Venus Pool - Marsh Harrier

A very quick look at Venus Pool to see if the Ringed Plover was still present had a surprise in store after a couple of minutes scanning then looking up... A large Raptor was flying towards the fishing pool! 

You're not the expected Buzzard! A female Marsh Harrier, sadly just a back end view into the light!

Venus Pool - Marsh Harrier

Lady luck shone down on me once more after dipping the arrival of a Marsh Harrier at Venus Pool today. I decided to stick it out in case Lightning struck twice and it duly did :-)

Here it comes...

Having foliage in the background helps enormously to show off the Harrier!

The final two wing flaps before departure...

Just over one minute's worth of lazy wing flaps. My third encounter such as this over the VP reed bed!

Whixall Moss - Highlights

The highlights of two days spent at Whixall Moss this week started with several Stonechat...

Two Marsh Harriers! Only one was close enough...

Plus decent views of the Great Grey Shrike...

Sadly the closest encounter came in the worst of the light...

Venus Pool - Marsh Harrier

There's nothing like a message stating 'Marsh Harrier' to quicken the heartbeat and speed up loading the car. I was very shortly after gazing at the Venus Pool reed bed (far bank) with eyes glued onto where it had dropped in....

And here's the moment it flew out of the reed bed...

Only to be immediately intercepted by a quick response Oystercatcher!! I missed the moment to press the shutter as the Oyk dumped a shower of whitewash on the Harrier whilst they battled it out!

There was a little too and fro as the Harrier cruised over the reed bed once more...

Before turning over the pool, towards the hide! white sky is the most unforgiving of backdrops sadly!

And this fly over left me thinking 'if only'...

It quickly did an 'about turn' and headed east...

Another fine bird found by Dave Chapman, becoming a habit... Checked through the records, my fourth for the Patch

Whixall Moss - Marsh Harrier

Two down from the other day and one to go? I was alerted by a short show of aerial combat between the Black-headed Gulls and what could only be a Marsh Harrier! And of course it was.... Distant!

Never an easy bird in Shropshire...

Venus Pool - Marsh Harrier!!

I'm glad I didn't rush off after the Chats fizzled away in the distance as a dark winged raptor soon grabbed my attention! I was initially getting broken views as it quartered on the skyline! It had to be a Marsh Harrier, even at distance, typical flight pattern and very long tail...

Shame about the white sky!! At this point I thought it was disappearing

But it reappeared an minute or so later and gave a half decent pass...

This image holds a lot of information - fresh uniform plumage, pale tips to the greater and primary coverts, all of which point to a juvenile bird.

There's a bit of sunlight artefact going on in this next image, the brown of the wing transformed to grey. However, that single grey 'new' tail feather is constant in all the images and that suggests it must be a male? A female would moult brown...

More distant but this was the last I could photograph it as it flew into the sun which had now belatedly peeked out!!

Move over Whinchats, you are easily trumped by this new bird of the day!

On this day (April 11th)... in 2010.

I might moan about the place but right now I'm wishing I could be down at Venus Pool!! Flashback to April 11th 2010...

A sunny Sunday afternoon at VP is not normally recommended but I actually managed to sit down in the new Memorial hide! At least there were a few Yellow Wagtails (four counted), Hirundines, a Common Gull (first seen here for quite a while) plus a singing male Blackcap.

After 45 minutes or so, I picked up the now nearly 'resident' Osprey gliding in (Take 3) and with good light and blue sky - MORE flight shots.....








This was now becoming hard work, (but someone's got to do it) I had to endure the sight of the Osprey circling for just over 15 minutes, sometimes almost overhead. My instinctive habit of stopping breathing whilst pressing the shutter coupled with hand holding a 500mm lens began to take it's toll!

Step hovering.....










Eventually it departed, fishless.....

Don't drop off to sleep or start ignoring my blog though, there was the odd splash and dash takeaway coming in Takes 4/5..... but at approx 3.20pm...... something I have not seen happen at VP before - happened! You'll have to branch off to the post below to see....

Meanwhile, (or.... welcome back) lets carry on with 'Take 4'








I should really have gone by now but..... I nipped back from the car as there was a 'year tick' Common Sandpiper in front of the main hide......






Whilst I was there, barely an hour after the last fish was taken - look who came back for take 5!!








Can these fish really get any smaller??? A great bird but would you believe itwas about to be overshadowed by what happened next!

A bit of Marsh Harrier excitement at Venus Pool on this day in 2010...

Venus Pool lifers are memorable events for me, they just don't happen very often....!

With really memorable events, you always remember where you were? Like when JFK got shot for example (showing my age now) - I was in a fish and chip shop actually! Reckon I'll always remember where I was when a Marsh Harrier turned up at VP - LOL !!

Anyway, I wasn't in a fish and chip shop, it was the Memorial hide and that wasn't the Osprey sneaking back low over the North Marsh! It wasn't a Buzzard or Red Kite either - the brain went into overdrive with the realisation female 'MARSH HARRIER'!

The amazing thing was, instead of doing the quick flyover that scarce raptors do - it cruised backwards and forwards, hunting over the far reed bed.....












This Harrier was clearly hungry and after a couple of missed attempts, it clearly spotted something tasty?








Eventually, after sitting down with whatever it had just caught for 5 mins - it departed - back the way it came over the Northern plantation, mobbed by corvids......








The Osprey had been impressive once again but absolutely no doubt which bird stole the show - the Marshie moment 20 mins or so long - appropriately, a Tunnocks teacake followed to celebrate!