Suffolk Birci Report 2014
Pallid Harrier Circus macrourus, RSPB Minsmere, Suffolk, September 21st, 2014 John H Grant and Richard "Dick"
Waiden
This article is based on t h e j o i n t Submission by John and Dick t o t h e British Bird Rarities C o m m i t t e e of a harrier seen at Minsmere. Weather conditions were clear and sunny w i t h a light northerly breeze giving excellent visibility on Sunday September 2 I s t 2014. On t h a t m o r n i n g Richard "Dick" Waiden and John Grant were birdwatching independently at RSPB Minsmere, Richard in t h e dunes overlooking t h e Scrape and John about 100 metres south of Minsmere Sluice. At about 08:35hr Richard noticed a "ringtail" harrier species flying low across the western edge of the Scrape and was immediately struck by its rieh colours, its vivid face pattern and a clearly defined "collar and boa". Local photographer lan "Sparky" Clarke, w h o was nearby, took some photographs of the bird and four of his pictures have subsequently been used to confirm the identification. Immediately after Richard had seen t h e bird John noticed w h a t was clearly t h e same individuai flying low over Minsmere's South Levels, at a distance f r o m him of about 100 metres. He managed t o track t h e bird in his t r i p o d - m o u n t e d Leica Apo Televid telescope, f i t t e d w i t h a 32x wide-angle eyepiece, but t h e bird was flying away f r o m him. He could see t h a t it was a very strikingly marked " r i n g t a i l " harrier w i t h rieh b r o w n s and pale ochres in its plumage and realised t h a t it was an " e i t h e r - o r " bird - Montagu's C. pygargus
or Pallid. It "jinked" back as it reached t h e coastal dunes
about half way t o Sizewell. At this point, although distant, t h e bird showed a striking face pattern and a clear-cut "collar and boa". The bird spiralled up so t h a t it was visible against t h e w h i t e d o m e of Sizewell B nuclear power station before pirouetting and heading off south. John last saw t h e bird as a distant speck b e t w e e n t h e eastern end of Kenton Hills and t h e power stations complex. John was aware that a juvenile Pallid Harrier had been seen in north Norfolk recently, and texted t h e news of a "juvenile M o n t y ' s or Pallid" t o t h e local birders' i n f o r m a t i o n service, shrugged his Shoulders and was resigned t o hoping that someone eise w o u l d confirm t h e bird's identity f u r t h e r d o w n t h e coast. He t h e n f o u n d a Wryneck Jynxtorquilla
nearby and also texted that o u t . He t h e n
reeeived a text f r o m David Fairhurst t o t h e effect t h a t a m u t u a i friend had seen a " M o n t y ' s " flying south over Thorpeness - it was clearly t h e same bird as t h a t which John and Richard had seen. Richard then walked south t o see the Wryneck and met up w i t h John. They discussed t h e harrier they had seen independently and, when told about the " M o n t y ' s " sighting, Richard was insistent that it showed a "very strongly marked collar and boa" and was clearly not convinced that it was a Monty's. He told John that photographs had been taken but the photographer had wandered off! lan was " r o u n d e d u p " and Richard and John saw his images but it was difficult t o ascertain detail on t h e camera. John asked lan to email t h e photos, which he did, and they w e r e quickly circulated on to Richard. Adam Rowlands, David Fairhurst, Brian Small, Scott Mayson, Craig Fulcher and Hugh Harrop subsequently were s h o w n t h e pictures and ali w e r e of t h e o p i n i o n t h a t t h e images showed a juvenile Pallid Harrier. For additional comment, Adam and Brian kindly contacted t h e widely-acknowledged raptor "guru" Dick Forsman for his opinion. His reply to A d a m was as follows: "As for the Suffolk bird I would say that I cannot see anything
contradicting
but based on these images it is not possible to exclude a possible hybrid, Monty
x Pallid. Although
possibility committee
stili rare, hybrids
do occur, and in my opinion
Pallid,
they are a
potential
that should be taken into account. But this, of course, is up to each and every rare how they deal with this
and wing-formula.
birds
problem."
His reply t o Brian was as follows: "Looks good for a juv Pallid, including pattern
a juv
either Hen x Pallid, or
The only problem
is really a hybrid/intergrade
look very similar, but this bird appears to have a genuine Pallid
head-pattern,
wing-tip."
David Fairhurst kindly sent John a paper by Dick Forsman, "Field identification
34
primary
Pallid x Hen, which can offemale
and