Saturday, June 08, 2024
Greger suggested a trip down the coast on this unpromising day, and we drove the length of Loch Broom in quite heavy rain. Turning back towards the sea at Braemore Junction we were encouraged by brighter weather ahead. At Aultbea we parked facing the sea. A male wheatear, a pied wagtail, and a swallow patrolling the edge of the plantation were the only birds around as we sat in the car eating Danish pastries. The plantation obstructs the view to the left, and some concrete wartime gun emplacements block the view to the right; and just as I finished wiping my coffee cup out a pale bird materialised from behind the trees, flying across the small patch of sky in front of us. "Crikey!" (or similar) I exclaimed - "it's a male hen harrier!"
Greger said afterwards that he was hugely impressed by my speed as I grabbed the camera, opened the car door, leapt out, and ran across the grass towards the sea. I managed just one record shot of the receding harrier as it flew over the sheep paddocks and scattered houses (a nice potential garden tick for someone!).
I ran back through the car park and out onto the road, where Greger joined me; he scanned with his bins and was pretty sure he saw the harrier briefly against the moorland beyond the fields - where it seemed to disappear over the ridge. Wow! We've had three sightings of ringtails in this area - but I think this is the first adult male hen harrier we've seen on the mainland since we came to live in Scotland.
