Watching the Moorland Skies

An excellent evening was had by all on Langholm Moor yesterday at our 'Watching the Moorland skies' event. Beautiful sunshine and light winds made for perfect viewing conditions of a variety moorland species including a family of  Merlin; the young birds gaining confidence on the wing but still filing the air with their food begging calls.

 

We were surrounded by Short Eared Owls - with both adults and young birds active it was difficult to know which direction to look in. The harriers didn't fail us and we enjoyed wonderful views of young birds exercising their wings and pestering their parents for food.  Kestrel, Raven and an appearance by a Hobby made a lovely addition to the evening. Red Grouse broods with good sized young could be seen grazing on blueberries as they kept a wary eye out for anything that might like to make them lunch.



A young Short Eared Owl (Bob Little)

The activity in the skies was very engaging, but the invertebrate life on the ground was also drawing our attention.



Emperor Caterpillar
 



Northern Eggar Moth

 

 Two young Hen Harriers (one female and one male) have now been fitted with Satellite tags and we will follow their progress on this blog. Our competition to name a hen harrier closes tomorrow Friday 11th July.. send your name suggestions to cat@langholminitiative.co.uk or drop into the Eskdale Hotel on Langholm High Street and post your entry into the nest box.

 

 

 

  It is a wonderful time to visit the moor and watch the harriers and the other wonderful birds on the moor. You can safely watch and photograph the birds from the road but please remember a licence is required to approach the birds or photograph them off the road. These are very rare birds and this is an excellent opportunity to watch them at close quarters safely.

 

Why not drop into the Eskdale Hotel on Langholm high Street to see nest footage from one of the Harrier nests at Langholm and enter our 'Name a Hen Harrier 'competition.

 

  .......or join us for a Guided watch - 'Watching the Moorland Skies' -  every Wednesday evening 6pm - 8pm  in July. NY3986 , look for the Making the Most of Moorlands Banner or contact cat@langholminitiative.co.uk for more details

We are just a small charity and rely on donated photographs.. many thanks to Chas Moonie for these beautiful photos of Hen Harrier.

  

First young Harriers seen on the wing

This season is flying by.. is seems only days ago that the harriers were skydancing overhead signalling the beginning of an incredible season ; this weekend the first 2014 harrier chicks at Langholm have been seen taking their first tentative flights. 

 

  It is a wonderful time to visit the moor and watch the harriers and the other wonderful birds on the moor. You can safely watch and photograph the birds from the road but please remember a licence is required to approach the birds or photograph them off the road. These are very rare birds and this is an excellent opportunity to watch them at close quarters safely.

 

Why not drop into the Eskdale Hotel on Langholm high Street to see nest footage from one of the Harrier nests at Langholm and enter our 'Name a Hen Harrier 'competition.

 

  .......or join us for a Guided watch - 'Watching the Moorland Skies' -  every Wednesday evening 6pm - 8pm  in July. NY3986 , look for the Making the Most of Moorlands Banner or contact cat@langholminitiative.co.uk for more details

 check out these wonderful images of Hattie and her male taking diversionary food from the feed posts. Many thanks to the LMDP staff for allowing us to share these images.

Hattie



Hattie's male
 

First LMDP wing tagged harrier seen back at Langholm

There has been a sprinkling, rather than a flood, of wing tag sightings of Langholm Hen Harriers in the last few years but each and every sighting is exciting. Until a week or so ago, none have been seen back on their home ground but just recently a wing tagged adult male harrier was seen at Langholm. The bird was tagged by Aly McCluskie in 2011 and I was lucky enough to be there to see this brood tagged. The left wing tag (yellow) indicates that the bird was tagged at Langholm, the right wing tag (dark blue) indicates the year the bird was tagged 2011 and the number 1 tells us exactly which bird in the brood it was. The bird was seen twice in the day and the sighting of the right wing was very distant so I have only just received confirmation of the year this bird was tagged (many thanks to all involved). This is the first Hen Harrier, wing-tagged during the Langholm Moor Demonstration Project (2007 - present) that has been seen back at Langholm.  We have no idea what this bird has been up to since he fledged the moor but it great to know he is alive and kicking (so to speak)..
 click on each image to see it enlarged.. (these views were distant so forgive the image quality).

