As most keen birders will already know an adult male Pallid Harrier has been found in residence for just over a week at Whittendale Fell above Dunsop Bridge by a member of the RSPB Harrier monitoring group. Pallid Harriers are a rare visitor generally only seen once every three years in the UK more often found in Eastern Europe through to Southern Russia.
You can read an account of the birds discovery by clicking the RSPB link below.
I was a little undecided whether I should make the trip and attempted to photograph the bird as the images I had seen were of the bird ranging over a considerable wide area so not expecting any close encounters, never the less on on a brilliantly sunny Friday morning I decided I'd have a go and set off for Dunsop Bridge hoping for some reasonable success.
Wittenden Fell is located some three miles north of Dunsop Bridge and can be accessed by a single tarmac road for use by the water authority and various tenant farmers, with that in mined I dusted off the mountain bike from the back of the garaged, loaded it into the car to save a long walk as well as benefiting from a free wheeling return journey.
Arriving at the carpark in Dunsop Bridge around 10.0 am, several cars full of birders are already arriving.....its Friday do they not work !....I assemble the bike and load the backpack full of camera gear and set off for Whittendale Fell. A steady easy ride up passing a number of walking birders, I thinking I made the right decision bringing the bike. I arrive at the last bridge, and this is where I make the mistake in taking the track to the right instead of remaining on the tarmac road, more of a walkers track. The track climes some rocks, then narrows and becomes boggy, bad decision!..finally I reach the location where the Harrier's located, someone points it out as it fly's along the fell side and it drops into a gully. As most of the observers are on the tarmac road on opposite side of the fell I decide to relocate to the other side.
I am now on the other side of the fell on the tarmac track and make way to a point opposite the gully where the harrier was last seen, there are two male observers already there, one from Reading...!! and the other from Stockport, I settle down on the grass bank, out of the wind in a glorious sun trap, and for the next two and a half hours, we watch the harrier, chat and exchange experiences.
Initially the harrier is viewable at some considerable distance on the opposite side of the fell providing few photo ops, then its fly's high over head to the this side of the fell, displaying some times tumbling upside down whilst calling which can be clearly be heard, a sort of..."trullll"...actrobatics follow, all forming part of the display, all in vain as I'm afraid as this is likely to be the only Pallid Harrier within 1,500 miles of Dunsop Bridge.
Close encounter photo ops are few and far between, all images taken are at distance and cropped to a point where clarity isn't to compromised, but I'm happy to record the event
Wednesday 10:5:17
As the weather forecast today was for full sun and the Harrier was still showing well, I had around four hours to spare so I thought a return visit wouldn't go amiss....I like a trip out ! Arriving at the carpark...it was full of day out walkers parked up, but I did manage to park on the track leading up to Whittendale Fell, bike out, assembled and I'm off.
Arriving at the favoured viewing location, the Harrier is in the air, soaring, acrobatics and calling (trilling) with odd flight along the far fell, then rises high above and disappears. After ninety minuets of waiting and the Harrier still hasn't reappeared, sadly my time's up for this trip. Better luck next time.
Thanks for looking
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