{"id":28790,"date":"2023-05-25T17:30:14","date_gmt":"2023-05-25T15:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/?p=53740"},"modified":"2023-05-25T18:36:55","modified_gmt":"2023-05-25T16:36:55","slug":"best-places-to-see-marsh-harriers-sky-dancing","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/best-places-to-see-marsh-harriers-sky-dancing\/","title":{"rendered":"Best places to see marsh harriers sky-dancing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spring is the best time to watch marsh harriers as they display over reedbeds. <\/p>

By Brett Westwood\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 25 May 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

What happens in a marsh harrier food-pass?<\/h2>\n
Crick-necked and open-mouthed, you\u2019ll never forget your first marsh harrier food-pass. High over the reedbed, two dots soar in the April sunshine. They circle each other, then suddenly the upper bird, a male, drops his prey.<\/p>\n
The food is \u2018fielded\u2019 deftly by the female below him, who performs a mid-air roll to seize it in her talons. This display is accompanied by sky-dancing \u2013 dramatic twisting plunges and slow-motion flapping.<\/p>\n\n<p>As you watch this unforgettable wildlife spectacle, savour the fact that it is once again a regular sight in Britain. Not so long ago, the marsh harrier was our rarest breeding bird \u2013 pesticide use and persecution had reduced its population to a single pair by the early 1970s \u2013 but in these more enlightened times, the UK has about 450 breeding females.<\/p>\n<h2>Where do marsh harrier live in the UK?<\/h2>\n<p>Most of Britain\u2019s marsh harriers nest in large reedbeds in the east of England, but they are quickly colonising other parts\u00a0of the country \u2013 there are promising numbers on the Somerset Levels, for example. Head to any of the reserves listed here and you stand a good chance of seeing the birds\u2019 courtship. Watch from a hide or viewing area at a safe distance \u2013 the birds are easily disturbed.<\/p>\n<h2>The best places to see marsh harriers performing a food pass in the UK<\/h2>\n<ol><li>Tay Estuary, Perthshire<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/\/www.rspb.org.uk\/reserves-and-events\/reserves-a-z\/leighton-moss\/"\" target=\""_blank"\" rel=\""noopener" noopener noreferrer\">RSPB Leighton Moss<\/a>, Lancashire, England.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/\/www.rspb.org.uk\/reserves-and-events\/reserves-a-z\/blacktoft-sands\/"\" target=\""_blank"\" rel=\""noopener" noopener noreferrer\">RSPB Blacktoft Sands<\/a>, East Yorkshire, England.<\/li>\n<li>RSPB Titchwell Marsh, Norfolk, England.<\/li>\n<li>Cley Marshes, Norfolk Wildlife Trust, England.<\/li>\n<li>RSPB Strumpshaw Fen, Norfolk, England.<\/li>\n<li>RSPB Lakenheath Fen, Norfolk, England.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/\/avalonmarshes.org\/"\" target=\""_blank"\" rel=\""noopener" noopener noreferrer\">Avalon Marshes<\/a>, Somerset, England.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/\/www.nationaltrust.org.uk\/wicken-fen-nature-reserve"\" target=\""_blank"\" rel=\""noopener" noopener noreferrer\">Wicken Fen<\/a>, Cambridgeshire, England.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/\/www.rspb.org.uk\/reserves-and-events\/reserves-a-z\/cors-ddyga\/"\" target=\""_blank"\" rel=\""noopener" noopener noreferrer\">RSPB Cors Ddyga<\/a>, Anglesey, Wales.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<section class=\""highlight\"> <div class=\""highlight__content\" editor-content=\"\"> \n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/birds\/strongest-bird\/"\">What is the strongest bird in the world?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/birds\/how-do-birds-fly\/"\">How do birds fly?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/how-to\/identify-wildlife\/identify-bird-pellets\/"\">Bird pellets: how to identify<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/birds\/bird-nests-guide\/"\">A guide to bird nests: how, where and why birds make nests<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> <\/p><\/div> <\/section> <hr\/>\n<p>Main image: \u00a9 Getty Images<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> Spring is the best time to watch marsh harriers as they display over reedbeds. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":28791,"template":"","categories":[1,51],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/best-places-to-see-marsh-harriers-sky-dancing.jpg",2121,1414,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/best-places-to-see-marsh-harriers-sky-dancing-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/best-places-to-see-marsh-harriers-sky-dancing-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/best-places-to-see-marsh-harriers-sky-dancing-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/best-places-to-see-marsh-harriers-sky-dancing-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/best-places-to-see-marsh-harriers-sky-dancing-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2023\/05\/best-places-to-see-marsh-harriers-sky-dancing-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Spring is the best time to watch marsh harriers as they display over reedbeds.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/28790"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}