Hen Harrier proves a winter delight at Upton Warren

My favourite shot of the morning

Coming into land

Centre of attraction

Corvid gives chase

Stalking the east side reeds

Taking a look at the work done by the work party

Outside the hide

Ice bound Wigeon

Duck delight

A stroke of luck happened on the day before I was due to return to work when a Hen Harrier was present at the Moors Pool. The Alcester Squire and I landed in a busy car park around 9.00am before heading round to the east hide to grab the last couple of seats.

Two Wigeon, 50 Teal, Little Egret and a Grey Wagtail kept us entertained whilst we waited for a Harrier sighting. The first raptor of the day was a Sparrowhawk hunting around the concrete hide.

Then the real show began when the female ringtail Hen Harrier emerged from the west reed bed and hunted a full circle of the Moors reserve. Twice the Harrier flew straight past the hide allowing everyone to get some amazing views. The bird did land by Amy's Marsh where a local corvid took up a brave approach to investigate the new visitor and beat a hasty retreat when the Harrier had enough of this cheeky individual.

This was the 11th record at Upton Warren, my first at the reserve and in Worcestershire. Most of those records are immature female birds. It will be interesting how long the bird stays. The bird did fly north for a pre-longed period yesterday but apparently did return to roost. 

It was a real pleasure to see this beautiful individual so close to home and once again it shows how well the reserve is managed.