The 9th of August 2015 was national Hen Harrier Day. All over the UK at various sites, rallies were to be held to high-light the persecution of the endangered Hen Harrier.
My role today was to partake in the rally being held at RSPB Arne near Poole in Dorset, surprisingly the nearest one to us Londoners, 'us' being myself, Nathalie and Maggie.
I had ordered a t-shirt for the occasion but foolishly ordered it too late, so a last minute download of Chris Packhams 'dark' design by Nathalie, and an impromptu fixing of said design to my rucksack with the help of sticky backed Velcro on the car journey to Arne, meant at least I could walk around with customised kit......
So what was the purpose of this rally ? Well if we're not careful the Hen Harrier will soon be extinct. Down south we're not lucky enough to have them breed, but up north they are disappearing fast from the moors they call home. In 2013 no Hen Harriers fledged, in 2014 just three pairs bred and all three required 24 hour protection, and in this year alone five adult birds have mysteriously disappeared from their breeding sites.
This is wildlife crime on a huge scale, and there has been a lot of conflict in the press as to who's to blame, with some so-called celebrities and usually respected newspapers even blaming the RSPB.
This is the second year of Hen Harrier Day, and although it would be a nice thought that we wont need one next year, sadly we probably will.
The date August 9th was picked as it fell on the last weekend before the Red Grouse shooting season begins. Hen Harriers breed on the same moors that Red Grouse are raised to be shot for sport. Some misguided land owners believe the Harrier is responsible for low Grouse numbers. More and more needs to be done to raise the profile of the Hen Harrier. I've never seen one, and if this persecution continues, I never will.
At RSPB Arne we were greeted by a good crowd. There were three guest speakers and according to figures, the turn out was roughly 3-4 times greater than last year.
A lot of us agreed to have our photos taken with a 'selfie' board......
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| Maggie and me - photo by John Thurnell-Read |
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| Maggie |
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| Nathalie - photo by John Thurnell-Read |
including 'Birdwatch' magazine's own Dominic Mitchell.....
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| Dominic Mitchell - photo by John Thurnell-Read |
There was also a brief spell of excitement when the Black Stork that had been seen at Arne the previous day was seen flying. By the time I reached the view point, and the point where the guest speakers were to address the crowd, the stork was a dark flying dot on the horizon, and I'm still not sure now if it was a Cormorant I was inadvertently following or the stork itself.....
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| photo by John Thurnell-Read |
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| photo by Luke Phillips
After the speeches, we had a group photo taken and made our way back to the Information Centre for a raffle and refreshments. As Nathalie, Maggie and I had travelled some miles to attend we had already decided the rest of our day was going to be spent exploring RSPB Arne.
Before we'd even left the car park Nathalie had found me an interesting horse fly species on the notice board....
 
a ringed Nuthatch landed just feet away from me..........
and we found critters galore in the ladies toilet, including this stunning Black Arches moth....
In fact we became a bit of a talking point at the toilet block with Maggie overhearing a lady in the queue querying our fascination at all the wildlife in there......!
Eventually we set off......
   
The views along the Coombe Heath trail were beautiful.......
and although the bird life was relatively quiet as to be expected at this time of year, we did get distant views of Curlew.....
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and from the same screen area we could see Shelduck families, a few Oystercatchers, and a distant Barn Owl quartering the fields opposite.
Walking on we heard a loudly calling juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker....
and a juvenile Stonechat.....
We searched in vain for a Dartford Warbler but after speaking to a couple of Arne regulars we did find an area they frequent, and heard one calling in the distinctive almost Whitethroat alarm call kind of way. Maggie done her utmost best to call back to the bird to try to encourage it to top a scrubby bush and inquire as to what was challenging it, but the bird didn't take the bait, and after listening to Maggie for some time, I'm not really surprised.......
We spent quite some time at a pond that was attracting some very nice critters including this female Common Darter.....
A huge Emperor Dragonfly was also at the pond, and although it occasionally hovered just feet away from us it didn't settle and we couldn't get a photograph. Black Darters were also reported in the same area but we didn't see them, but we did see several other Hawker species, including I think a Migrant Hawker but none of my photos were clear enough to id it.
At the edge of the pond several Raft Spiders were lurking, though this one was the only one that was showing really well.....
and there were at least three Wasp Spiders, my first of the year.
Two very obliging beauties were positioned on the same scrubby hillock, so for the very very first time ever, I not only got a shot of the top view of one of them......
but also the underside of the other one.......
We also had a 'lifer' on the Coombe Hill trail, our very first Grayling butterfly, which really made my day.......
The wind was too high and the clouds too plentiful for many butterflies to be seen, so to have a Grayling land on the path in front of us was a big 'smiley face' tick.
There were several of these ichneumon wasp species flying around too, but I know from experience what a nightmare it is trying to get one identified....
Back in the car park we found a cricket...
and moving on through the woodland area there was this beautiful macro moth, Nettle Tap.....
Another high-light of my day were the two Sika deer that Nathalie spotted.....
and over the same field we caught a glimpse of a Peregrine as it flushed up and then barrelled through a mini murmuration of Starlings and Goldfinches. The low lying branches of the woodland meant we didn't see if the Peregrine caught anything, but after it's appearance the field and woods were naturally quiet.
Further along we passed a mixed conifer plantation where a mixed flock of Goldcrests, Coal, Blue and Great Tits were moving through the higher branches.
Patches of ragwort were home to several Cinnabar caterpillars...
and back at the Information Centre, the wildlife pond had attracted a number of birds having a late afternoon bathe.....
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| Chaffinch, Blue Tit and Blackcap |
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| Blue Tit |
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| Nuthatch |
Anyone who knows me knows I'm a sucker for cats. This beautiful one is a resident, and to be fair to all those that blame cats for a decline in garden birds, this one just let them fly all around him/her......
It was a long day but certainly an enjoyable one. Huge thanks to Maggie and Nathalie for their brilliant witty company, and special thanks to Nathalie for taking the time to drive us there and back. We had a great day, and even though the journey home was a bit tedious I will never look at a Kingsmill lorry in the same way again......(just an 'in joke').
The cause was good, the speakers were great, the organisational skills were brilliant. A well worthy day out in honour of the Hen Harrier and all other wildlife affected by needless crimes.
If you are interested in learning more, here are a few links.....
Great blog as ever! I love Arne, one of my favourite reserves.
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