Battle of the Harriers at Fowlmere

13th April 2019

Marsh Harriers have bred at Fowlmere for the last few years although last year, despite courtship and nest building, the pair deserted the nest and left the site for reasons unknown. So time for a visit to see if there is any sign of activity this year.

On arrival the male was sitting in a distant Sallow taking in the sun and preening, and remained there for some time before dropping down into the reeds.

Thereafter he did the odd circuit, sometimes carrying a single reed stem to one of the platforms that he was building, but the whole affair was rather low-key, presumably because it was still early days.

Only on one occasion did the female fly up out of the reeds for a couple of circuits before dropping down again.

Some time later the male flew above the trees and was joined by a second bird which we assumed was the female so were expecting some shots of courtship display. However, what ensued was more like a dogfight out of WWII. A closer inspection of the birds after the melee had subsided revealed that the second bird was in fact a ring-tail Hen Harrier, presumably the same bird that had been roosting in the reed bed during the winter.

After a fairly convincing win the male Marsh drifted out over the fields to hunt allowing the Hen Harrier a few consolation laps of the reed bed before also leaving site.

Well, after that everything was going to be an anticlimax so we went home!!