Castle Semple

Cornalees

Muirshiel

Barnbrock

Lunderston

Locherwood

Haylie Brae

Greenock Cut

Collegiate Church

Knockendon

Hen Harrier Project BLOG 2007

This hen harrier diary was written by Kirsty Norrie, the Hen Harrier Information Officer at Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park.

Thursday 26th July
End of Season Project Roundup takes place at 7pm at the McKillop Hall, Lochwinnoch. The evening is FREE and open to anyone to come along, tea/coffee will be provided. There will be presentations from Kirsty Norrie, Clyde Muirshiel Hen Harrier Project Officer 2007; Emma Rawling, Tweed Valley Osprey Project Officer plus a Project Partners Q&A session

Update to Sunday 22nd July
I am pleased to pass on the news that all four fledglings and both parents were spotted out and about near the nest site recently. This is fantastic, as it is normally impossible to get a proper head count once hen harriers have left the nest. It is perfect timing too, as the end of season event is just coming up.

In case you haven’t seen the posters, our closing event this year will take place on Thurs 26th July at 7pm in the McKillop Institute which is on the Main Street in Lochwinnoch. There will be footage from the whole season, allowing you to see just how quickly the chicks grew up this year. We are also lucky enough to have a guest speaker from another RSPB Aren’t Birds Brilliant Project further south. Emma Rawling, the Information Officer for the Tweed Valley Osprey Project, will be coming along to show us footage from her osprey camera. Of course, there will also be free tea and biscuits, and the chance to chat to myself or the Muirshiel rangers about the project, and ask any questions. If you have been inspired by this project, there will be the chance to show support for the RSPB with a membership and gift stall, and there is a fun hen harrier quiz to try. What more could you want from a free event? I look forward to seeing some of you there.

In the meantime, I am rushed off my feet preparing for the evening. Or, to be more precise, stuck inside in a small room editing footage. You would be surprised just how long it takes to pick the best bits from over a month of 24-hours-a-day recording! This also meant I unfortunately managed to miss what I have been told was a spectacular guided walk on Saturday. Two volunteers, Eddie and Allan, led the walk, and were treated to close views of a female, male and juvenile hen harrier. It is certainly a great time to come up to Murishiel, as the additional youngsters in the area means that harrier spotting is more likely to be successful.

We took the nest cameras down a few days ago because we were hardly ever seeing the young even flying past, and they are no longer coming back to the nest. However, you still have time to come up and chat to myself or one of the rangers or volunteers about the project. Better still, why not combine this with a walk on the moor to look for harriers in the flesh!

Update to Sunday 15th July
This weekend involved two trips to Kelburn for their ‘Save the Planet’ event. It was a fantastic couple of days, with hundreds of people coming past to see this year’s hen harrier footage. There were also several other conservation organisations there so people went home with a broad understanding of the environment, and how to help. I particularly enjoyed buying fair-trade cookies for, em…, my volunteers! It was also nice to meet other enthusiastic people working in this sector. Of course, the assault course also needed tested, and it would have been cruel to ignore the goats, and pigs, and chipmunks…. All in all a great success, with many visitors promising to come up and visit the Muirshiel centre.

Meanwhile at Muirshiel my volunteer, Allan, took 12 people on a guided walk on the Saturday. Although there were no hen harrier sightings, there were plenty of other species around and everyone had a fantastic afternoon. It just goes to show what a spot of sun can do!

As for our hen harriers, well, they seem to have pretty much left the nest area. The last chick flew a week ago now, and the chicks stopped coming back to the nest at all within a few days. However, we still get the odd ‘fly past’ caught on our overview camera. Although I miss seeing them every day, I’m glad to see them all growing up and becoming more independent.

Saturday 6th July
It’s amazing how you can wait for something for hours, and then it happens the second you turn your back…

As usual our guided walk left the Muirshiel Centre about 2pm, and I stayed behind to man the centre while my volunteers Eddie and Allan led the walk. I tend to give my volunteers first choice of task, as I greatly appreciate their contribution to the project, which is why I was stuck inside. However, on this occasion I was pretty happy with my lot, as the remaining unfledged chick kept looking up as though considering taking his or her first flight. It kept stretching its wings as though getting ready to take off, then disappointing us by sitting back down again. This went on for a good hour or so, and a crowd started gathering, all hoping to see the last chick take to the air. At one point a new couple arrived, and as I turned around to greet them there was a sudden gasp from the rest of the audience, and spontaneous cheering and applause. Yes, after hours of watching I entirely missed youngsters first flight. Typical! Nevertheless, we are all extremely pleased that all of our chicks have fledged, and look forward to their aerobatic displays over the coming weeks.

