#hen harrier

[sugiichi]

Circus cyaneus [ハイイロチュウヒ,Hen harrier]

かなり近くを飛んでくれました💯🎉

[have-you-seen-this-animal]

Do feel free to ignore if you've posted these animals already, but I'd be curious to see how widespread some of my favourite local critters are! In no particular order,

Hen Harrier

Red Squirrel

Great Crested Newt

Sea Otter

Please feel no pressure to post these, I searched your blog but it's possible I missed some! Hope you have a lovely day, these polls really make me smile

All good! Sometimes the time period between a request getting made and it getting posted is large as well, so sometimes I just barely have already done something. Glad to hear the polls brighten your day!

Photos are of a female and male, respectively. Very fun sexual dimorphism!

[rulers-of-the-sky]

Hen Harrier

[dansnaturepictures]

Ten of my favourite photos I took in October 2024 and month summary

The photos are of; fly agaric at Matley Wood in the New Forest, shaggy scalycaps at Lakeside Country Park, Kingfisher at Blashford Lakes, Speckled Wood, Migrant Hawker, Mottled shieldbugs and view at Lakeside, autumn leaves in Winchester and Michaelmas daisies and New Forest Pony at Lymington.

October was a fantastic month of fungi for me. In the peak season I treasured seeing many spectacular, gorgeous and fascinating species including fly agaric, devil's fingers, amethyst deceiver, yellow stagshorn, shaggy scalycap, candlesnuff fungi, bleeding fairy helmet, eyelash fungi, parasol, turkey tail, earthballs, panthercap, false death cap, sulphur tuft and waxcaps. It has also been nice to see slime mould including red raspberry slime mould at a few places and lichen and moss.

I had a brilliant birdwatching month too with some special species seen heading well into autumn. Key species seen were a fair few Kingfishers, Water Rail, Great White Egret, Greenshank, Avocet, Lapwing, Jack Snipe, Sanderling, Common Gull, Pochard, Gadwall, Pintail, Wigeon, Shoveler, Teal, Goosander, Brent Geese, Egyptian Geese, Little Grebe, Marsh Harriers, Siskin, Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, lots of Jays seen in their active time of year, notable Ravens at Lakeside and home, Dunnock, Blackcap at Lakeside, Cetti's Warbler, Wren and Long-tailed Tit. Turnstones and Ringed Plover seen well, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Coots and Greylag Geese at Lakeside, Jackdaw and Magpie seen a lot, Red Kite in Winchester, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Chaffinch, Grey Wagtail seen well and Pied Wagtail were also great to see. Glorious scenes came this month with the return of the Redwings a key bird of the autumn and winter, I was elated to see a Hen Harrier and I was thrilled to see the Winchester Peregrines and Lakeside Great Crested Grebes including their chicks a lot.

There were some nice butterflies to see still with lots of Speckled Woods especially at Lakeside, Red Admiral and Peacock and I was amazed to see a Hummingbird Hawk-moth in Winchester as well as other moths. Dragonflies and damselflies continued to shine this month with so many splendid views of Migrant Hawkers and Southern Hawker and Common Darters too. My first Willow Emerald Damselfly of the year was special to see at Fishlake Meadows. Other insects I enjoyed seeing this month were Mottled shieldbugs and other shieldbugs, wasps and hornets. It was good to see lots of spiders this month too including Long-bodied Cellar spider at home and snails and slugs. In terms of mammals I enjoyed seeing the also active Grey Squirrels a few times, Roe and Fallow Deers and New Forest Ponies.

Key flowers seen this month included Michaelmas daisies, forget-me-not, comfrey, lots of oxtongue, dandelion, tormentil, bell heather, common mallow, white deadnettle, stinging nettle, daisy, water mint, vervain, viper's-bugloss, horseweed, common and ivy-leaved toadflax, hogweed, yarrow, hedge woundwort, ragwort, gorse, dock, herb-Robert and wood avens which brought some wonderful colour as it quietened down for flowers. Wild carrot, teasel, hemp agrimony and spear thistle were among pretty seed heads enjoyed this month with cleavers enjoyed too. There was also a great display of berries this month again with rose hips, hawthorn berries, guelder rose berries, dogwood berries, nightshade berries and snowberries creating vibrant scenes.

And of course this month the splendour of autumn's colour was captivating and wholesome to observe. I also enjoyed taking in many great other vistas this month including coast, reedbed and general wetland, rivers and New Forest heaths and woodland. There were some special sky scenes observed this month too. Have a great November all.

[strawberryjayne]

Photo by Robert So on Pexels.com

The results of the 2023 RSPB Hen Harrier survey shows an increase in numbers in places providing a safe home for these magnificent birds: The west Highlands, Hebrides and Orkney. The majority of Scotland’s breeding harriers are found in these locations. 

Persecution of hen harriers continues in other parts of mainland Scotland where satellite tagged birds have ‘disappeared’, mainly over areas of grouse shooting managed land.

