clamour from the heart of a plantation. Then strange croaks and ‘tiziks’ carry across the sharp outline of the fading pines. There follows an odd, bat-like apparition. The bird flies with a comical lack of urgency. It appears to go round in circles – repeatedly travelling the same prescribed highway in the evening sky. Observers often watch with a sense of bemusement. This is, we might think, a very strange bird. A woodland wader that flies around like a bat, squeaking like a pig. We puzzle, we shrug, and we move on with our daily lives. But in recent decades, breeding Woodcock in Britain have dramatically declined in numbers and range. Now is the time to understand their world.…

1 Their pin feathers have been prized throughout history as fine paintbrushes, decorative fans, fishing flies and even mounted on silver sticks and used as stimulating sex aids. 2 Uses its long bill to probe deep for earthworms in soft ground. 3 Females have been seen to carry their young between their legs when threatened with danger. 4 Although a wader, the Woodcock lives exclusively in woodland and not on the shoreline. 5 Has 360-degree vision, thanks to eyes set far back on its head. 6 Chicks first fly at just 15-20 days old. 7 Can be left without a food source in deep snows or hard frost. 8 If flushed, they will fly off in a swift and whirring zigzagging motion. 9 The ‘woodcock moon’ is the first full…

BELFAST IS NOT the first city that you would cite as an urban birding Shangri-La but, as ever, it is often the least expected places that offer the best surprises. With a population of fewer than 300,000 people, it is a small city, despite being the second largest in Ireland. The city is near to a wealth of great birding sites, such as Lough Neagh, Rathlin Island and the Copeland Islands, so visiting birders would be forgiven for making a beeline elsewhere. An internet search on the birding sites within the city will only readily call up one site, the RSPB’s Belfast Lough, so holidaying birders would further be forgiven for thinking that Belfast was an ornithological one-trick pony. To be fair, Belfast Lough is probably the gem in Belfast’s…

NOVO T-SERIES TRIPOD KITS, FROM £219 (£179 LEGS ONLY) These carbon-fibre tripods have reversible legs for shorter pack-size, four leg sections, three leg angles and fast-release twist locks. One leg can be unscrewed and added to the centre column to create a monopod, the centre column can be reversed, and you can hang extra weight from a hook to increase stability. Available with a ball and socket head, or as legs only. The T5 weighs 1.42kg and extends to 1610mm; T10 1.78kg/1730mm; T20 2.29kg/1880mm. novo-photo.com KEEN MEN’S RIALTO H2 SANDALS, £89.99 It’s nearly sandal season and Keen make some good ones. The Rialto is put together in Oregon, has closed-toes, so offers some protection, is designed to fit the contours of your feet and has bungee laces for adjustment. The…

Ian Parsons highlights how, despite falling population numbers, with a bit of skill and patience, you could still see a lovely Yellowhammer. Page 34 Andy Mackay wants to let you into a secret – birdwatching’s secret language that is. Learn nicknames and other terms on page 42 Rosamond Richardson marvels at the arrival of spring, when nature bursts into life and birds sing to find a mate. Enjoy the season with her on page 46 Ben Macdonald throws the spotlight on wonderful Woodcocks, birds that he says, behave like nothing else alive. Read more on page 71 Dominic Couzens reveals the secret life of garden favourite, the Coal Tit. But how does it differ from its more colourful relatives? Find out on page 81 David Chandler lives it up in…

Once more we look into our birding crystal ball and make outrageous (and not so outrageous) guesses as to which rare bird will be grabbing the headlines this month. BELTED KINGFISHER In 2005, many birders thought an April Fool’s prank was being played when a Belted Kingfisher was reported on 1 April at Milford Staffordshire. But it was a genuine bird, though it did not hang around for long, instead turning up the next day at Eastrington, East Yorkshire and then on 5 April at Peterculter, Aberdeenshire (staying to 9th). On 22 April 2016 another Belted Kingfisher was reported on River Bann, Londonderry, Coleraine. How about another one of these mighty North American kingfishers appearing this month? CRETZSCHMAR’S BUNTING With only six accepted UK records, this one is a bit…

