One of those nights.....

                                                                 Dusk

 Every now and then when you are least expecting a good night , it turns out to be one of the best . With a strong wind ( Storm Helene) gusting 5/6 occasional 7 SW blowing over the dam wall we had to retreat to side of the old Barn with restricted views of the area. A couple of Buzzards and a few Kestrel on the way up was a bonus in the high winds.  Two Raven and a Buzzard were having a scarp over a piece of old rabbit on the far shoreline and a  small raptor chasing Meadow Pipits looked like a Merlin initially  but turned out to be a Sparrowhawk as it landed on one of the fence  posts ,  it carried on over the moor and then low over the reservoir .  As soon as it disappeared a female Merlin appeared over the hill chasing Meadow Pipits it stooped and then up into a hover ?? (is it a Kes) then again a stoop and up into a hover it repeated this another 2 times before heading off over the hill top. A hovering Merlin.!!
 We then picked up the adult male Hen Harrier behind the wood , it was hunting along the far edge , it then rose over the trees low over the reservoir and into the roosting area , it was turning left and right the sun catching it occasionally highlighting the grey and black against the golden / orange moor.
It went for a Meadow Pipit,  its yellow legs hanging below trying to grasp its prey but it missed , it turned and tried again but missed again ,it flew low south twisting and turning in the high wind.  Immediately as it disappeared a large female with sat tag highlighted in the sun was in the roosting area it landed on a fence post and gave some distant views, long enough for Nick to get some distant photos.It flew after a bit of preening and went straight into roost . ...breath...
  A Short - eared Owl and Barn Owl were both seen hunting and 2 Oystercatcher were kicking around the dam wall . The Male  Hen Harrier was seen again behind the wood hunting from right to left then back again. After  a  while the male gained height and was joined by a ringtail , this was soon identified as the larger juv female which has been around for a few weeks now , still fully winged , pale coverts and large white rump make it easy to identify. The male escorted the young female into the roosting area and for the next 20 minutes they danced around the moor close together occasionally landing on the ground together and 2 or 3 times we thought they were going into roost but kept on bouncing out and continuing flying around together.  They eventually  went into roost at 19.20.
 At 19.25 the Merlin returned and started hovering again as we got back to the car it just started to rain !!