If you haven’t made it up to Muirshiel to see the chicks yet, don’t worry. They still have their learner plates on, and are still being fed in the nest. In fact, it is quite exciting watching chicks come and go in three dimensions rather than just two!

Friday 6th July
With three chicks now definitely flying, and the youngest doing plenty of wing stretches and bounces, our hen harrier family is sure growing up fast. The chicks are in a sort of teenage phase, and are certainly getting rather rebellious. They are now happy to try and steal food from each other, and even from the female if possible. This means a lot of the food is eaten just off camera in the heather, as the chicks try and hide away from their siblings.

Food is generally now being dropped whole into the nest by both parents, although some is still being fed piece by piece to the chicks. The youngest chick is starting to lose out though, as the oldest chicks are catching on to the idea of taking food from the parents before they get into the nest properly. Hopefully this will give the youngest chick the imputes to try flying itself.

The weather forecast is poor for the next few days. Hopefully the chicks won’t mind too much, as they should at least be waterproof now. I do feel rather sorry for them though, as it does seem to have been an exceptionally wet start to their lives!

Thursday 5th July
Although normally off on a Thursday and Friday, I decided to change my days off this week. Every Thursday a wonderful volunteer called Anne comes in to mind the centre while I am away. She is fantastic at talking to visitors about the hen harriers, and can be happily relied upon to record the birds behaviour at the same time. However, she is only ever in on days when I am off, and so I thought I should really spend a bit more time with her rather than continuing to communicate through notes forever! Luckily she has made herself entirely at home, and even brought in a butterfly house to gift to the centre. We have nine fantastic volunteers helping the project this year, many of whom hope to go into this line of work in the future. The project would never function without them, so once again I must thank everyone involved.

The chicks themselves had a rather unsettled time overnight, with the female regularly alarm calling at various perceived threats. Our female is very devoted to her growing family, and will try chasing off anything coming too close for her liking. This involves mobbing sheep, alarm calling at low flying planes and sometimes even chasing off the male! The chicks are starting to follow suit, and various alarm calls can be heard from chicks hiding under the camera when something startles them. We have also been hearing an unfamiliar call from the chicks recently, which I can only describe as a cross between a kittens mew and a guinea pigs squeak with a sprinkling of frogs croak. It seems to be connected to fear, but is very distinct from the actual alarm calls. We are certainly learning new things every year.

Tuesday 3rd July
The Muirshiel centre holds summer holiday activities for children every year, and this year events are being held every Tuesday and Wednesday. Today had a hen harrier theme, and lots of people came along to paint their very own hen harrier model. We had some brilliant life-like harriers produced, as well as some fantastic multi-coloured designs. If you have never seen a yellow hen harrier with orange spots and a green tail then you have obviously never been to a ranger-led event! Next Wednesday (11th) we will be having a harrier talk and walk event for children (with accompanying adults), so why not phone up to find out more and book (01505 842 803).

We think two chicks are now flying, with the third hopefully joining in any day now. They are still all coming back to the nest regularly though, especially when food is brought in by the parents. They also still roost together to keep warm overnight, and are very much a family unit. It won’t be many weeks before they are all off on their own though, which is an amazing thought. The unhatched egg remaining in the nest makes us realize just how tiny the chicks were only a few weeks ago. It really is hard to believe they were ever small enough to fit inside an egg themselves.

Sunday 1st July
A new month, but still raining! Today the centre was surprisingly busy, as many people decided some time indoors would be a wise idea. We had many families, couples and individuals sitting for hours watching the hen harrier chicks huddled up miserably in the rain. Unsurprisingly we also had visitors huddled up in the centre after being soaked on walks. It was hard to decide whether the people or the chicks looked more fed up. Nevertheless, the visitors to Muirshiel did have one huge advantage – hot drinks!