Find the location closest to your destination and add or subtract the hours and minutes from the high tide time at London Bridge, below. SOUTH WEST Weston-Super-Mare (+5:05) Barnstaple (+4:30) Newquay (+3:32) Falmouth (+3:30) Plymouth (+4:05) Torquay (+4:40) Bournemouth (-5:09)* Portland (+4:57) St Peter Port (+4:53) Swanage (-5:19)* Portsmouth (-2:29) Southampton (-2:53) SOUTH EAST Ryde (-2:29) Brighton (-2:51) Eastbourne (-2:48) Dungeness(-3:05) Dover (-2:53) Margate (-1:52) Herne Bay (-1:24) Southend-on-sea (-1:22) Clacton-on-sea (-2:00) EAST ANGLIA FelixstowePier (-2:23) Aldeburgh (-2:53) Lowestoft (-4:23) Cromer (+4:56) Hunstanton (+4:44) WALES Colwyn Bay (-2:47) Holyhead (-3:28) Barmouth (-5:45) Aberystwyth (-6:11) Fishguard (+5:44) Swansea (+4:42) Milford Haven (+4:37) Cardiff (+5:15) NORTH WEST Whitehaven (-2:30) Douglas(-2:44) Morecambe (-2:33) Blackpool (-2:50) NORTH EAST Skegness(+4:29) Grimsby (+4:13) Bridlington (+2:58) Whitby (+2:20) Hartlepool (+1:59) Blyth (+1:46) Berwick (+0:54) SCOTLAND Leith (+0:58)…

BIRDS OF PARADISE are facing a two-pronged human attack: the erosion of habitat caused by unsustainable logging and industrialisation, coupled with continued tribal hunting for their prized plumes. Now there are calls for more precise domestic laws to save these celestial birds. Birds of paradise, the Paradisaeidae, are a group of more than 40 species found in the tropical rainforests of Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and Australia. Their notable variety was induced by a combination of geographical isolation and vigorous sexual selection, and they play a valuable role in their ecosystems by dispersing fruit seeds, aiding regeneration of the ever-diminishing rainforest. But the populations of many species are shrinking. They’re hunted in New Guinea, as their plumes are integral to traditional tribal celebrations. Additionally, their pristine habitat is vanishing because…

RSPB Scotland has announced that a critical site on the Solway Firth has been secured for nature. More than 40,000 Svalbard Barnacle Geese migrate to this area every year, with a quarter of these settling at Mersehead RSPB. In October 2016, the conservation charity launched an appeal to raise £285,000 in just one month to expand Mersehead by 112 hectares and make an even bigger home for the geese, and other wildlife throughout the year. The public response to the appeal was outstanding, with many species set to benefit from the interconnected habitats created. Mersehead is home to the only Scottish population of the countrys rarest amphibian, Natterjack Toads, plus Yellowhammers, Linnets and Lapwings, and in autumn and winter it has Teal, Wigeon, Oystercatchers, Golden Plovers and Curlews. Over the…

Get in touch with Bird Watching Bird Watching, Media House, Lynch Wood, Peterborough PE2 6EA birdwatching@bauermedia.co.uk facebook.com/BirdWatchingMag twitter.com/BirdWatchingMag Short-eared Owl and Kestrel (and unfortunate vole) by Andrew Armstrong Camera: Canon EOS-1D X Mk11 Lens: 500mm Shutter Speed: 1/1,250 Aperture: f/6.3 Bonapart’e Gull by Seán Ronayne Camera: Canon EOS 40D Lens: 300mm Shutter Speed: 1/500 Aperture: f/5.6 Black Redstart by Steve Birt Camera: Canon EOS 7D Mk11 Lens: 500mm Shutter Speed: 1/500 Aperture: f/7.1 This juvenile Shag by Alan Heath was taken on his mobile phone on the banks of the River Mersey Little Egret by Don Davis Camera: Canon EOS-1D X Mk11 Lens: 300mm Shutter Speed: 1/3,200 Aperture: 6/9.0 Natural Health Service Receiving a cancer diagnosis is probably one of the hardest things in anybody’s life. In October 2016, I…

