In search of the marsh harrier - birding my local area
Full screen gallery below
Last year there was a couple of Marsh Harriers (Bruine kiekendief) breeding in my local area. Situated in the meadows or grasslands in Zaans Rietveld. Seeing that this was not the first time I expect that the same couple or new couple will do the same. So on a good day - sunny and clear skies - I went out in search of the Marsh Harrier. Spoiler in the blog photo I guess.
I took a while for I found the Marsh Harriers. I saw only one, but I heard there were actually two earlier from other photographers in the area. The challenge was that with the relatively high sun the wind picked up quite a bit. So you could see the birds crossing hundreds of meters in seconds which made capturing them a real challenge.
The first try was a bit unlucky but I got the Marsh Harrier together with a Oystercatcher. I guess all birds in the area where either running scare and flew off and a few brave ones took to the sky to chase the Marsh Harriers away. Incredible to see, in the end the brave little Oystercatcher did not make any difference, still got the both of them in a photo.
After that encounter the Marsh Harrier was too far away, so I explored the surrounding bushes and trees in search of some other birds, namely a Sedge Warbler (Rietzanger) or a Reed Warbler (Karrekiet) or even a Bluethroat (Blauwborst). In the end a Sedge Warbler showed up and a Kestrel was hunting in the distance, so a nice capture. With in the end also a short visit of a Common Tern (Visdief) that was looking for something in the high grass - no idea what though.
When I was actually walking back to my car (not on the bike for once) the Marsh Harrier was right above my head, what luck! However I was so stunned that I just fired off shots - where I should have been a bit more careful. However live and learn right? I got some really cool shots, but not the sharpest I could have gotten when I jus took 5 seconds to check my settings and turn IBIS off in this case - it really was fighting the erratic panning and composing.
In the end a really nice two hours spend and seeing the first signs of nature. Trying out new gear but will keep that to myself for now. Let me know what you think and don’t hesitate to leave a comment or an e-mail. Click to view larger in a light box and navigate with mouse or arrow keys. Enjoy!