Right wing tag indicates the year (2011) John Wright



 the left wing tag Yellow - indicates Langholm John Wright

 

What a year at Langholm

This year is turning out to be one of those years I have only dreamt of being part of.. sleep is becoming one of those things that needs to be done but feels like wasted time away form the moor. With eleven Hen Harrier nests it is rare to visit the moor and not see a harrier. The harrier action  is just one aspect of what seems to be a great season for wildlife on the moor; visitors to the moor have enjoyed  incredible views of Short Eared Owls (now feeding fledged young) Red Grouse broods meandering their way through heather and blaeberry; Whinchat singing from what feels like every bracken patch, bumper Barn owl broods, and an increase in wader sightings.

Hen Harriers have experienced a difficult past ( o say the least) and while we are enjoying this wonderful season at Langholm and celebrating the success of three nests in England this year, Harriers still face a very uncertain future. There are various theories being suggested as to why harriers are doing so well at Langholm this year - maybe the high vole numbers, maybe the mild winter leading to better overwinter survival of young birds, maybe a combination of these and other factors. Whatever the reason, 45+ young harriers fledging from Langholm this year can only help the struggling UK population.

The March grouse counts showed favourable results  http://www.langholmproject.com/   but it is too early to say whether that has translated into good breeding success and enough grouse to shoot this year - one of the aims of the Langholm Moor Demonstration Project.

Name a Hen Harrier

Last year 2013/2014 thousands of people followed the progress of four satellite tagged Hen Harriers Hattie, Grainne, Blue and Miranda from Langholm moor on our project blog.  This summer two or three young harriers will be tagged by Stephen Murphy of Natural England and we’ll follow their progress on our blog. http://langholmmoorland.blogspot.co.uk/

 To make it easier to follow these wonderful birds, we are inviting you to take part in a competition to name this years tagged Harriers.

 In 2013 four young harriers were tagged and named by local volunteers

Hattie - inspired by the harrier featured in our moorland musical

Grainne  - Celtic for Grace..

Blue    - named after the Scottish name for a male Hen Harrier ' Blue gled'

Miranda - named by Langholm local Explorer Scout Group after comedienne Miranda Hart

What would your name suggestion be?

Email your Hen Harrier name suggestion, your own name and contact details to cat@langholminitiative.co.uk  or drop into the Eskdale Hotel on Langholm High Street where our nest cameras are showing footage from one of the Langholm Hen Harrier nests 11am – 11pm; you can post your name suggestion and details into out 'nest box'. The fantastic team of staff and volunteers at Langholm who have helped to monitor and protect the harriers this year will choose which names will be given to the tagged harriers this year.

One chick has already been tagged – one of Grainne’s (Celtic for Grace) chicks – so we’ll be following both mother and daughter this year. We’ll need names for both male and female chicks so get thinking.

 To find out more about our project visit our website www.langholmmoorland.co.uk, project blog http://langholmmoorland.blogspot.co.uk/  or follow us on Facebook and Twitter Langholmmoorland. For information about the scientific work going on at Langholm visit The Langholm Moor Demonstration Project website  http://www.langholmproject.com/ .

If you would like help on where and how to watch Hen Harriers and other incredible moorland wildlife at Langholm safely get in touch with Cat Barlow  cat@langholminitiative.co.uk for information about guided walks and guided watches.  Hen Harriers and other raptors on the moor have legal protection from disturbance so it is important to be careful where you go but you can watch and photograph from the roadside without needing a licence. Hen Harriers, Red Grouse and most other moorland birds are ground nesting, it is vital to keep your dogs on leads on and around moorlands at this time of year.

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