Hen Harrier

With a very strong NW 5/6 gusting 7 , I was not hopeful of much today. 3 Buzzards , 2 Kestrels , 23 Fieldfare and a flock of 36 Red Grouse .  At 4.21 a fully winged female ( 5 or 6  ) with dark secondries flew low across the water up the wall and straight into the juncuss to roost. Another ringtail was seen but the sun was setting and made viewing very difficult in could have been first one bouncing out.?  Then the ringtail (7) with the primary missing flew across the water and up the wall it flew around for a few minutes before landing on the ground.Another female (8) with two secondries missing flew low across the water and up along the wall. The the male (1) flew from behind me , across the juncuss and landed on a fence  post and started to preen. Then the large adult  female (9) flew above the male and started circling around .At this point the male was up and started showing off twisting ,  turning and flying up and down just above the wall. The time was 5.20 and I had to get going but there was still enough light to see.So more birds could have come in to roost.?? Also Woodcock over the road on the way to Slack....

                                Fantastic photo from Nick D ..this is what it is like.......