Pallid Harrier

Juvenile female - 7 9 15. This nice individual had a fairly obvious grey trailing edge to the inner primaries but still lighter than most Montagu's. Small amount of white below eye and nice sharp pale collar.

Juvenile - 3 10 15. Heading south in the rain.

Well barred primaries with pale base.

Juvenile female - 4 10 15. Indistinct trailing edge to inner primaries and obvious pale base to well barred primaries. Dark eye and not compact enough for a male.

Juvenile male. Pale eye.

Juvenile male - 3 9 15. Pale trailing edge to sparsely barred inner primaries.  

Underparts and underwing coverts covered in rusty streaks.

Juvenile male. Compact bird with sparsely barred primaries.

Juvenile. Very well barred primaries on this individual.

Juvenile - 22 9 15. A bird with a less distinct and more streaked boa.

Juvenile female - 13 9 15. Collar quite narrow on this bird and doesn't quite reach the pale nape spot as most do. The trailing edge to the inner primaries is quite obvious but still lacks the darkness of Montagu's. Primaries are well barred with just the tips dark.

Juvenile male - 16 9 15. A beautiful juvenile almost missed at station 1 as it sneaked past below the station. Birds this high will often end up shot.

A 2nd cy male approaching the tourist platform near station 2. Most were not aware just how close it passed to them. I guess many of them would have been too busy talking about other birding trips they have done.

2nd cy male - 4 10 15. A close encounter with a Pallid. Several juvenile secondaries and a few spotted primary coverts.

Finely flecked breast and flanks. Indistinct trailing edge to wing.

2nd cy male - 13 9 15

Slightly more advanced than the above male. A nice ochre wash to head with flecks to breast and flanks.

2nd cy male - 12 9 15. Like a kestrel from a distance.

This was quite a dark 2nd cy on the upperside compared to some but was typically clean below.

This individual had less black in the primaries compared to some.

Adult male?- 3 10 15. Black only in p6-8 and no indication of a trailing edge to wing. Maybe breast contrasts a little too much with the white belly but that might be nit-picking.

Grey male - 22 9 15. More black in the primaries compared to the above male but still a very clean bird. We had many discussions about how old birds like this were. Perhaps this is a 3rd cy.

Perhaps the faint collar and greyish neck is a sign of immaturity.

A real ghost of a bird. Unfortunately it paid the ultimate price for flying low through the valley at station 1 and was seen to be shot after it had passed the station. 

A truly stunning bird that brought brief happiness to a select few.

Female. One narrow pale secondary line sandwiched between black and no trailing edge to inner primaries. Also more robust body and wings compared to female Montagu's. This females head shows a hooded effect contrasting with the pale underparts.

2nd cy female - 6 9 15. One or two brown juvenile inner secondaries present in both wings gave away age. Also a warm brown wash to underwing coverts and underparts. Typical lack of trailing edge and the narrow pale secondary bar. The fresh almost full grown primaries show how more advanced 2nd cy female Pallid is compared to female Montagu's which would still show 3-4 juvenile outers.

2nd cy female - 9 9 15. Obvious rusty-brown underwings and underparts. Indistinct trailing edge to inner primaries. The outer two primaries are not quite full grown.

2nd cy female - 23 9 15. Strong rusty-brown underwing coverts and streaks to body indicate a young age as does the dark looking eye. Nice pale trailing edge to inner primaries.