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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Joseph N" data-source="post: 1830445" data-attributes="member: 77997">I was 11 years old when I frankly got my biggest stroke of luck birding wise. My Dad and I decided to stop off at Strathbeg one weekend in May 2005, and went into the Visitor Centre to find it emtpty. My Dad was busy watching some waders, and I was staring out into the open, when all of a sudden a harrier appeared very close to us. 'Hen Harrier Dad!' I shouted. He turns round and gets his bins on it, and discovers it has a black stripe on the side of its wing. 'That's not a male Hen Harrier Joe..." he said, "Its a male Monties Harrier!". At that point I have a memory of going half beserk. We quickly managed to find another birder, and with that the news was out and a majority of Aberdeenshire's birders were watching it. I can remember people's reactions when they were told that I had spotted it; I got quite a few pats on the back. It was a memorable day. To top it off we headed to another part of the reserve when it wasn't showing from the Visitor Centre, and on our way found it circling and got fantastic views without anyone else being there. What a day it was. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" />Joseph</blockquote>