Marsh harriers: How Yorkshire is playing its part in the revival of the marsh harrier

Compare that to today where there is a population approaching 600 pairs, mainly concentrated in eastern England but now expanding further afield.

The Humber estuary has played an important part in this revival.

In 1973 local birders discovered a pair of marsh harriers nesting in reeds on land owned by Associated British Ports at Blacktoft Sands which led to the creation of one of the RSPB's top reserves.

Now good numbers of marsh harriers breed there each summer and over the years their offspring have colonised other sites well away from the Humber.. These includei nesting in arable fields, their bulky nests well hidden among corn and oilseed rape crops.

A pair successfully bred at the Tophill Low reserve, East Yorkshire in 2013 while in 2017 a pair attempted to nest on Ilkley Moor near Denton but the eggs were deliberately taken- police questioned two men but no charges were brought..

In South Yorkshire a pair bred in 2020 at the Old Moor reserve near Barnsley and last year at the Nosterfield Nature Reserve, North Yorkshire,

The male marsh harrier has a broad blue-grey patch across his brown wings while female and first year birds are more uniformly brown and with a buttery yellow head which among birders gives them the name 'cream crown'

When courting a female the male marsh harrier engages in acrobatic displays to impress her and once she is sitting on the nest he drops food for her from above which she will fly up and turn over to catch in her talons.

Marsh harriers in northern and eastern Europe are migratory, spending the winter in north Africa as far South as the Equator.

Some British marsh harriers do the same but a certain number, mainly females, stay here throughout the year and male a fine sight as they come in to roost at sunset in the reedbeds at Blacktoft Sands and other reserves along with other raptors such as buzzards, merlins and sometimes hen harriers.

Among other sightings in the region was a female Ortolan bunting close to the raptor viewpoint at Wykeham Forest, North Yorkshire.