Montagu’s Harriers
Posted by Dave Kilbey on Monday 13 June 2011 at 12:15pm A major highlight of my stay in Extremadura this year was finding a colony of Montagu’s Harriers which were nesting in a field adjacent to a road I drove up every morning whilst trying (sometimes very unsuccessfully) to photograph Great Spotted Cuckoos. Black kites would regularly overfly the area they were nesting in which sometimes seemed to cause the harriers concern… but not always. I got the distinct impression the kites did this when they were bored and fancied a bit of a tussle! Surprisingly, given that the site seemed to be about as far away from a large area of water as possible, black kites weren’t the only bird to upset the montagu’s harriers. This female marsh harrier was promptly seen off when she overflew the nest site
Male Montagu’s Harrier at sunrise
Female Montagu’s Harrier putting the brakes on
Male Montagu’s Harrier seeing off a Black Kite
Black Kite chasing a Male Montagu’s Harrier
Black Kite closing in on a Male Montagu’s Harrier
Male Montagu’s Harrier seeing off a female Marsh Harrier
A Female Montagu’s Harrier taking over the chase
Female Montagu’s Harrier hunting
Female Montagu’s Harrier coming in for a rest
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