[One Man and His Dog]

i had a sighting of a bird which i thought was a rough legged buzzard, its been brought to my attention that it has a white rump and could be a hen harrier? what do you think?
cheers
steve

[OlaB]

Looks ok for HH for me.

[One Man and His Dog]

heres some shots taken of a rough legged buzzard last october in the same area of a rough legged buzzard, if you cant open photos go to thread-north east england-tyne and wear-birds and wildlife of gateshead-page 16 for larger photos.
cheers
steve

[nickderry]

problem is with RL Buzzard is they have a very harrier like shape at times, I think these new photos are hen harrier though as the rump seems to be white, rather than the upper tail.

[One Man and His Dog]

heres some more shots i took, you can judge the wingspan next to a red kite. red kite on the left.
cheers
steve

[KenM]

Assuming the images in the second set reflect RLG...to my eye albeit taken in different time windows..it could be the same species for both sets. The first image looks ''bulky'' and the second image appears to conform with the white rump and structural shape of the 3rd image..dunno......

Now looking at the 3rd set of pics (for the first time), it might appear that the mystery BOP is almost size comparable with the RK, and might be showing a wing posture that's possibly favourable to RLB?

[Dawsy]

Harris hawk? Am I imagining jesses trailing on the first pic?

[Biancone]

Strange! The left image in first set doesn't look quite right for Hen Harrier to me - too much head and neck out front; right-hand image 'could' be HH. But, despite spending several hours this winter staring at the local Roughleg, the pics at your gateshead site didn't look immediately like RLB either, until the ones showing underwing!! (the ones I've seen down here have been 1st winter birds showing less dark at and of tail). As Nick pointed out, the white patch does look like the rump rather than top of tail. Any memory of how it was flying?
PS There does seem to be something trailing in first image; could be worth thinking further about the Harris Hawk suggestion....

[njlarsen]

I have been reluctant to get involved because the last impressions I have of harriers were of the North American variation. However, to my eyes, the tail may look long enough for a harrier in one of the pictures, in all others it looks too short. The white is not where I would expect it for a Rough-leg. I just looked at all the images of Harris's Hawk in the Birdforum gallery, and it looks really good (click on the link at the bottom of the Opus page).

Niels

[One Man and His Dog]

just had word back from an expert, he said that he wouldnt like to id the bop from these images? but there does seem to be something trailing behind and its possible its a harris hawk? looking at some more images i took, the wing shape would suggest harris hawk? heres another shot. its not a harrier, im sort of thinking its a harris hawk now? it looks good for one.
cheers
steve

[OlaB]

Harris is a good suggestion. It didn't feel quite right shapewise for a Hen Harrier (especially the 1st pic) but I was quite sure it wasn't a Rough-legged. Didn't think of Harris Hawk.

[Biancone]

Looks pretty good shapewise for Harris in this last pic, and also a hint of chestnut coverts (?). Could have been an inspired thought...
But difficult to be sure of anything in images this small!

[StuartReeves]

Harris Hawk was also my gut reaction on this one.

[luke]

I thought Harris Hawk after seeing the first picture.

[Andy Hurley]

Originally Posted by OlaB

Harris is a good suggestion. It didn't feel quite right shapewise for a Hen Harrier (especially the 1st pic) but I was quite sure it wasn't a Rough-legged. Didn't think of Harris Hawk.

Hi Ola, you could bluff and say thats what HH meant in yout first post; Harris' Hawk

Andy

[One Man and His Dog]

cheers guys
harris hawk looks good for me aswell now, just a shame i came out of it without a year tick also just found out there is an escaped harris hawk wintering in the area!
cheers
steve

[OlaB]

Originally Posted by Andy Hurley

Hi Ola, you could bluff and say thats what HH meant in yout first post; Harris' Hawk

Andy