The oldest chick is still working on his or her flying technique. It managed to fly a good few metres before crash-landing today. The other chicks tried to join in, but only managed to flap and bounce as before. However, things are certainly progressing much faster than expected in the hen harrier nest. It is fantastic to see such progress, especially considering there are another two nests locally also doing very well.

Saturday 30th June
We have lift off!!! The oldest, and most feathered, chick managed to turn a bounce into a proper flight today. Not only did he or she actually take off briefly, but they didn’t look particularly ungraceful either. The other chicks followed the flight with a look bordering on amazement. They continued staring as the chick pulled itself out of the heather it landed in, and dragged itself back to the nest. Clearly exhausted with its first effort, the chick then settled down to have a doze, completely oblivious to the excitement it had caused us watching on the screen.

Unfortunately, the chicks haven’t been ringed yet, so this fledgling actually caused a bit of consternation as well as celebration. Learning to ring birds is a complicated process involving being an apprentice to a licensed ringer for some time before being let loose. You have to learn how to hold the birds securely but safely, how to locate nests and how to ensure the rings are on properly. This takes some time, and there are always more people wanting to learn the art of ringing than there are spaces as apprentices. As such, there is often a shortage of people licensed to actually ring birds. Our usual ringers are off elsewhere ringing other birds, so it seems possible that these will have to be missed. Nevertheless, there are other nests in the park which are behind our nest, so hopefully most of the Muirshiel chicks will end up ringed.

Today’s guided walk was very quiet, as it was pouring with rain. Several people who came up on the free bus decided to stay in the shelter of the centre watching the harrier cam instead of venturing out. However, we did have one intrepid couple who were keen to get out on the hills. Although we kept the walk a bit shorter than usual, and got wet through to the skin in places, we actually all enjoyed the fresh air. We didn’t see much, mainly meadow pipits and skylarks, but it was nice to have so much time for one-on-one chats.

Wednesday 27th June
Bouncing, flapping, preening and fluff flying everywhere; just another typical day in the hen harrier nest. The chicks are still growing ridiculously fast, and becoming more and more adventurous. It’s now very common to only see one or two chicks in the nest, especially as the oldest chick has discovered the joys of our camera. It turns out that this chick’s favourite place to hang out is underneath our nest cam! Not only does it provide shelter in the rain, but is also a good place to cool off from the sun. There are only two problems with this – it is impossible to see the chick, and we are terrified the camera will end up knocked and tilted away from the action!

As for the visitor centre, it’s still quite quiet during the week, but much busier at weekends. However, it’s not long until the schools are out for summer. In fact, we’ve already been getting the odd early escapee here already! There should be a huge influx any day now, as the different Scottish councils all go on holiday this week. Luckily the chicks are none the wiser!

Tuesday 26th June
Voles are certainly becoming more common on the hen harrier menu now, with four brought in today. Although the number of voles seemed very low at the start of the season, they seem to be picking up again. If you go for a walk even just slightly into the heather the chances are you will see at least one vole scuttling away from you. Some days there have been particularly high numbers of vole feeds, with seven last Sunday, whereas there were only two vole feeds yesterday. It’s hard to know if this is due to vole abundance, or just related to where and how the harriers are hunting.

Often it can be hard to identify what sort of prey is being brought in, though, especially when the male has been hunting. Male hen harriers tend to strip some of the fur off mammals before bringing them into the nest, and they often end up rather mangled in the process. Sometimes voles look much longer than they actually are, so identification can be tricky. Thank goodness voles have very distinct heads, but even so some items are just noted in the diary as ‘food’.

The female is still tending to feed with her back to the camera too, so this leads to even more problems identifying prey items. In fact, in 21 feeds today only 12 could be recognised as either a vole or a meadow pipit. The other items were either identified as just a ‘small bird’ or ‘food’. However, regardless of the food, the chicks are still being well attended!

Monday 25th June
It's amazing how quickly hen harriers can grow in just the space of one day. When I left on Saturday evening the chicks were all huddled up, and it was hard to remember just how larger they are. Then, when I returned today it was almost like looking at different birds. Feathers have started appearing right down the backs of the chicks, and the older ones are showing brown feathers on the chest. There is also far more wing flapping. This not only helps strengthen the wind muscles, but has actually resulted in the odd bounce off the ground. Although not nearly ready to fly yet, the chicks are certainly trying hard.

