Marsh Harrier Update 1st April

1st April 2026

The Fowlmere Marsh Harriers leave the site for the winter and used to return in the following March, but in the last two years have returned in January and true to form the female returned this year in mid-January. Unfortunately, there was no sign of the male and the female eventually lost patience and left the site in the 3rd week of March and hadn't been seen since. Then the male arrived a week later, but now no sign of the female, so time to go and see what was going on.

As I made my way round to the Reed Bed Hide I witnessed the first signs of Spring with a Blackcap singing near the Spring Hide..................

.......................and Chiffchaffs chiff-chaffing in every bush.

Once in the hide the male eventually appeared and on a couple of occasions did a few laps of the reed bed allowing a few photos to be taken. 

Although not as heavily marked as the barred variant male that disappeared in February 2025, it still has distinctive markings and is clearly the same bird that replaced the barred variant a few weeks later. Here is a photo of the second bird taken by Jan Michalec on the 12th May 2025.

The male then left the site and some time after the female flew in and made a rather dramatic entrance, spiralling down from on height

She then did a couple of laps before dropping into the reeds.

A few minutes later the male returned and from the very noisy response from the female one could only conclude this was the first time they had seen each other this year................so fingers crossed!!!!!

The Hertford Peregrine Falcons Update

30th March 2026

A pair of Peregrine Falcons first set up home at All Saints Church in Hertford in 2021 and I took my first photo there on the 19th March. Unfortunately the female was a juvenile being bred in 2020 and was therefore considered too young to breed successfully, which proved to be the case.

In 2022 and 2023 a pair was still present but with changes to the male and female, but still no breeding. One of the females that appeared was colour-ringed and had been born on Salisbury Cathedral and was named Flo. She didn't hang around very long but for the last few years has been successfully breeding on the old Shredded Wheat factory in Welwyn Garden City.

In 2024 the pair at the time seemed very settled and likely to bred, but for whatever reason left the site in April and moved to a narrow ledge on the Ware flyover. They tried to breed there in 2024 and 2025 but failed in both years, with on at least one occasion the partially feathered young falling off the narrow ledge.

A single bird has been seen on All Saints on just a handful of occasions during the winter, but from the prey item feathers found below the Peregrine's vantage points it is known they use the tower at night to hunt under the lights of the town. And on the 29th March fellow blogger Stuart Fox photographed a female Peregrine on the tower so, as it is getting close to the breeding season, time for a visit to see what was going on.

When I arrived there were a couple of people in the churchyard who beckoned me over and pointed out a pair, yes a pair, of Peregrines on the south side of the tower. The male has an almost pure white upper breast and throat and is considerably smaller than the female.

On the much larger female the feint streaking on the upper breast goes right up to the throat.

The female stayed on the ledge all the time I was there but the male went off on a few short sorties but returned very quickly without food. No wonder the female kept on squawking!!! This did, however, provide some opportunities for flight shots.

It had been assumed that this was the pair from the flyover returning to All Saints, although this proved to be not the case. It was only when I was checking my photos on the back of the camera that I noticed the male had a large orange colour ring on its left leg. Neither of the flyover birds were ringed.

The bird was ringed as a nestling at Bickley, Bromley in Greater London on the 24th May 2024 and therefore is a 3CY.

Fingers crossed they are successful for the first time in Hertford.

.....................................SO WATCH THIS SPACE FOR MORE UPDATES!!!!!!!!!

The First Hertfordshire Wheatears of the Year

26th March 2026

The model aircraft field at Baldock is a tiny feature at the southern end of the range of hills running from Baldock to Royston but seems to attact a range of migrants. Whether it has a unique feature or is just well-watched is not clear. My last visit here was on the 2nd September 2025 when a Black Redstart stayed for a few days, but today I was here for Wheatears, the first of the year for Hertfordshire.

I parked in Wallington Road and walked down past fields full of Rape. There were plenty of Sky Larks in full song but one chose to sit on a nearby flower head.

Once at the model aircrraft field I had expected the Wheatears to be strutting their stuff on the short  mown grass of the airfield, but they were favouring the stubble field adjacent to the airfield, presumably because it held a lot more insect life. There were three males in their stunning breeding plumage.

Also just the one female which kept her distance and only allowed one shot.

I wonder what the next gem for this site will be?

Rye Meads Kingfishers Update

23rd March 2026

At the time of my last visit four days ago a pair of Kingfishers had arrived on site and were alternating between the nest banks at the Draper and Kingfisher Hides. Now they seem to have settled at the Kingfisher Hide and are both busy tidying up the nest burrow in readiness for egg-laying, Also, what was most noticeable today was the the bird using the central perch was the female whereas before she kept to the post on the far side of the pond. And as can be seen from the sand on her bill, she was doing a lot more work on the burrow this time.

Managed to get a food pass today.

I was intrigued as to what the prey item was as it seemed to be completely black with no distinguishing features. It was in fact a Three-spined Stickleback but viewed from on top and therefore you could not seen the spines. It was only when I found another photo showing the side view that the three spines were evident.

As stated above both birds were spending a lot of time in the nest burrow which means their bill and plumage get covered in sand. Therefore the first thing they do when they leave the burrow is fly to the central perch and dive into the water a few times to clean off the sand. This of course provides some great action photo opportunities.

Hopefully not long now before the female is on eggs.