Nature

“The Isle of Man has over twice as many Hen Harriers than England. 

I think one of the reasons is that here there is no persecution of these beautiful birds. 

In England there could be around 232 pairs but because of illegal interference by human beings there are only 23 pairs.

Despite the heavy penalties that exist for this illegal interference there are still some people who hunt these birds, destroy the eggs or kill the chicks.

Manx Bird Photography

Those are some of the reasons why these birds are close to extinction across the water.

You can imagine therefore why it’s an absolute privilege for me to able to work with the Hen Harriers in the Isle of Man.

Here, the birds are free to establish their own natural and fluctuating population levels.

Here they are free from unnatural outside influences which is why there are in excess of 50 nesting females and a similar amount of male birds around the Isle of Man.

But there’s no denying, Hen harriers are graceful, enigmatic and beautiful.

When they are hunting they glide around 3 foot above the ground and when they eventually go in for kill they just seem to fall out of the air.

They then take their kill back to the nest, shred it and feed it to their young.

The birds feed on long tails, small rabbits, young grouse and occasionally other birds, but the important thing to remember is that they kill to eat. 

Manx Bird Photography

They are a key part of the food chain here in the Isle of Man.  They keep the countryside in balance.

When you see the Harriers you could be forgiven for thinking the males and females are different breeds.

They appear to be completely different, the males are pale blue-grey with black tipped wings and the females are brown.”