One chick got into a rather awkward situation today when trying to swallow a small bird whole. It was a valiant attempt, but unfortunately went rather wrong! The chick started swallowing the bird head first, only to get stuck with two legs poking sideways out its mouth. No matter how hard the chick tried to swallow its lunch, the legs just weren't budging. Luckily mum was there to sort out the problem, and happily retrieved the half-swallowed bird and tore it into more manageable chunks.

However, our chicks are also starting to help themselves to food too. One chick was seen trying to hold a bit of prey down with its claws and tear small bits off with its beak. Although the chick only managed to get very small bits of meat off, it was a fantastic step towards being able to feed itself.

The chicks have been spending a lot of time in the heather again today due to the heat. In fact, I was concerned when one chick vanished for over an hour. I started obsessively doing head counts, only to always find that the oldest chick was still missing. Luckily the chick was merely sheltering from the sun in a bit of heather slightly off screen, and happily wandered back to be fed. Now I know how mums with rebellious teenagers feel!

Sunday 24th June
Anther 'walk and talk' day at Cornalees today, and yet another day of rain. It was certainly very quiet at the centre, but that did give me an opportunity to have long chats with everyone who visited.

Many people who come up to Cornalees are not actually aware that the Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park (CMRP) is so big and has several visitor centres. It is an excellent opportunity to encourage people to visit other sites in the park, as well as to promote other RSPB projects.

It does confuse some people that I am employed by the RSPB but working in a CMRP centre. However, the project is a fantastic partnership between lots of different organisations. The hen harrier project is not just placed within the CMRP building, but also relies directly upon all of the CMRP rangers and other staff. The rangers not only have to find a suitable nest, but are also responsible for the monitoring of nests, placing of the equipment and much of the day-to-day work required to keep the project running. If something breaks, they are the ones out on the hill being bitten by midges until it is fixed. They are also the ones who have to do much of the behind the scenes work with footage. They have all been incredibly patient with me as I learn how to use the technology, and so here's a big 'thank you'.

Of course, the project also couldn't run without the help of other CMRP staff. The visitor services assistants are fantastic at promoting the guided walks and live or recorded footage. Some people just nip into the centre for a drink, and might not think to stop and find out about the harriers without being advised to by a friendly face. Others in the park keep the project well promoted and ensure events are advertised well (thanks Fiona!). And, of course, without the park management also supporting the project it would never have taken off in the first place.

Here's to teamwork!

Saturday 23rd June
We had a bad start to the day, as I arrived at the Muirshiel centre to discover that a power cut had made us lose the overnight footage. Worse still, we were concerned to find that the overview camera wasn't working at all. We fiddled around with cables, pressed every button possible and were left fearing that the camera had been struck by lightning. A fierce storm the night before had certainly caused damage in other places, and we had visions of our precious camera in pieces.

Luckily a few hours later another ranger, Joyce, came in for the late shift. She pressed a couple of buttons and somehow made the camera miraculously work first time. I swear she did exactly the same thing as we had tried numerous times. Of course, it's always impossible to persuade people that it really wasn't working five minutes ago! Thankfully all still seems ok with the system and we have not lost any more footage.

The chicks and parents survived the storm, and were actually basking in the sun by the time we had settled down. There was one quite sharp downpour later in the day, but the female came straight back to shelter the chicks. It was amusing watching her try to cover four huge chicks with her wings. Some eventually gave up and took to the heather for shelter instead. The chicks are getting too big to be manageable, but that is certainly a good sign.

This brief rain aside, it was a lovely day. The bus brought lots of people up to the centre, including one man who has already been on the walk a few weeks ago but was keen to come again. The group was ably led by Eddie, a long term volunteer for both the hen harrier project and the RSPB Lochwinnoch reserve. Several very excited people returned desperate to be the first to tell me that they had not only seen a hen harrier pair, but watched a food pass too. I guarantee many of them will be back to watch as the chicks grow up.

Wednesday 20th June
The chicks are growing at an incredible rate. Not only are there feathers coming in on the wings, but also around the necks and down the backs. It's not too surprising how quickly they are growing though, as they are certainly being fed well. Mainly still meadow pipits, but several voles today too. Once again, they have been refusing food every now and again, so the parents are clearly doing very well.

