Satellite tag update - Miranda crosses the sea

Things are getting really interesting with the Langholm four. Blue is really keeping us guessing; after a long flight south which had us hoping for a European journey, he did a u-turn and headed north to Doncaster. He is currently Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire and we can only guess where he will be tomorrow.

Blue

Grainne and Hattie remain in the Langholm area.. which one will be the next to explore?

Miranda's trip across the sea

Miranda has surprised us all by being the first sat tagged bird to cross over the sea to the Isle of Man, a flight of 46km from her last known position. Here's some really interesting background information from Steve Murphy, Natural England:

'In 2007 we tracked five birds on the Isle of Man, all of them remained on the island. A male was tracked there for over a year and a female was tracked for two and a half years. We also fitted a handful of birds with wing tags; there were two sightings of wing tagged birds that could have been from the Isle of Man (Altcar, Mersyside and near Newcastle Airport in winter of 07/08) but these apart there is little evidence of the island exporting birds.
         The Isle of Man birds almost sedentary existence allowed us to record their daily foraging routes and roosts, unlike the English birds the young males tried to hold territory throughout the winter around where they fledged, the females went to a 'girls only' club on the Calf of Man.
Miranda headed straight for this place her first night'.

Miranda explores D&G

It looks like Blue, the young male, was just teasing us with his journey south, he has done a U-turn and headed north again, now near Newark on the River Trent.
Meanwhile Miranda, one of the females has left the Leadhills area, where she has been for a few weeks now, and has made a move south west across the region.

9th October 13:49 near Caerlaverock

9th October  14:21 Miranda moved west across Lochs Ken and Stroan before heading along the Glenkens Valley and south-west across Loch Skerrow bound for the coast.

 

Blue is on the move

 

 

With the exception of Miranda who made a move to Leadhills a few weeks ago, the four Langholm- tagged Harriers have stayed fairly close to home. On the 4th September Blue (the young male harrier) was recorded roosting near Langholm, by the 6th September he was 435km away in Wiltshire..  could this be a stop-off before making the leap over the channel? A lot of information has been learnt and is still being learnt from satellite tagging; for example the males typically move greater distances and often make that move at the end of September/ beginning of October.. Blue has done both those things, will he follow in the footsteps of another Langholm bird, McPedro, and head for Spain or remind us that nature loves to break the rules and surprise us?  Either way it is very exciting to be able to follow the journey of these young birds.

 

a previously posted map from Sept 23rd 

 

 

 

Blue 6th October

 

McPedro's return  journey in 2011

 

Autumn on the moor

Apologies for the lack of maps for Harrier update, technological issues, I'll get maps up as soon as I can. No major changes from last week, Miranda evidently likes the area north of Leadhills, she has now been there about 10 days. Recently quite flighty, she has visited Kielder, Northumberland, then a brief flight home before heading 60  odd km north west. Miranda is now quite predictable in her landscape use, not flying out of an area measuring approximately 10 x 4 km.
Blue remains in and around Eskdalemuir and Grainne and Hattie are still on Langholm moor, favouring Roan fell.


A different view of Langholm moor taken from Moricambe Bay on the Solway. Many thanks to John Wright for these photographs.

 It is feeling very autumnal on and around the moor, colours changing and fungi. like these Fly agaric, popping up all over the moorland edge.

Violet Ground Beetle

Many of the small birds Siskins and Redpoll in particular are moving in large flocks around the Silver birch woodland making use of the abundance of natural food and the Rowan trees are having a bumper berry year which will be good news when the Fieldfares and Redwing arrive back.  We've been enjoying some fantastic views of raptors on the moor too, several of the young harriers are still around and this young osprey was spotted on its migration south a couple of weeks ago. The young male osprey was following the path of the Tarras when it was mobbed by a Goshawk. Osprey is not a raptor we see on the moor very often so a real treat and Goshawk is a bird that always gets my heart racing. I was sat at the moorland bird feeding station yesterday when a female Goshawk dropped in over the trees and flew just a couple of metres above the ground towards me.. banking just metres over my car and away.. that sight must strike fear into the hearts of the small birds feeding there but left me buzzing with adrenaline.. what a bird!!

Juvenile male Goshawk mobbing a juvenile male Osprey

many thanks to John Wright for these photographs.

Langholm Harrier update 23rd September

This map shows movements in the week up to 23rd September. Grainne seems fairly settled on Langholm moor, and Hattie is not moving far from home either. Blue has begun to explore Eskdalemuir and the area west of Langholm, and Miranda has spent her week at Leadhills.

 One of the tagged birds  (Miranda I think) having their tag safely fitted by Stephen Murphy.

Grainne (Celtic for Grace)

After fledging, often all we see of these beautiful birds is a dot on a map.. here's a little reminder of  what stunning creatures they are.

The four tagged birds Blue, Grainne, Miranda and Hattie are four of ten young Hen Harriers that fledged from Langholm Moor in 2013. Sadly after fledging we hear very little of these non sat tagged birds.

 Langholm Harriers

 Strong Autumn winds, heavy rain and changing colours are all indications that that summer is over. How will the Langholm Harriers cope with these challenging conditions?

Grainne is sticking to a fairly small home range on Langholm moor.

Miranda has shifted north-west to Leadhills, into an area visited by previously tracked birds. She has covered at least 158km in the last 10 days.

After a brief trip to Northumberland, Hattie returned to the natal having travelled 99.8 kms in 10 days. A couple of nights ago she roosted within 900m of Grainne.

Blue is still circumnavigating the natal area, daily sorties are increasing in distance and in the last 10 days he has travelled at least 111kms. 

'Inspired by Moorlands'  Art Exhibition

 our wonderful collection of moorland-inspired art is on at Langholm Town Hall until Saturday 14th September.

10am - 4pm and 6 - 8.30pm  Wednesday, Thursday and Friday..
10 - 2pm Saturday 14th

 come along and see the great artwork on display.