HALVERGATE HARRIER

   Hearing reports of really good views of Short eared owls from Halvergate marshes I made my way there last week full of optimism, however on arrival it became obvious that the strong wind was going to discourage the owls from hunting. Speaking to 2 other photographers who had been there since dawn it became apparent that I should have got up earlier as they had some super shots of hunting owls taken at first light before the wind got up. I did get to see one owl briefly flying but before I could swing the camera around it had gone down in some longer grass and in the 2 hours that I was there it did not fly again; it could have been because it was too windy but on the other hand it might have been that the owl had caught something and was digesting its meal.

   Throughout my time looking over the marshes I had distant views of both Common Buzzards and a wintering Rough legged Buzzard but neither approached too closely. There were also several Kestrels hunting near the railway line and Marsh Harriers regularly flew across keeping me interested. Eventually I spotted a Marsh Harrier approaching me flying into the wind and it kept coming closer, ignoring me standing in front of my car, hunting over the marsh in the sunshine allowing me to get some reasonable shots. Its amazing to think that 30 years ago these magnificent birds were incredibly rare but now, especially around here they are so common that we take them for granted but even so its not often that I get close enough to get pictures of them that I think are OK.