The chicks are also becoming much stronger, and spending more time on the outskirts of the nest. If it is too hot they enjoy the shade of the tall heather, and that's also where they can be found in drizzle. This is partly because they are able to stand up much better now, with only the odd topple forward to hit their head! They haven't got the hang of walking upright yet though, so are still staggering about in the undergrowth. It's amazing that none of the chicks seem to get hurt, as they are forever standing on each other.

Tuesday 19th June
Today was very quiet due to it being rather misty with lots of drizzle. However, we did have a lovely school from Glengarnock visiting the centre. They came along to learn about the environment through various outdoor games, and also got a talk about the hen harriers. As usual there were some very interesting questions including "how do hen harriers fly?', 'do hen harriers eat worms?' and the inevitable 'why do they live on the ground?'. If it wasn't for time constraints I think the children would have been happy watching footage and asking questions for most of the day!

The harrier chicks themselves have had plenty of food today, including several voles. It is unclear yet if vole numbers are rising this year, or if the male is just becoming more successful at hunting them. Either way, it is a good sign for the survival of the chicks.

The female has been also very busy today with what is bordering on an obsession with nesting materials. In the space of the day she brought grass and heather in a total of eight times. Not just a few strands each time either, but a full beak-full of bedding! Once again, she has just been leaving the bedding lying on top of the poor chicks, which look rather confused as grass pokes into them. With wet weather on the cards it is possible she is trying to make the nest warmer.

Monday 18th June
One of the first jobs of the day is to go back over the footage which has been recorded overnight. Often this just involves watching the odd feed in the evening and morning, and the birds moving about slightly overnight. However, all of the footage has to be watched, admittedly on fast forward, just in case anything more exciting happens.

Luckily this morning around 6am we got a fantastic clip of a chick coughing up a huge pellet, then the female removing it from the nest. Pellets are something that many birds produce including gulls, crows, oystercatchers, owls, herons and, of course, raptors. Birds' stomachs are divided into two sections, one of which is the gizzard. Although the birds eat all parts of their prey, things like bones, feathers and beetle shells can't be digested. They gather into a ball in the gizzard then are eventually coughed up. You can actually identify the pellets of different birds by dissecting them. Hen harrier pellets tend to have lots of feathers from all the meadow pipits, with the odd vole skull or bones as well. There is also the occasional beetle shell and also bones or feathers from any other prey items. Seeing the chicks coughing up pellets is actually a great sign, as it shows they are tackling far larger bits of food rather than just the juiciest bits!

Actually, there are lots of signs of how quickly the chicks are growing up. Several of them made good attempts to stand up properly today, only to fall down head-first! There are also the first signs of feathers forming on the wings of some of the chicks. It is hard to believe just how quickly the chicks grow up. It is only around 35-40 days from hatching until they leave the nest. All four are growing well, and even the youngest seems to be getting plenty of food. In fact, at points they have all been turning down food due to being full, so things are certainly looking promising.

Sunday 17th June
Today was very busy up at the Muirshiel centre, with lots of visitors happily watching the harriers. It is certainly addictive viewing, and many people who just planned a brief visit ended up staying for hours. The thing that tends to surprise people the most is that the harriers nest on the ground. Obviously this makes the chicks more vulnerable to attack by predators, as was shown the previous two years with fox attacks on our nests. However, there isn't a huge choice of trees up on the moorland, so ground nesting is the norm for most species. Hen harriers also aren't very good at nest building. Although the female this year is very keen on bringing grass and heather into the nest, she tends to just leave it lying on the chicks. After a while the chicks move and it gets trampled into the nest. However, harriers certainly wouldn't win any prizes for construction!

The hen harriers themselves were taking an easier day than yesterday, with a more normal 23 feeds. The female has taken to bringing prey into the nest and feeding the chicks with her back to the camera. This is probably because there is slightly more room for her this way round. However, it is making it rather hard to see what sort of prey is being brought in. It seems the chicks are mainly still being fed small birds, especially meadow pipits, with just the occasional vole.

There has been lots of movement from the chicks, with plenty of wing stretching and some attempts to stand upright. It is noticeable that the chicks are becoming much more confident when it comes to food too. The chicks have started to help themselves to small parts from the prey the female brings in, and have been spied taking small bits from each other too. Being siblings, we fully expect the rows over food to get worse as they get older!

Saturday 16th June
Unlike last Saturday, today was a rather miserable day; windy, rainy and very cold. So, a perfect day for going along to the Kilbarchan Show then!

