Pallid Harrier at Dungness RSPB - 3rd October 2023

I was sitting at the screen on the ARC Pit, RSPB Dungeness and about to leave, when a Harrier species, either Montagu's or Pallid flew in front and off to the NW.  The light was unhelpful so I couldn't clinch the identification, but my gut said it was a Pallid Harrier.  I was immediately worried we'd never see it again and never know for certain.

On the opposite side of the pit, at Hanson Hide where Richard Watkins was located, I watched as he strained to get a look at the bird.  Had me seen enough?  I messaged him to find out what he'd seen, but he didn't see the message.  I rushed around the other side to talk with him and met him on the path to the car park.  He was as excited as I was.

At some point in the excitement we both sent message to the local birders to let them know.

We agreed that it definitely wouldn't be a Hen Harrier.  I asked where there's a good spot to go scan the area.  Richard was already thinking about that and replied up the road at the "triangle" Cockles Bridge.   

We drove up there in his car to discover Owen Leyshon had already arrived and scanning the fields.  Next to arrive was John Young, then soon after, Martin Casemore pulled up.  We had just glimpsed the bird go to ground behind Hookers Pits on the reserve. 

It was decided that we should get to the Lydd track behind Hookers Pit on the main reserve asap as that would be the best place to catch up with the bird if it stayed put.  So, we rushed over there and after some tense minutes saw it rise and fly on a little way towards the West, eventually disappearing behind Heron's Park recreation pits.  However, this had allowed Martin to take the photographs that would clinch the ID as a juvenile Pallid Harrier.  A real team effort!  I'm glad they were all able to come out look for the bird as quickly as they did.


Photo by Martin Casemore


It ended up being seen from time to time over the next eight days or so, although appearances were hard to predict.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

EASTERN BONELLI'S WARBLER at Dungeness - 25th May 2025 - Rarity finder

Image
Discovery of  Eastern Bonelli's Warbler  at Dungeness, 25th May 2025 During one of my regular patrols/ censuses of the Dungeness Bird Observatory Recording Area, (at around 0940), I was alerted to an unusual song at the southern end of the DBO "trapping area".  At a distance, I first thought it might just be an odd sounding Lesser Whitethroat, but as I got closer the more it reminded me more of Bonelli's or even a Wood Warbler.   Although, at first, it remained hidden from view, the bird continued to sing at regular intervals, allowing me to track it along the outskirts of a tree line.  I began recording the song and tried (through the intermittent phone signal), to send it to DBO assistant warden Jacob Spinks to get his input from internet searches.  Finally, after 5-10 minutes I glimpsed the bird and recognised it as a Bonelli's type.   It showed for about a minute whilst exploring some of the less foliated branches, and that's when I manag...
Read more

European Birding Tour in a Campervan

Image
2019-2020 European Campervan Tour Between March 2019 and July 2020, I travelled Europe in a camper van, on a birding trip visiting 23 countries along the way.   I got caught up in lockdown in Spain in 2020, and was confined to a studio flat in Benahavis for several months, therefore missing the last leg of the trip - a trip up the East coast of Spain during peak Spring migration. I managed to see 398 bird species during this time, getting over 360 of those on the "van list". In early Spring 2025, I made the missed Spanish East Coast trip on the way back from Morocco. Here are the four links to the poorly written trip report of that journey. Part One    Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland Part Two   Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland,  Part Three   Czechia, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Germany, England, Wales, Scotland. Part Four    France, Spain, UK and Systematic List (t...
Read more

Spurn and East Yorkshire - Autumn 2025 - Part One - Needle-tailed Swift

Image
I arrived at the Kew Villa campsite on the evening of the 22nd September, where I was booked to stay for the first week.  A leisurely stroll turned up a Jack Snipe  on Canal Scrape that first evening.   Next morning, my first 85 Pink-footed Geese of the year were seen heading South, no doubt, on their way to North Norfolk.  2000 Red Knot were amongst the 61 species noted over the course of the day. A Hawfinch  flew over the road outside Kew Villa on the 26th. Due to the lack of Easterlies, it was a relatively slow start, which remained the case through most of the Autumn, but there were at least some better days to come.  In the meantime, I met the Bird Observatory staff, locals and hard-working volunteers with their energetic approach to the census and habitat management tasks that's required of them. Spurn is a special place, visited by a large number of birders throughout the Autumn, a number of whom of whom live in the area.  Many have retire...
Read more