Montagu Harriers

JohnC6

JohnC6

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Montagu’s Harrier chicks tagged for the first time in UK

www.rspb.org.uk www.rspb.org.uk

"Inside a patch of barley crop, generously left by the farmer as habitat for Britain’s rarest raptor, is a Montagu’s Harrier nest. This is one of only two (known) “Monty” nests established this year in the whole of Britain. Located roughly one kilometre apart, both nests are home to three chicks fathered by the same male mating with two females. For months, the RSPB has monitored these nests at a secret location to conserve this migratory species that flits in and out of national extinction.

This was featured on the national news this evening and the reporter was on site with an RSPB officer .As he concluded the piece he said that the worry now is that the combine harvester driver won't see the nest. Yet..in the article, the section I've posted here, it states at the outset."Inside a barley crop ,generously left by the farmer for Britain's rarest raptor, is a Montagu Harrier's nest".
 
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Those combine harvester drivers are worse than efin taxi drivers and white van men.

;)
 
I hope "Britain’s best kept wildlife secret" remains secret after the TV feature.
 
TimHughes said:
I hope "Britain’s best kept wildlife secret" remains secret after the TV feature.
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I did look carefully and there were no identfying features in the landscape. I do wonder why the RSPB take the chance of notifying the media. Maybe to boost donations.
 
Even if the details of the location were not published there is enough information to give the location away to anyone who knows their trade. A patch of standing barley in a field where the rest of the crop has been harvested is a dead giveaway. The way that farmers operate these days is to have the stubble ploughed, harrowed and drilled within days of the bails having been removed.
 
Clive K said:
Even if the details of the location were not published there is enough information to give the location away to anyone who knows their trade. A patch of standing barley in a field where the rest of the crop has been harvested is a dead giveaway. The way that farmers operate these days is to have the stubble ploughed, harrowed and drilled within days of the bails having been removed.
Click to expand...


Well, that may be the case, but there's a lot of barley in the UK. That site may have been known to a few local birders but not to the great majority. One hopes that those who did know the location kept their mouths shut.

Personally I found the article that JohnC6 linked to was very interesting, and probably contains more information about a rare species than the RSPB normally put out.
 
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