[blogbirdfeather]

Hen Harrier - Tartaranhão-cinzento (Circus cyaneus): female

Vila Franca de Xira/Portugal (28/09/2023)

[Nikon D500; AF-S Nikkor 500mm F5,6E PF ED VR; 1/2500s; F5,6; 400 ISO]

[alexlynchwildlife]

Hen Harrier at Sunset in Cork ,Ireland

[finley-shenanigans]

Hen harriers my beloved

[ID: A photo of a Hen Harrier (A brown, hawk-like bird of prey with a flat face and a speckled chest. END ID]

Some people think that if a Hen Harrier perches on a house, three people will die. But they are also sometimes called 'good hawks' because they prey on rodents.

I love them so much and nobody I know in real life follows me, so here's a haiku :D

Airborne enchantress,

She exhales euphoria,

My heart is captured.

Is it bad? Yes! Do I give a monkeys? Not in the slightest!

[sugiichi]

Circus cyaneus [ハイイロチュウヒ,Hen harrier]

葦原をなめるように飛翔😁

[ciusagi]

Hen Harrier - 𝘊𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘴 [x]

2024‎.2‎.24.

[lexicals]

Oh man I just remembered I saw a flock of crows just absolutely harassing what I think was a hen harrier earlier (some kind of bird of prey regardless). The harrier was fucking booking it away too like bud what did you do

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

I think the reader's response to this post is probably going to either be "That's incredibly minor" or "Holy shit YES I'M ALSO PROUD", depending on people's personal experiences with academia, but:

Today I am incredibly proud of one of my students.

In the interests of disguising identities, let's call them Ceri. Ceri is one of my third year undergrads (meaning their final year, for anyone unfamiliar with UK uni systems.) They transferred to us last year, and within two weeks I was giving them the contact info to get to Student Services and get themself screened for ADHD; they have some mental health struggles, but I clocked pretty quickly that they STRUGGLE with procrastination, and punctuality, and attending 9am lectures in particular. Naturally, as is the way of my people, it took them a further four months to remember to go to the screening. Lol. Lmao. Rofl, in fact.

But, they did it eventually! Their screening lit up like a Christmas tree at the ADHD section, and they got a free laptop and optional one week extensions and a study support worker named Claire. This has helped tremendously, and although mental health + until-then-unsupported ADHD meant their academic profile had slid sideways somewhat, with the new tools available and a couple of resits they passed the year and hit this year running.

Until, that is, the last fortnight.

Now, I take them for a Habitat Management module that has two assessments: an academic poster presentation before Christmas, and a site-specific management plan in May. Naturally this means we are at that happy point in the year for the poster presentations. I give out the briefs at the start of the year, so they've had them since October; I've also been periodically checking in with them all for weeks, to make sure they don't have any major burning questions. The poster presentation was to pick a species reintroduction project, pull the habitat feasibility study out of it, and then critique that study; Ceri chose to look at the hen harrier reintroductions proposed for the southern UK. All good.

Which brings us nicely to today! Ceri's presentation is scheduled for 2.30. At 11am-1pm, I am lecturing the first years on Biodiversity, while Ceri is learning about environmental impact assessment with a colleague I shall call Aeron. This means we are separately occupied during those same hours.

Nevertheless, Aeron messages me at about 12.

"I think Ceri needs to see you after your lecture," he writes. "They're panicking, I genuinely think they might cry. I'm worried. Are you free at 1?"

I say I am. At 1, I get lunch and sit in the common area; Ceri comes to see me. To my personal shame, imagine all of the following takes place while I stuff my face with potato.

Now: this part is going to be uncomfortably familiar to anyone who has ever tried higher education with ADHD, especially unmedicated. It certainly was for me. All I can say is, I never had the courage to take the step here that Ceri did.

"I have to confess," they said quietly, and Aeron was right, they were fighting back tears. "My mental health has been so, so bad for the last fortnight. I've left it way, way too late. I don't have anything to present."

"Nothing at all?" I asked.

"I've been researching," they said helplessly. "I found loads on the decline of the hen harrier. But it wasn't until last night that I finally found a habitat feasibility study to critique. Generally... I've been burying my head about it, and it just got later and later. I thought I should come in for Aeron's lecture, and I should at least tell you."

This part is a minor thing, right? But honestly, I remember being in the grip of that particular shame spiral. I never did manage to tell my lecturers to their faces. I just avoided. I honestly can't imagine having the courage it took them to come in and tell me this, rather than just staying home and avoiding me.

"I think..." they said hesitantly, "I know I can submit up to a week late, for a capped mark. I think I need to do that, and apply for extenuating circumstances. But then I'll have both Aeron's assignment and yours due at the same time."

Which meant they would crumble under the pressure and likely struggle to pass both; so me, being as noble and heroic as I unarguably am, stopped eating potato and said, "Let's make that plan B."

(It was good potato. I am a hero.)