The Kilbarchan Show is an agricultural event, complete with hundreds of horses, lots of cows, sheep and even vintage tractors. Unfortunately the weather kept a lot of visitors away, but the event was kept busy with competitors and local farmers.

I went along with some of the CMRP rangers, who were doing a wood turning demonstration. We set up a couple of tents to keep the weather at bay, and had recorded highlights of the harriers on show. This seemed very popular, although people were generally reluctant to stay in one place for too long due to the cold. I had a great response from lots of the local farmers, many of whom told me tales about wildlife on their farms. Most had taken part in schemes to improve their land for wildlife, including planting hedges and trees, building ponds and putting up nest boxes. It was lovely to hear about barn owls fledging, frogs in new ponds and even hen harriers flying across farmland.

As I was off gallivanting, one of my volunteers was left holding the fort at the Muirshiel centre. Allan, a second year student studying environmental biology at Paisley University, not only gave numerous hen harrier talks, but also led the guided walk. Five people came along for the walk, all of whom took our free Saturday bus from Lochwinnoch up to the centre. Although there were no hen harrier sightings, they saw plenty of other wildlife including kestrels, sandpipers and various interesting moorland plants such as cotton grass and sundew. There are still five opportunities left to see 'Birds by Bus', so why not phone up to book.

The hen harriers themselves did extremely well today, with a record 35 feeds in the day! The male is still doing nearly all the hunting, although the female is keeping herself busy with bits of nest maintenance and feeding the chicks. The feeds have mainly been meadow pipits (a small moorland bird), but we have also seen the odd vole being brought into the nest.

Monday 11th June
Most people know that a career in conservation is a vocation rather than a mere job. So, that explains why I spent much of my 'day off' doing what could perhaps be classed as work. Entirely voluntarily, I hasten to add!

This morning I phoned around various RSPB contacts to give them the good news about the cameras going up. It's important to keep everyone up to date, as there are often enquires about the hen harriers at other reserves and in the Glasgow office. There are lots of people who have been keeping their fingers crossed for the last few weeks, so hopefully they can relax just a little now we're live!

Then I couldn't resist a trip up to Muishiel to see the hen harriers live on camera again and also check how my volunteer, Gwynedd, was doing. I tried to persuade everyone that I just happened to be passing, but didn't fool anyone for a second!
I planned to pop in for an hour, but stayed for two and a half. The live footage is just mesmerizing, as you have no idea what might happen next. We saw the female leaving the nest several times and returning with small birds and voles, and then feeding the tiny chicks. We heard the chicks and female call to each other, and the occasional glimpse of the male flying past. We also saw the male come into the nest briefly. However, it's the small things that are often the most interesting; watching the mother preen her youngsters, how they all try to stay cool in the heat and reactions to things like sheep calls and insects. We record all interesting behaviour, including everything the chicks eat, in a diary. Every year so far we have recorded new behaviours, so anything could happen this year.

As news spread of the live cameras, various locals and regulars dropped past to see the new arrivals. One woman was so impressed that she demanded to join the RSPB immediately to help fund these sorts of projects in the future. The excitement is certainly spreading, and one comment in the visitor book certainly summed it all up - 'better than Springwatch!

I'm away at training and various other things for the next few days unfortunately, but I'll add an update as soon as I can. You never know, the last egg might even hatch in the meantime.

Sunday 10th June
I spent most of today at the Cornalees centre at Loch Thom. There are hen harriers in this area of the park too, so we have arranged a series of guided walks and talks every second Sunday (24th June, 8th July and 22nd July). These will start at the Cornalees centre at 14:00 and involve a short talk with film footage before venturing out on a moorland walk. If you fancy coming along please book your place on 01475 521 458.

It was a quiet day at the centre, due to many other events happening elsewhere, and no-one decided to come on the guided walk arranged for today. It had only recently been advertised though, so it was not too surprising. However, I did get to chat to lots of visitors about the hen harriers, and signed a few very keen people up for future walks.

While still at Cornalees I got a call from Ken the head ranger at Muirshiel to ask if I was free that evening. The camera problems had been resolved, and everything was ready to move into the nest. After a good few hours work everything was finally up and running, and we got our first footage from the nest.

