Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus (Linnaeus, 1766)

Rare, passage migrant & winter visitor. May occur between October & April.

  1. One ringtail, not aged, 22nd Feb. 1966 (A.C. Leach, H.W. Neal).
  2. One female, not aged, 7th Jan. 1977 (D. Warden).
  3. One ringtail, not aged, 7th Jan. 1979.
  4. One male, immature or 1st-winter, 6th April 1991 (R.M. Curber).
  5. One male, immature, 4th Dec. 1991 (R.M. Andrews).
  6. One male, immature, 15th Jan. 1995 (A.D. Scott).
  7. One male, adult, 23rd Jan. 1995 (R.M. Curber).
  8. One male, adult, 7th April 2002 (N.R. Milbourne, I. Stapp et al.).
  9. One male, adult, 8th Dec. 2002 (N.R. Milbourne), presumed same also on 14th Dec. (N.R. Milbourne), 26th Dec. (N.R. Milbourne), & 17th Jan. 2003 (N.R. Milbourne, S. Isgar).*
  10. One, ringtail, 17th Oct. 2004 (C.J. Vines).

I didn’t send in a description of the sighting on 17th January 2003 as I took it to be the wintering bird previously noted in Dec. 2002 on three ocasions. It wasn’t, therefore, published in the Avon Bird Report. It flew west down the middle of the lake at Top End and over Rainbow Point at 1645 hrs watched by Simon Isgar and myself.

Bibliography (sources of information):

  1. Chadwick, P.J. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 1977. Bristol Naturalists’ Society.
  2. Davis, A.H. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 1991. Avon Ornithological Group.
  3. Davis, A.H. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 1995. Avon Ornithological Group.
  4. Davis, A.H. (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 2002. Avon Ornithological Group.
  5. Davis, H.H. (ed.). Bristol Bird Report, 1966. Bristol Naturalists’ Society.
  6. McGeoch, J.A. (ed.). Somerset Birds, 1966. Somerset Ornithological Society.
  7. Payne, D. (ed.). Bird News, Jan. 1979. Bristol Ornithological Club.
  8. Rose, H.E. Dr (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 2003. Avon Ornithological Group.
  9. Rose, H.E. Dr (ed.). Avon Bird Report, 2004. Avon Ornithological Group.

Last update: 7th December 2024