Meanwhile our nest camera brood are growing fast

 

 

Second generation Hen Harrier satellite tagged

Stephen Murphy of Natural England visited Langholm moor on 19th June to fit a satellite tag to a female harrier chick. The chick was from Grainne's nest a female Hen Harrier tagged at Langholm last year - so the second generation of tagged birds at Langholm. This new tag will hopefully give us some interesting information about how a mother and daughter interact after leaving the nest.  As soon as the chicks fledge the nest - updates will be available as usual on the this blog. Hopefully a second tag  will be fitted in the coming days.

second generation tagged chick

June 2014 Hen Harrier nest camera

Footage from our Hen Harrier nest camera is being shown in the Eskdale Hotel on  Langholm High street, why not pop in for tea and cake or sit back and enjoy a pint while watching the chicks in the nest.  Here is a taster of the views we have been enjoying.  It is such a privilege to work with such a wonderful bird and a fantastic team of people on the Langholm Moor Demonstration Project.

 

 One Hen Harrier brood, belonging to Grainne - a satellite tagged bird from Langholm last year has been ringed already and the chicks not long away from fledging..

Nest boxes around the moorland have been busy this year with Pied Flycatcher and Redstart broods as well as our more common Blue Tit and Great Tit families.



Redstart nest



Redstart chick

June 2014

Wow, what an amazing few weeks on the moor, we've enjoyed mixed weather  - some days of glorious sunshine interspersed with cold winds and torrential rain showers..

Firstly an update on the Harriers - well it is turning out to be an amazing year at Langholm and I hear there is positive news south of the border too (check out the Skydancer Blog). At Langholm moor there are eight active Hen Harrier nests, Seven of which have already hatched or are in the process of hatching - including the sat tagged 2cy females Hattie and Grainne.



Grainne's nest

We have our nest cameras in on an adult female nesting at Langholm and have managed to capture some incredible footage of incubation, hatching and early feeds. The footage is being shown at The Eskdale Hotel on Langholm High Street - drop in anytime between 11am and 11pm to watch as the chicks hatch and grow. Video clips will also be posted shortly here on the blog and on our facebook page.

 It will be worth watching Springwatch  this evening -11th Wednesday June -  footage shot earlier in the season of Hattie skydancing with her male will be shown - hopefully raising the profile of the beautiful Hen Harrier and prompting some discussion about the future of Hen Harrier conservation.

These wonderful composite images taken by David Palmar show some of the wonderful patterns the harriers draw in the sky as they dance.

Composite image of Male Hen Harrier skydancing (David Palmar www.photoscot.co.uk)



Composite image of a food pass between a pair of Hen Harriers (David Palmar)

David Palmar

I've mentioned before that vole numbers are high at Langholm at the moment and everything is making the most of them including the Harriers. Barn owls broods in the area are between four and seven which is incredible, and will hopefully help the population recover from a couple of bad winters in previous years.

Barn owl brood of 7

oldest and youngest in the brood 

The Short eared owl action is fantastic, adults are seen very regularly and sometimes several in the air at the same time, it is hard to know which direction to look in sometimes.  We are making the most of these wonderful views and ringing any chicks we can find.

Short Eared Owl (John Wright)

Short Eared Owl (John Wright)

Short Eared Owl fledged chick waiting to be fed (John Wright)

Short Eared Owl chick well hidden in the vegetation

Short Eared Owl chick

If you are interested in visiting Langholm moor to watch the wonderful Hen Harriers and other fantastic wildlife, please get in touch with  Making the Most of Moorlands project manager Cat Barlow cat@langholminitiative.co.uk  .

All the nest visits and ringing is done by experienced fieldworkers under licence.

Muckle Toon Adventure Festival (MTAF)

A huge congratulations to the organisers of he Muckle Toon Adventure Festival for a great event over the 16th - 18th May , to all our wonderful volunteers for your help and a big well done to all those who took part.

The Making the Most of the Moorlands Project was involved in several ways - with a project stand at the base camp with information about the moor and the Langholm Moor Demonstration Project, and children's moorland art activities.

