Owls and Harriers

The first sunny day for some time lured me out to the area near the airport to look for Short-eared Owls and Hen Harriers. The regular Rough-legged Buzzard was hunting around the runway, seemingly unbothered by the planes regularly taking off and landing.. On arrival at the area of rough ground near the DSB (Danish train operator) maintenance terminal, I immediately saw two 'ringtail' Hen Harriers and, shortly afterwards, at least 5 Short-eared Owls were flushed by one of the harriers as it made a low pass over a patch of long grass - brilliant! I spent an hour in the area and counted another Hen Harrier, this time a young male, and 2 more Short-eared Owls (which could easily have been part of the original group of 5).

A brief look on the sea revealed a few Goldeneye, 2 Wigeon, 8 Whooper Swans and a few Cormorants. By this time my feet felt like blocks of ice so I cycled home via the grass fields at Kastrup to check the gulls. Nothing unusual there so back home with a cup of tea by 1500..

Note how the wing-shape of the Hen Harrier changes in the series of photos below - from a slender, long-looking wing in the top photo to a broad, bulging shape (almost Honey Buzzard-like) on the photo below - all in the space of a few seconds. This goes to show how brief glances or short views can lead to different assessments of wing shape and breadth, important criteria in some harrier species.

Photo: one of the Hen Harriers that was hunting by the DSB maintenance terminal near Copenhagen airport; and a Short-eared Owl shortly after being flushed by the Harrier