“To see Little Ringed Plovers arriving back from Africa is one of springtime’s great pleasures” THE SONG OF a lone bird floats out of the darkness, sleepy, faint. Gradually the solo grows louder. A March morning dawns as a distant bird answers. Another joins in. A crescendo builds up as birds of many voices add their sweet strains until a symphony of birdsong fills the new day. Signs of spring are appearing on the woodland floor after winter, there’s a feeling of light emerging from darkness as arum leaves spear through the leaf litter. The smell of the awakening earth. Every year from the woods, the signature drumming of the Great Spotted Woodpecker announces spring is here. One is a regular visitor to the feeders by my kitchen window, immaculate…

THIS IS A popular circular walk through wonderful mixed woodland on the outskirts of Aberfeldy. The burn falls through the gorge and provides a dramatic scene for you to enjoy, especially after the heavens have opened and the rainfall has to pass through the many gorges and over the many falls. Robert Burns visited in 1787 and was inspired to write the poem The Birks of Aberfeldie. The water is a magnet for Dippers and Grey Wagtails. Goosander may hunt the small Brown Trout, along with Grey Heron in the deep pools. The woodland is a great place for birdsong in spring, with Wood Warbler a must-see bird. Other warblers include Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Blackcap. There’s a good chance of seeing Crossbill if the cones have developed on the…

SURROUNDED BY AN area of common land, the pool is a Brecknock Wildlife Trust nature reserve and always worth a visit. When water levels are high, the edge of the pool reaches almost to the road, but even when low is still no great distance from the careful observer. Brechfa Pool is noted for its rich flora, which includes Pillwort, a Red Data Book species, mid-Wales being its European stronghold. Other noteworthy plants include Orange Foxtail Grass and Pennyroyal, while rafts of white flowering Water Crowfoot enhance the shallows. It’s amazing to think that Black-headed Gulls did not nest in Breconshire until the beginning of the 20th Century, though have now been known at Brechfa for many years, with up to 100 pairs on occasions. Mute Swan and Coot nest…

BREDON HILL STANDS proud within the Vale of Evesham, rising to nearly 300 metres, and lies within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The summit offers extensive views over the Cotswolds, Vale of Evesham and Malvern Hills, while earthworks are remains of an Iron Age hill fort. Part of the hillside is a designated SSSI and is notable for invertebrates, ancient trees and wildflowers. The Banbury Stone Tower at the summit (or Parsons Folly as it is also known) was built in the mid-18th Century for John Parsons, the Squire of Kemerton Court. The summit is a good migration watch-point (although a bit of a trek) during spring and autumn, when the area is notable for passage Ring Ouzel and Wheatear, while a good ear may pick out the…

LIVING IN KENT, and only a short drive from the Channel Tunnel terminal at Folkestone, the lure of a day’s birding in northern France is regularly taken, particularly during the spring. Book an early ‘shuttle’ and, just 35 minutes later, coastal Pas-de-Calais beckons with a chance of species that you could only dream of back home, such as Kentish Plover, Crested Lark, Zitting Cisticola, Bluethroat and Black-winged Stilt, and, if a hinterland wood is included in the trip, Short-toed Treecreeper, Middle Spotted and Black Woodpeckers and Willow and Crested Tits are also on the menu. The Platier d’Oye nature reserve is a half-hour drive east from Calais and covers 391 hectares of scrub, sand dunes, saltings, water meadows and old gravel workings, all protected by a broad barrier beach, home…

