Hen harrier, avocets, redshanks

As I wrote, on 26 October 2013, at the Schorren nature reserve on Texel island, suddenly hundreds of curlews, redshanks and other birds took off, flying. What had scared them? It turned out it was a female hen harrier flying south.

Maybe, this bird of prey did not want to attack any of the shorebirds (certainly not these big curlews), as she was just migrating to the south. Still, she caused an uproar; until all birds sat down again. Another female hen harrier photo, from elsewhere, is here.

At the southern end of the Schorren reserve, a flock of starlings.

And redshanks.

Dunlins. Grey plovers. Turnstones.

Bar-tailed godwits.

Brent geese and shelducks in the shallow sea.

And many avocets.

Britain: November 2013: Intensely managed grouse moorland and changes in habitat are part of the blame for the declining numbers in hen harriers an enquiry into the results of the 2010 survey has found: here.

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