Jack the Lad

Desolation best described Talacre this morning, with the paucity of birds and biting westerly blow making for a miserable walk.

A couple of Grey Plovers and a quartet of Sanderling was the best of slim pickings on the windswept beech, whilst the dunes hardly fared better with the sum total of a Reed Bunting, a few Skylarks and a pair of Meadow Pipits.

With the tide reaching its peak, I decided to walk up to the old hide along the edge of the marsh. At last – some birds, albeit pretty modest numbers of Oystercatchers and Curlew roosting on the spit - the wader roost seems to have really dropped off at the Point of Ayr over the last month.

Then, from absolutely nowhere a stunning male Merlin zoomed across the path no more than ten metres from me. It headed along the bank behind the pool that lies shilded by line of trees, before alighting on a post no more than twenty yards from where I was stood. The bird looked in superb nick and I watched it perched for a good fifteen minutes before it flew off towards the dunes.

Jacks, like adult male Hen and Marsh Harriers are unusual on the estuary and based on my personal observations over the last five years there appears to be a heavy bias towards female and juvenile raptors in relation to many species.

I have mentioned this to a few people, but I soon discovered that nothing makes peoples’ eyes glaze over more quickly than me bringing up this half-baked theory! Still, I do think there is something in it and if I was a budding Ornithologist looking for a dissertation subject, then this would be it!

As if to add credibility to my premise, a ringtail Hen Harrier popped up from the marsh before quickly dropping down out of sight again. This seemed to alarm a few Redshanks, but the Harriers presence didn’t ruffle any of the feathers of the larger birds.

With the raptor opting to stay out of the wind, I had a quick scan through the rafts of Shelduck that turned out to be harbouring four Red-breasted Mergansers and a single female Goldeneye.

Point of Ayr 15.03.10

1 Merlin (Jack)
1 Hen Harrier (ringtail)
1 Kestrel
750 Oystercatcher
500 Curlew
4 Red-breasted Merganser
1 Goldeneye

Until later.