Harrier, North Lincs, UK (1 Viewer)

[Hotspur]

Saw this ringtail at a reasonable distance in the gloom of this afternoon. It was very apricot - brighter than it looks. A ringtail hen has been seen in the area but pictures I have seen are of a different bird with a thicker wing base. Is the thin base to the wings likely due to this being a juv male Hen? Apologies for the dire picture quality.

 

[Happisbirder]

Interesting. It does look slim, peachy and unstreaked below but the photos aren't the best (no offence meant!). Photo one appears to show 5 'fingers' which suggests Hen, photo 2... can't quite make out the number of fingers. Read this account of an interesting Norfolk Harrier and compare to what you saw. I'd certainly try to relocate it tomorrow if you can...

James

 

[Hotspur]

Interesting. It does look slim, peachy and unstreaked below but the photos aren't the best (no offence meant!). Photo one appears to show 5 'fingers' which suggests Hen, photo 2... can't quite make out the number of fingers. Read this account of an interesting Norfolk Harrier and compare to what you saw. I'd certainly try to relocate it tomorrow if you can...

James

Wish I could! Going to try on sunday. The seemingly dark secondaries against the obviously barred primaries don't appear to be photographic effect but my other 2 images are much worse and don't seem to help confirm this. I wasn't sure about the wing formula as it appears to change from one shot to the next. There is a hint of a collar but that could be the poor pics giving a false impression. Views were brief but good at about 100m but the light was too bad for my setup.

Edit: It was at Worlaby Carrs for anyone wanting a crack.

 

[phil baber]

Have cropped and re-jigged. It looks like a juv Hen Harrier to me James. With a reasonably broad-based wing. But cannot comment on gender.

 

[Hotspur]

Have cropped and re-jigged. It looks like a juv Hen Harrier to me James. With a reasonably broad-based wing. But cannot comment on gender.

Thanks phil. I wasn't sure they would stand greater cropping and I'm pants at cropping pics. The secondaries still look dark to me but the wing shape is certainly better for hen.

James

 

[phil baber]

Forsman says on juvenile Hen:
"Secondaries greyish below, being often clearly darker than the primaries, with broad dark bars, and the barring is not as distinct as in adult females. Juveniles have narrower wings than adults. with a slightly tapering inner hand and bulging secondaries..."

 

[Frenchy]

Suggest this is the same bird? Graham tends to photograph all the harriers in North Lincs, especially Worlaby.
http://pewit.blogspot.com/2011/10/hen-harrier.html

 

[Hotspur]

Suggest this is the same bird? Graham tends to photograph all the harriers in North Lincs, especially Worlaby.
http://pewit.blogspot.com/2011/10/hen-harrier.html

Graham was at the other end of the site when I saw this bird. I could swear it
wasn't as cold toned as that bird and more apricot. The light was dull and yet it seemed pretty orangey which the pictures bird doesn't. That said my shots don't prove much on that score.