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I know there are a few twitchers on here

Posted by AndyIsOurKing <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/everton-forum/info/user=AndyIsOurKing' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 1, 2025, 9:04 am

Re: I know there are a few twitchers on here

Posted by old_tom_morris <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/everton-forum/info/user=old_tom_morris' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 1, 2025, 1:03 pm, in reply to "I know there are a few twitchers on here"

I'm up in Aviemore on holiday for the week and was at Loch Garten yesterday to see the Ospreys. No chicks this year, sadly. Too many random birds turning up to try and claim the nest.

Superb up here. Seen Red Kites and Hen Harriers, Woodpeckers etc. Absolutely beautiful place.

Re: I know there are a few twitchers on here

Posted by Boom94 <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/everton-forum/info/user=Boom94' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 1, 2025, 8:19 pm, in reply to "Re: I know there are a few twitchers on here"

Saw Crested Tits there one September by the car park by the visitors centre… only ones I’ve ever seen. That particular species is endemic to Scotland and that area in particular I think. A real twitchers tick! 🤣

That Insh Marshes as a great reserve up there - a couple of miles south of aviemore if you haven’t been….

Lucky bugger, a beautiful part of the world that!

Not my words Carol- The words of Top Gear Magazine!!

Re: I know there are a few twitchers on here

Posted by CorradinoDAscanio <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/everton-forum/info/user=CorradinoDAscanio' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 1, 2025, 1:18 pm, in reply to "Re: I know there are a few twitchers on here"

Saw the Osprey while fisting at Llyn Brenig last month. Magnificent sight, and a first for me. Good to see them nesting there again after some twat cut down the nesting post a few years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Tim2WaRTD8

Re: I know there are a few twitchers on here

Posted by old_tom_morris <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/everton-forum/info/user=old_tom_morris' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 1, 2025, 3:05 pm, in reply to "Re: I know there are a few twitchers on here"

That happened up here a couple of times. I was reading about it in the visitor centre (unless you meant here and I'm misunderstanding).

What on earth possesses anyone to do that? The nest is in an area of stunning natural beauty. It's genuinely breathtaking round here, yet you've still got idiots intent of destroying things for no reason? Utter scumbags.

Re: I know there are a few twitchers on here

Posted by Boom94 <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/everton-forum/info/user=Boom94' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 1, 2025, 11:12 am, in reply to "I know there are a few twitchers on here"

Saw the breeding pair a few years back at Blacktoft sands on the Humber estuary. A tremendous sight…..

Not my words Carol- The words of Top Gear Magazine!!

Re: I know there are a few twitchers on here

Posted by GG <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/everton-forum/info/user=GG' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 1, 2025, 11:09 am, in reply to "I know there are a few twitchers on here"

I am not a twitcher, but I do know a lot about birds. About that article, yes, great that Montagu's Harriers are back breeding in England but the core reason that they declined so badly is loss of habitat, land use, farming, etc, in a nutshell the activities of humans, not predation by foxes etc.

Re: I know there are a few twitchers on here

Posted by Boom94 <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/everton-forum/info/user=Boom94' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 1, 2025, 11:16 am, in reply to "Re: I know there are a few twitchers on here"

Hmmm.

I think it’s a number of factors. They did a trial with hen harriers on Langholm Moor where the game keepers kept the predators were controlled. They did this over a number of years and obviously the numbers thrived. Especially during irruption years with voles.

We have enough upland habitat to support a good few hundred hen harrier in England alone. The biggest problem is gamekeepers on driven grouse moors blowing away every hen harrier they see to protect their “stock” for the toffs.

It’s a disgrace that it’s allowed to carry on, whilst the likes of that arsehole Botham goes on about protecting Curlews because they’ve poisoned or shot all the birds of prey.
Can’t stand that tit.

Not my words Carol- The words of Top Gear Magazine!!

Re: I know there are a few twitchers on here

Posted by GG <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/everton-forum/info/user=GG' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 1, 2025, 3:46 pm, in reply to "Re: I know there are a few twitchers on here"

Yes, but that's Hen Herriers. Montagues don't breed on moors.

Re: I know there are a few twitchers on here

Posted by Boom94 <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/everton-forum/info/user=Boom94' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 1, 2025, 3:53 pm, in reply to "Re: I know there are a few twitchers on here"

There’s extensive reed beds in parts of the uk isn’t there? They breed in the same areas as marsh harriers. Whose numbers are increasing…..

My point was highlighting the results of managing predators which can have a positive impact on ground nesting birds of prey. Not that I’m for it necessarily, and certainly not when they can fly a couple of miles and get shot or poisoned, but it is something that has worked previously.

Fwiw they aren’t a species that have ever had much of a foothold in the uk so any increase in numbers is a probably a success.

Just hope they don’t develop a taste for grouse!

Not my words Carol- The words of Top Gear Magazine!!

Re: I know there are a few twitchers on here

Posted by Sherpa <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/everton-forum/info/user=Sherpa' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 1, 2025, 12:27 pm, in reply to "Re: I know there are a few twitchers on here"

What is an irruption year?

Re: I know there are a few twitchers on here

Posted by Boom94 <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/everton-forum/info/user=Boom94' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 1, 2025, 12:38 pm, in reply to "Re: I know there are a few twitchers on here"

They have population explosions every 2-5 years and as a result everything that feeds on them does really well….

About ten years ago on Langholm moor alone they had 45 chicks fledge from 17 hen harrier nests… a few short eared owls as well but I can’t remember their figures…

Bearing there were no English’s hen harriers breeding around that time…..

Not my words Carol- The words of Top Gear Magazine!!

Re: I know there are a few twitchers on here

Posted by Sherpa <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/everton-forum/info/user=Sherpa' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 1, 2025, 12:50 pm, in reply to "Re: I know there are a few twitchers on here"

Ah right.

I thought it was something to do with voles

Re: I know there are a few twitchers on here

Posted by Boom94 <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/everton-forum/info/user=Boom94' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 1, 2025, 12:53 pm, in reply to "Re: I know there are a few twitchers on here"

It is in this instance -although it does happen with other stuff as well..

Some winters we get loads of waxwings come in from Scandinavia if it’s been really brutal over there…
They call these irruption years for waxwings as well …..

Not my words Carol- The words of Top Gear Magazine!!

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