Harrier on M56 near Chester..?

[2520years]

Today was the third or fourth time I've been traveling down the M56 between Warrington and Chester and seen what I think is a Harrier.

I'm not very strong with raptors, but it;

1) was only a bit smaller than a Buzzard
2) was mostly white/light grey under the wings with black on some edges
3) was descending quite slowly flapping its wings about three times every few seconds.

I'm sorry my description isn't great, but perhaps someone else has seen it/them and knows what it is. If pushed I'd say hen harrier, but I've never seen one before so I'm not confident.

Thanks in advance. I don't travel down there particularly often and I've seen the bird a few times, so perhaps it's a common sight for locals.

Cheers.

[dantheman]

Possibly get some more help on this if it was in the id forums . .

Can't tell that much from the info given meself, although Buzzards are notorious for being variable in colouration of the underwing etc. They also vary in size (I saw one barely bigger than a crow myself in France back in the spring).

Hen Harriers could be on the move already in small numbers, don't know if you get them around your way much (pretty much under a lot of pressure in England, and don't know if that would correspond to suitable breeding habitat anyway). Guess there's also a slim chance of Montagu's Harrier, although get rarer up north (rare anyway!) but that has much slimmer wings which would probably have been noticeable . . .

Odds on a Buzzard IMO (they do occur frequently near motorways these days). Maybe others can glean more from the description/flight description given!! (or local knowledge on HH distribution).

Dan

[2520years]

Thanks Dan. I've seen lots of buzzards but this looks different - slightly slimmer and smaller. You may be right though, it's hard to tell at 70mph!

[halftwo]

Hi 2520,
I've travelled along the M56 too many times to count, but I've never seen a harrier from it.
Hen harriers do occur at the Frodsham area in winter, and Marsh harriers too, but August isn't the best time for either, though not impossible.
If you're seeing large raptors as frequently as you say then I'd bet they're Buzzards, which are common in the area.
ATB
H

[2520years]

Ah well...I'll have to drive slower next time! ;-)