A male Hen Harrier

Zola pointing grouse in the heather

A cock Red Grouse

 

We ran several stream dipping session on the Tarras water on the Saturday, getting thirty kids and their parents guddling about for invertebrate life (and the occasional fish).

young Trout (I think.. I'll admit my fish ID is a little rusty) 

Cased Caddis fly larvae

A dawn guided walk on the Sunday was a great success with wonderful views of Whinchat, Wheatear, Curlew, Lapwing, Snipe, Common Sandpiper, Hen Harrier, Short Eared Owl to name but a few and the feral goats put in an appearance too!

The group stopping to admire the goats and a lovely male Whinchat singing away from a tuft of heather

 Feral goats

Red grouse broods have been hatching all over the moor, it has been wonderful watching families of grouse moving through the vegetation.. just the heads of the Cock and Hen visible most of the time keeping watch for predators.. and occasional views of tiny grouse chicks bouncing along.  MSc Student Kat Fingland is working at Langholm this season on her study looking at Red Grouse breeding success.



Red grouse chick

Cock (male) Red Grouse with his radio collar

Can you spot the grouse nest?

  A good reminder to please, please keep your dogs on leads April - July on the moor.. there are many species still on eggs and young birds can not fly far if at all for several weeks.


Kat Fingland ... good luck with your studies

Short Eared Owls doing well on the moor this season - some nests are almost ready to fledge, some still on eggs.

 

Harriers (including Hattie and Grainne) sat on eggs, we'll keep you posted as the season goes on.

May 2014 on Langholm Moor

There is a real 'in-between seasons' feel on the moor at the moment, summer migrants are back and fighting for their place on the moor but beautiful warm sunny periods are interspersed by very heavy rain and even hail showers to remind us of that old saying -

 

'Ne'er cast a clout till may be oot' ..  

 

Swifts, swallows, sand and house martins are all busy hunting invertebrates in the skies, the Pied flycatchers and Redstarts are back in the nest boxes and some on eggs already. The song of the Cuckoo, Grasshopper Warbler and Whinchat have been added to the moorland dawn chorus and Green Hairsteak butterflies and Emperor moths can be seen flitting across the heather.

 

 Click on any image to see it enlarged.

 

 

Green Hairstreak Butterfly (John Wright)

Male Adder (John Wright)

Grainne (2cy female Hen Harrier)

 This fantastic photo of Grainne show her sat tag clearly, although it can be incredibly hard to see from a distance.



As mentioned in previous posts the vole numbers this year on the moor are high; we are seeing larger than normal brood sizes with the Barn owls, more sightings of Short Eared Owls and the numbers of Hen Harriers are also up.  Currently we have six nesting females with four males in attendance. There are several other birds of both sexes about which have not settled yet, so things could still change. 

Curlew squabbling on the moor (David Palmer)

 Curlew and Lapwing behaviour and calls suggest that some nests have hatched and young waders begin their life on the moor.


Osprey flying north over the moor (John Wright)

 

Ospreys across Scotland are already back on territory and incubating eggs by now, so it is likely this osprey spotted flying across the moor was a two year old bird returning from its African wintering grounds for the first time to investigate 

May on the moor

May is proving to be a fantastic month on the moor, the weather is little unpredictable with rain showers never far away. The harriers are keeping us on our toes, some are settled but new birds keep appearing. Harrier, Merlin and Short eared Owls views have been fantastic, the high vole numbers this year mean the raptors are making the most of this food source.. fingers crossed the vole numbers stay high and we have a bumper year of young harriers, short eared owl and merlin.

 We have been enjoying some incredible views of Short Eared Owls - hunting, displaying and involved in territorial disputes..

Short Eared Owl (John Wright)

SEO (John Wright)

SEO (John Wright)

SEO (John Wright)



 

Male/Cock Red Grouse



Female/Hen Red Grouse

Whether it is a Hen Harrier, an Adder or a Red Grouse a first sighting is always special, especially when a pair pose so nicely for us to compare. The group of works experience students that joined me on the moor this morning saw not only Red Grouse but hen Harrier, Merlin, Buzzard, Curlew, Lapwing, Wheatear and Whinchat.. not bad for a first moorland visit.

 

Whinchat (Laurie Campbell)

Wheatear (Laurie Campbell)