Finnish Focus On - Pallid Harrier

Cathal Forkan sent me a pic last week of a spectacular milestone for any birder, his first Male Pallid Harrier, sparking this post.

Pallid Harrier is one of my all time favorite birds. There isn't a plumage or age of them that I do not find stunning in some way.

My first grey type male was this 2nd cal autumn bird, which we found at Saltfjarden. 

On a drizzly afternoon in late August, I predicted the weather would down a few migrating raptors, and so we made our way out of the city after work on the off chance "Saltis" would hold some Harriers. We pulled up to the Gunnarsby side, and there floating over the Marsh, was this stunning silver ghost.

It transpired that there was also an immaculate, crisp juvenile in the same vicinity and we enjoyed these two birds, as well as a multitude of Marsh Harriers and a couple of nice, comparative Hen Harriers.

Juvenile Pallid Harrier - An extremely fresh individual. Note those perfect, covert tips, completely unworn.

This 2nd cal male was also found at Saltfjarden a couple of Autumn's later, by the wife as she walked the dog down to the tower. It performed beautifully for us, and was one of several Pallids we saw that day, as well a juv Montagu's Harrier and some stunning full adult male Pallids.

There really is something spectacular about that ghostly colour and that neat, contrasting black wedge on the primaries.

Note the ghosting of the juvenile facial pattern on this young male. Really helped with the ID of a perched bird.

This 2nd cal+ female was seen in Israel, one of dozens and a variety of plumages we encountered on our trip, with one of the targets being a raptor migration.

This juvenile male (note the pale Iris) was also seen in Israel, high up in the Eilat mountains.

This 2nd call spring male was encountered at Haeska, Estonia, and was a welcome lifer for my wife at the time. So far as I can tell, they still seem reasonably rare in Estonia, though likely due to low observer coverage, as many birds that reach Finland in Spring undoubtedly come through Estonia, often crossing over the Gulf of Finland.

This individual was my first Finnish Pallid Harrier, another spring bird seen at Sarkkila. I've spoken about this individual before here

 

Juvenile Pallid Harriers are, of course, stunning creatures. Always a mainstay of the autumn in Finland.  This individual was again in the Saltfjarden area, a prime site for watching harriers.

Another juv from the Saltfjarden area from the same time period.

 

The myth of juvenile Pallid Harriers having dark "caps" has caused confusion in the past for some. In reality juv Pallids are highly variable and identification should always been done on the combination of features rather than focusing on one.

That stunning, menacing facial expression. What a bird.

We are now fast approaching the time when these birds will be showing up here again. Hopefully a few spring birds come my way at Saltis again this spring.