Harrier..Deer and Ouzel

It has been a few weeks since I posted on my blog.I thought I would show a few images from Bowland in the Summer not previously published.My followers will no doubt be aware of the plight of the Hen Harrier in Bowland. This Summer the hen harriers returned to breed and were successful but sadly not long after the youngsters fledged two birds went missing.These birds were satellite tagged and they both vanished at the same time whilst still in Bowland and no trace has been found of the birds or the transmitters.This would all point to them probably being shot on neighbouring grouse moors.A very sad state of affairs especially after all the care and attention they received whilst still being fed by their parents.A twenty four hour watch was kept at the nesting location until the young birds had flown.Young harriers from another Bowland nest are still alive as I write and hopefully more harriers will return next year to breed again.Shown above are a couple of record shots of a female harrier hunting the moor not far away from one of the nesting locations.

I have also shown some shots of a male ring ouzel  which Paul Foster and I came across on one of our safaris into Bowland. Ring ouzels,or mountain blackbirds as I like to call them ,are very difficult to approach so I was particularly pleased to obtain a few shots.A lot of the praise for these images was down to Paul Foster's excellent fieldcraft and determination to photograph these very shy birds.Paul returned the following day with his hide and obtained more excellent shots.

Finally some images of a roe deer hind which I came across one evening on one of my drives through Bowland.It was some distance away but the long lens on a beanbag from the car window did the trick.One of my favourite British mammals and always a challenge to obtain decent images of these very wary animals. Thanks for looking in and I should return soon with more from Lancashire's wildlife.