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Blagdon Lake Birds

(Western) Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus [Linnaeus, 1758]

Marsh Harrier C. a. aeruginosus

(Very rare PM, SV & WV.)

 

Juvenile Marsh Harrier, Top End. 28th Sept 2019.Juvenile Marsh Harrier, Top End. 28th Sept 2019.

 

 

  1. One, not aged or sexed, 29th April 1992 (J.G.)*, one, immature male, 25th May (R.M. Andrews). See note 1 below.
  2. One, immature or female, 26th Aug. 1996 (P. Knee, S.N.).
  3. One, juvenile, 29th Aug. 1998 (N.R. Milbourne).
  4. One, juvenile, 25th Aug. 2002 (N.R. Milbourne).
  5. One, juvenile, 20th Sep. 2003 (N.R. Milbourne).
  6. One, immature or female, 10th Jan. 2009 (N.R. Milbourne).
  7. One, juvenile, 25th May 2009 (N.R. Milbourne).
  8. One, adult female, 8th-9th May 2011 (I. White, N.R. Milbourne).
  9. One, juvenile, 8th Aug. 2011 (N.R. Milbourne).
  10. One, adult female, 30th April 2013 (N.R. Milbourne).
  11. One, juvenile, 23rd Sep. 2014 (M. Johnson et al.).
  12. One, juvenile, 20th-21st Aug. 2018 (N.R. Milbourne, A. Davis et al.), presumed same 24th and 1st Sep. (obs. unknown), same 5th Sep., 13 Sep., 16th-18th Sep., & 27th Sep. (N.R. Milbourne).
  13. One, immature or female, 13th July 2019 (M Hynam, N.R. Milbourne.), presumed same female 14th July (M Hynam, N.R. Milbourne.), presumed same 31st July (obs. unknown), 10th Aug. (M. Hynam).
  14. One, juvenile, 6th Aug. 2019 (N.R. Milbourne), 15th Aug. (N.R. Milbourne), presumed same 24th (obs. unknown), 28th Aug. (N.R. Milbourne), 7th Sep. (per Avon Birds), 17th Sep. (obs. unknown), 19th Sep. (N.R. Milbourne), 21st Sep. (N.R. Milbourne), 26th Sep. (N.R. Milbourne), 30th Sep. (N.R. Milbourne), 14th Oct. (N.R. Milbourne & WeBS team), 11th Nov. (N.R. Milbourne).
  15. Two, juveniles, 17th Aug. 2019 (N. Wilcox-Brown), same 1st Sep. (N. Wilcox-Brown), same 16th Sep. (N.R. Milbourne & WeBS team), 22nd Sep. (N.R. Milbourne), 28th Sep. (N.R. Milbourne).
  16. One, adult female, 12th Oct. 2019 (N.R. Milbourne).
  17. One, not aged or sexed, 23rd Dec. 2019 (obs. unknown).
  18. One or two, not aged or sexed, 15th Jan. 2020 (per Bristol Water Rangers?).
  19. One, not aged or sexed, 6th Feb. 2020 (Dr M. O'Connor).
  20. One, 2nd-summer female, 6th Mar. 2020, same 10th Mar. (N.R. Milbourne) and again 14th Mar. (P. Williams).

Thereafter, there were at least 20 more sightings during 2020 and 18 during 2021, so I have stopped listing them, as appearances have become more common.

 

  

See Note 1: This sighting was recorded in the Top End diary, but I haven't managed to discover who the initials belong to. Presumably, the record was not submitted to AOG for consideration. An immature male harrier was first seen at Chew Valley Lake on the 26th April and various other dates to 25th May 1992, so it seems quite reasonable to assume that this was probably the first sighting of a Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus at Blagdon.

 

Marsh Harrier, Top End. 14th Sept 2020.Marsh Harrier, Top End. 14th Sept 2020.

 

Bibliography (sources of information):

  1. Davis, A.H. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 1992. Avon Ornithological Group.
  2. Davis, A.H. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 1996. Avon Ornithological Group.
  3. Davis, A.H. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 1998. Avon Ornithological Group.
  4. Davis, A.H. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 2002. Avon Ornithological Group.
  5. Rose, Dr H.E. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 2003. Avon Ornithological Group.
  6. Rose, Dr H.E. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 2009. Avon Ornithological Group.
  7. Rose, Dr H.E. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 2011. Avon Ornithological Group.
  8. Rose, Dr H.E. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 2013. Avon Ornithological Group.
  9. Rose, Dr H.E. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 2014. Avon Ornithological Group.
  10. Rose, Dr H.E. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 2018, Avon Ornithological Group.
  11. Rose, Dr H.E. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 2019, Avon Ornithological Group.
  12. Rose, Dr H.E. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 2020, Avon Ornithological Group.
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