Open aspects, such as in glades and rides, or on more open moorland beside woodland, give a good field of vision, maximising the chance of escape when predators approach. They also provide a good arena for roding. Dense ground vegetation, such as bracken and heather, offers strong protection for nest placement. Nests are built on the ground, which makes vigilance against ground predation all the more vital. Woodcock will feed on nearby earthworms, spiders, millipedes and beetles. Woodland frontiers between damp, covered soil and open, leaf-littered nesting sites provide the two key environments for Woodcock.…

BLUE TIT, GREAT Tit, Coal Tit – the triplet of names trips neatly off the tongue. It’s easy to consider these three species as close associates. After all, they flock together, bicker at bird feeders together and compete for garden nest-boxes. But are they really so similar? Well, Blue and Great Tits parallels are striking. The Coal Tit, though, is another story. It is separate in a multitude of ways, some of which will surprise you. There is a strong argument to separate the three amigos into two plus one. Get a call from the Coal Tit’s agent, and you will be persuaded by numerous facts. One difference that every birder would quote is that the Coal Tit is more readily found in conifer trees. On the one hand this…

As the breeding season progresses, we birdwatchers can’t help stumbling upon the sorry sight of damaged, ‘empty’ eggs strewn on the garden lawn or out in the wider ‘field’. Birds’ eggs are predated by mammals including mustelids and Foxes as well as rodents, but most broken eggs found have been predated by other birds. Generally, it is possible to distinguish between mammal and avian predation. Mustelids such as Stoats may leave distinct teeth marks when they bite the shell. Rats and Grey Squirrels nibble the shell into small fragments, and Foxes will readily bite off the ends of the shell without crushing the rest. Invariably mammals completely clear out the contents. Bird predators (gulls, skuas, corvids, woodpeckers, owls etc) peck the eggs open, causing the shell to dent inwards, leaving…

APRIL MILDER EVENI GS SHOULD SEE SEVERAL BATS EMERGING, AND SOME – LIKE THIS NOCTULE – OCCASIONALLY EVEN STRETCH THEIR WINGS BY DAY, TOO INVERTEBRATE BRIMSTONE MOTH In March, I wrote about the Brimstone. So, too, this month. But April’s subject is not the butterfly, but the Brimstone Moth. Both lepidopterans are shockingly yellow, but the moth is much smaller and typically nocturnal. April sees the start of the its flight season. PLANT FRITILLARY An entire field of garnet blooms nods along in the spring breeze, each posing elegantly yet also poised like a serpent bent on striking. Welcome to a Snake’s Head Fritillary meadow. On ‘Fritillary Sunday’, an annual event in mid-April, private grasslands are opened for the public to admire the spectacle. Relish the collective, as fluctuating light…

“I knew kids who really believed that carrots grew in bunches and were shocked when they found out where milk came from…” THE QUESTION I see asked on local birding forums, more than any other, is “how do I get the kids interested in birding?” Some may take to birding like ducks to dabbling, but most will reach their boredom threshold after about 15 fidgeting minutes in a hide. The more they are encouraged to enthuse over the simple beauty of a rare brown blob doing nothing much, the more, depending on age, they are likely to pine for the X-box, Snapchatting their friends or excluding the real world by wearing earphones and focusing on a YouTube ‘epic fail’. The wild world is not what it was in ‘our day’,…

1 YELLOWHAMMER No apologies for starting with our cover star. Its song, commonly rendered as ‘a little bit of bread and no cheese’, illustrates the difficulties of describing birdsong, but once you remember that it’s predominantly about rhythm, you’ll start to find things much easier. That extended final note is the key. The whole thing is sharp and metallic, and repeated with great regularity. LISTEN FOR: That long last note – it might well catch your ear first, so work backwards from it if necessary. COMPARE WITH: Reed Bunting – Slower song, with notes considerably more discrete. Corn Bunting – Brief, fast jangle, like shaking a bunch of keys. 2 BLACKBIRD Many people’s favourite British birdsong, and with good reason. It contains considerable variation in its flowing, fluty phrases, which…

