Marsh Harrier, banking
Circus aeruginosus
Marsh Harrier · Stodmarsh · 2 May 2026
A Marsh Harrier banked into a tight turn over the reeds at Stodmarsh, wings drawn back. Stodmarsh's reedbeds are among the more reliable places in southern England to see this species, after a UK population that fell to a single breeding pair in the early 1970s recovered alongside the reedbed conservation that also brought the bittern back.
The grey panel in the wing and the black wingtips mark a male; a female is chocolate brown throughout, with only a cream crown and shoulders for contrast. The pair share the hunting, and the male passes prey to the female in mid-air, talon to talon.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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