The local rice paddy yielded about 6 pied harriers in the late afternoon today. I say about 6 because perhaps I saw the same bird twice as they were moving about. I would say at least 5! What I can tell you is there were two males, really striking looking hawks. I am not sure how many females, at least one and I think at least one subadult but I cannot find a field description or photograph to compare it to so I might need to correct this. In any event I think we have a little roost nearby and I will endeavour to keep a close eye on this patch over the next few months. Unfortunately I was photographing at 5:30 pm in very poor light, so the photograph is more of a record shot.