CARSAIG IS A wonderful find on Mull, as few birders seem to go here, so most things you find are unlikely to have been previously recorded. The road from Pennyghael is about 4.5 miles long and, like most roads on Mull, is a single track with passing places. Forestry is one of the first habitats you see with a mix of breeding Crossbill, Siskin and redpoll to look out for, while Buzzard and Sparrowhawk patrol the skies around. Large clear-felled areas will ‘grass’ up, providing hunting and nesting for Hen Harrier and Short-eared Owl. Approaching the cove, conifers give way to a mixed planting with some natural regeneration, especially of Hazel and birch. A few warblers nest here, with both Willow and Wood Warbler, plus Blackcap. Redstarts can use the…

I SUPPOSE EVERY ENGLISH – probably Welsh and Scottish, too – county has an unwritten list of quintessential little woodlands that everyone knows; the kind Miss Marple cycles past. Essex is no exception and there are plenty of suggestions for the most quintessential of them all! After time spent working in woodlands for a Wildlife Trust, a short while ago I concluded that ‘wood watching’ might very well be my favourite type of birdwatching. I love sitting on a discarded log or pile of coppiced branches watching the woodland world. Chalkney Wood near Wakes Colne fits my bill perfectly. I also hold it dear because it once gave me four woodpecker species on my list…yes, four! A recent October afternoon threw in a migrant Wryneck to my expected Great and…

THIS BIRDING WALK on the edge of the Chiltern Hills takes in a variety of wooded habitats from the parkland at Horn Hill Court, complete with magnificent cedars and old oaks, to derelict cherry orchards beside Bullsland Lane and adjacent high hedgerows. The Beech hanger area of the wood boasts a glorious show of spring bluebells, while a Larch plantation adds to the diversity. Mixed farmland, paddocks and hedgerows completes a typical Chilterns scene. While the likes of Hawfinch and Willow Tit are now absent, declining resident birds such as Marsh Tit and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker can still be found among a range of typical woodland species. Singing Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs should be announcing their arrival, while there’s a chance of a passing Wood Warbler or Redstart. Buzzard and Red…

THE BIRDS WE call LBJs are so familiar to birdwatchers, they have even attracted a question on University Challenge. A hurried “Lyndon Baines Johnson” cost one student’s team five points for an incorrect interruption. The other team floundered, while birders across the country shouted Little Brown Job at the TV. The term covers a broad scope of species, with the one proviso that they need to be small and brown. In general, that means they are most likely to be passerines, the perching birds or song birds (the order which includes about half of all our bird species). Here are six LBJs which you may encounter this month. All are regular British birds (no tricks). All should be identifiable from these photos. Give them a go, then turn for the…

RODING: Male Woodcock repeatedly fly a circular or oval circuit through a prescribed section of woodland. The deliberately slow flight is accompanied by clear vocalisation. TERRITORY: The roding circuits establish territory, although some overlap is tolerated between males. If a male is killed, another will often adopt the exact route within days. COMPETITION: In-flight interaction between two or more birds can often be purely between males – with one attempting to chase the other(s) from his circuit. CONTACT: Females, whose attention has been secured via the roding, will briefly join the males in flight. PURSUIT: Aerial interaction follows, with the male chasing the female and emitting high-pitched squeaking ‘pip-pip-pips’. DESCENT: The pair will descend to an already-built nest, or will construct one before mating begins. REPEAT: Females produce a clutch…

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This is the view you’d get of a female Montagu’s Harrier if you were one of its chicks, hungrily awaiting its return, or perhaps its unfortunate prey, which includes small birds and mammals, insects and lizards. This individual is bringing a songbird back to the nest, either caught by the female herself, or by her mate and then transferred to her by a mid-air ‘pass’. Only five pairs of this elegant harrier, similar to but smaller and slimmer than the Hen Harrier, bred in the UK in 2016, with most using arable crop fields like this one rather than marshland. A summer visitor, it spends the winter in Africa.…