So, we made plan A: I moved their timeslot to 4.30, giving them three and a half hours. The shining piece of luck in this whole thing was that this was the crunch time assignment - if it had been Aeron's, they'd have had to try and write a 3000 report in that time. But for me, all they had to write was an academic poster, and those things are light on words by design. We found them a Canva template, and then we quickly sketched out a recommended structure based on the brief: if it's habitat feasibility, look at food availability, nesting site availability, and mortality risks in the target release site. Bullet point each. Bullet point how well the study assessed each. Write a quick intro and conclusion. Take notes as you go, and present the poster itself at 4.30.

"You think I should try?" they asked doubtfully, looking like I'd just asked them to go mano-a-mano with a feral badger.

"If you run out of time, so be it," I said. "But your brain is trying to protect you from a non-existent tiger. That's why you've procrastinated - it's been horrible, and you've been shame spiralling, and your brain is trying to shield you from the negative experience; but it's the wrong type of help for this situation! So while you're sitting there working on it, hating life, every time your brain goes 'This is hopeless, I can't do it', you think right back 'Yes I can, it just sucks.' And you carry on. Good?"

"Good," they said. "I'm going to mainline coffee and hole up in the library. Enjoy your potato."

And then, of course, I had to go and watch the other students' presentations, so that was the end of me being any help at all. I spent all afternoon wondering if they were going to manage it, or if I would be getting a message at 4.25 telling me they'd failed, and would have to submit late and hope for an EC.

And Tumblrs

Tumblrs

Let me FUCKING tell you

They turned up at 4.15, fifteen minutes early, wearing a mask of grim, harrowed determination and fuelled by spite and coffee, and they pulled up that poster and started presenting and yes, okay, I'll admit their actual delivery was dramatically unpolished and yes, they forgot to include the taxanomic name for the hen harrier on the poster and yes, fine, I admit that there were more than a few awkward moments where they lost their place in their hastily scribbled notebook but LET ME FUCKING TELL YOU -

They smashed it. It was well-critiqued, it had a map, it had full citations, it had a section on the hen harrier's specific ecology and role in the ecosystem, it had notes on their specific conservation measures. They described case studies they'd read about elsewhere. They answered the questions we threw at them with competence and depth. There was analysis. All that background research they'd done came right to the fore. They were even within the time limit by 15 seconds.

You would never have known they'd produced it in three hours, from a quivering and terrified mess fighting the bodily urge to dehydrate via tear ducts. After they left, the second marker and I looked at each other and went "So that was a 2:1, right?"

I caught up with Aeron downstairs and he was beaming. Apparently Ceri had seen him on their way out, and had gone over to talk to him. Aeron said the difference between the Ceri of this morning and the Ceri of then was like two different people; in four hours, they'd gone from their voice literally breaking as they admitted the problem, ashamed and broken, to being relaxed and happy and smiling.

"I reckon I've passed," they apparently told Aeron, pleased. "Maybe even a 2:2. There's things I wish I'd had the time to do better, but I'll be happy if I passed."

They won't know until late January what they got, because we're not allowed to release marks until 20 term days after hand-in, and the Christmas holidays are about to hit. But I'm really hoping I can be there when they're released.

But mostly, I'm just... insanely proud of them. I cannot tell you how happy I am. And I know, I know, obviously this is not a practice I would want to see them do regularly, or indeed ever again, and it only worked because they were fucking lucky with the assignment format, but like... when life is just punching you in the face, and you hit a breaking point... isn't it nice? That just this once, you pull off a miracle, and it's fixed? The disaster you thought was about to ruin you is gone? To get that relief?

Anyway. Super super proud today.

[dansnaturepictures]

The flight of harriers

Ghost like, the male Hen Harrier effortlessly glides across the landscape, a bird of supreme beauty. Quite otherworldly to witness its majesty, yet at the same time looking so in place. The ring-tailed female a sight for sore eyes also, with their rustic markings and piercing eyes. These sky dancers embody wilderness.

Rising over wetland to meticulously patrol is the king and golden-headed queen of the reedbed, the Marsh Harrier. Seeing them elegantly float through the air and immerse themselves in the reeds as they lower is always a treat. Seeing one momentarily land on mud whilst all manner of wetland birds scattered due to its presence then emerge with prey procured from said mud was fascinating.

Record shot photos I have taken of Hen Harriers

Marsh Harrier photos I took last year

[strawberryjayne]

Hen Harriers are one of the most iconic bird species nesting in our upland moorland habitats, but also one of the rarest and most threatened. For many years the Forest of Bowland has been the most important stronghold for breeding hen harriers in England, and the RSPB has been working in partnership with United Utilities and their tenants to monitor and protect these amazing birds on the United Utilities Bowland Estate

[ornithological]

got a really good look at a jay in flight today. absolutely showstopping!

[blogbirdfeather]

Hen Harrier - Tartaranhão-azulado (Circus cyaneus): immature

female

Vila Franca de Xira/Portugal (19/01/2023)

[Nikon D500; AF-S Nikkor 500mm F5,6E PF ED VR; 1/2500s; F5,6; 640 ISO]