We were thrilled to see four healthy-looking chicks, and one egg, in the nest. Hen harriers lay their eggs about two days apart, and incubate from the first egg. This means the eggs all hatch at different times hence chicks of different sizes. It is thought that this is a way of dealing with fluctuations in food supply between years. Some years there is lots of food, particularly if it is a 'good vole year', but others are poor. By having some larger and some smaller, weaker, chicks there are obvious winners in any food fights; if there isn't enough for everyone the youngest will unfortunately die. It's all about survival! Hopefully, though, all of our chicks will do well this year.

We managed to pull ourselves away from the screens about 9pm, having watched the female settle back down, eat a few midges and do a bit of preening. And, of course, celebrating with. tea and biscuits!

Saturday 9th June
Another lovely day at Muirshiel, with plenty of visitors dropping past for hen harrier updates. Many people come in regularly over the summer, and others specifically come past to see the hen harriers each year. Hopefully we will have some live footage to show them soon.

The rangers are working flat out to try and get everything up and running. The cameras are now out on the hills near the nest as a final test. However, rats seem to have nibbled some of the cables during storage, and this was causing various problems. Luckily a man who used to be a BT engineer happened to be in the centre and somehow managed to get us some obsolete cable within the space of a few hours! We are so grateful that people are so keen to help with the project. Thank you!

The guided walk today was also a great success. We had seven participants, with another two who joined us briefly to join in our harrier viewing. In fact, the guided 'walk' was probably a misnomer this Saturday as we ended up in the same spot for about 20 minutes. We spotted a male hen harrier flying low over the moor, then landing in the grass. He stayed in one spot for ages, preening and generally relaxing between hunting trips. We were able to put the telescope on him, and get a really close look. We also saw lots of buzzards, kestrels, meadow pipits and lots of species of butterfly. Everyone was really pleased, and one man enjoyed himself so much that he's booked to come again!

Wednesday 6 June
It was a beautiful sunny day up at the Muirshiel centre today, complete with sightings of buzzards, kestrels and even a family of red grouse. Our bird table has been very busy lately too, as chaffinches, blue tits, coal tits and the odd blackbird squabble over seeds. A female pheasant also decided to try out the offerings, temporarily scaring all the other birds away!

The ranger centre has also been very busy, with lots of new faces. Neil Gillespie and Euan Jamis are up here on work experience for the week. They have been helping with pond dipping, mini beast hunts and generally pitching in to help the park run smoothly. I also have many new volunteers helping with the Hen Harrier project. Alan Law, a third year zoology student from Glasgow University, did a fantastic talk to the school visiting today. He managed to answer unusual questions without faltering, the most obvious example of which was "do hen harriers mutate?". His explanation about how hen harriers grow and change from egg to adult perfectly answered the young lads' curiosity. All of the children were desperate to return and see how the hen harriers are doing over the season, so hopefully many of them will be back soon.

It is great to see so many enthusiastic people getting involved in what is already a partnership project. However, we are always keen to welcome more volunteers, so if you are interested in finding out more just drop in or give me a call.

Tuesday 5 June
After a few weeks of frustration, things are starting to happen up at the Muirshiel Centre. The cameras are outside being tested, and seem to be working relatively well. The system is quite complicated though, involving two cameras, batteries for power at night and solar panels for daylight power and to recharge the batteries.

There are always teething problems, and we never know how the system will work until it is actually up at a nest. Hopefully it won't be too long until this happens; we have now found a nest site which seems suitable. The female is incubating her eggs, but we don't want to disturb her. Fingers crossed that we'll be up and running soon!

Sunday 3 June
The Rangers are working at getting all the camera equipment ready to go out on the hill - always complicated process. It's been a wet day, so not that many visitors even although it is Scottish Wildlife Week and an extra guided walk was programmed.

Saturday 2 June
We had 8 people booked for the weekly Saturday guided walk, the poor weather did put people off and only 1 person came - we did still have a great walk.

April & May 07
Hen harriers were spotted in the Regional Park in March, and have been around ever since. We were treated to wonderful 'sky dancing' displays throughout April and May, as the males performed dramatic tumbles to attract a mate.
We have seen hen harriers on almost all of the guided walks, and have also seen harriers hunting on the hills above the visitor centre.

The harriers are late nesting this year, so we don't have a camera up yet. But watch this space..