Identifying Birds of Prey

[Quixoticgeek]

Today I went for a 10.8k hike that included crossing the Stodmarsh National Nature reserve.

Stodmarsh is known for it's breeding Marsh Harriers. As I was crossing through the marsh I saw at a distance of a hundred meters or so a large brown bird flying low over the reedbed, before it swooped down on something. I'm reasonably sure this was a Marsh Harrier, based on a process of elimination.

A few km down the road as I was crossing from farm land into the woods, I noticed another bird of prey flying along the edge of the field towards a freshly felled coup of coppice with standards. Rather than the side on view that I got of the first bird I saw, this time I had a view of the bird flying away. This gave me a clear view of white flashes on the wings.

I'm very much a novice to bird ID (aside from some very common garden birds). The white flashes make me think that this was a Marsh Harrier, but, while I was maybe 2km from the nearest reedbed, I saw the bird in what I would describe more as a woodland setting.

Is there any other medium sized birds of prey that have white flashes to the mid section of their wings?

Do marsh harriers stick purely to the reeds, or will they also patrol into neighbouring habitat?

Can anyone recommend an idiots guide to identifying British birds of prey?

Thanks

Julia

 

[Fraxinus]

I have seen them hunting along the railway that runs alongside the Stour, a good source of small rodents, they will range about for food.
A great little book is the birdwatcher's pocket guide ISBN 0 85533 148 8. covers most uk birds incl birds of prey.

Rob.

 

[Bowlander]

Marsh's will hunt anywhere, however, Buzzards are really variable with plumage so could be either. Or may be a kite?

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

[Fraxinus]

We have a family of four Buzzards ranging around here, 2 miles from Stodmarsh, so that is a possibility but Kites are as yet not around here (as far as I know) I wish they were, they make the trip up to Mum in law's almost worth it .

Rob.

 

[Insel Affen]

Give the RSPB site a look, they have loads of books and I'd expect them all to be decent.

 

[Nomad]

There aren't really enough species of raptor to fill a book, certainly not a field guide (which tends to concentrate on ID, and when and where they might be seen). The RSPB have a fold-out chart on birds of prey for 3 quid, but I don't know if it has anything more than pictures (written words can help with ID). There's also a DVD on birds of prey, but perhaps a bit pricey at 19 quid (I don't know what it contains). For a small field guide to the more common birds to be seen in Britain, the RSPB pocket one is very good at 6 quid...

http://shopping.rspb.org.uk/birds-w...ocket-guide-to-british-birds-2nd-edition.html

Much better than the Collins Gem I used for a couple of years, and not much dearer. It has 14 raptors listed, one per page, and I've found it to be a good guide that fits easily into a jacket pocket (4.5 x 6.7", 0.5" thick). At the other end of the scale is Collins Bird Guide, about A5 size and an inch thick, widely regarded to be the definitive field guide for Britain and Europe. A bit big and heavy for a pocket, but fine in a bag. It's very comprehensive and packed with little details that other field guides tend to omit. 19-20 quid from most places, but can be had for about 13 from a seller on Abe Books (and is the latest edition).

 

[bambodoggy]

I'm no expert but from your discription was thinking Sparrowhawk maybe? ? ?

 

[Drain Bamaged]

Not sure if it’s of any interest but ALDI have a thing on this Sunday… RSPB ‘What is that’ guide books for I think about £2.50. one of those is a British bird guide….I am guessing it won’t be anything special at that price but being as though it is an RSPB book I would think it at least covers basic recognition.

D.B.

 

[Nomad]

Popping down to the local Aldi soon to have a look at the books, and will comment on the bird one a little later. (I'm interested in the tree and rock ones). I note on the RSPB site that the bird one covers "over 150 species", which is a bit limited compared to the smaller field guides which generally cover 200-250. For perspective, the British List is a formally maintained list of all birds sighted in Britain and consists of about 700 species.

 

[Nomad]

I would not recommend the RSPB What's That Bird book. I had a look at the raptors, 11 listed, mostly three per page, which is maybe not too bad, but each one was only illustrated when perched, and there was minimal written info. There was a further two-page spread about raptors in general, but no specific species ID.

The What's That ...? books are quite interesting in that they order things by some fairly obvious feature, like 'brown streaked birds', which can help to home in on something fairly quickly. However, I've not had a problem using the small field guides that are usually ordered by families (or whatever groups of similar species are called). It can mean a bit of flipping through the pages, but I've always been able to ID what I see, and that was from a starting point of being mostly clueless about birds (and only marginally less clueless now). The main negative to What's That Bird is insufficient info to be able to ID - virtually all birds can be seen perched or in flight and, as such, there are two primary representations or shapes that need to be covered to be able to ID them.

The two books I was after were similar. The trees were ordered by main groups (eg, conifers, broadleafs), and then by leaf shape and other features that might be noticed close-up. Rocks were ordered by coarseness of grain, which I thought was an interesting way to do it. Since I'm relatively clueless about rocks and trees, I decided to get these. One thing about the tree one - it doesn't have the overall view of each species that might be expected, so I'll use it in conjunction with the Collins Gem.

For birds, as I said earlier, unlikely to find a decent guide dedicated just to raptors, which means something more general, and the RSPB pocket guide is very good - far better than What's That Bird?

While in Aldi, I had a look at the 20-quid spotting scope. Minging. Avoid.

 

[ged]

Try to find a book with silhouettes, they're very useful for identifying larger birds against the bright sky.

 

[baggins]

one of the best bird books i have is the Collins Bird Guide. pretty clear pics, good descriptions and pretty comprehensive for all European birds.

 

[markjohnlang]

Marsh harriers will use fields away from reedbed both for nesting and foraging, they like the edges of arable fields.
Males have the white wing patches, together with mainly brown wings, but black wing tips, female and young dark drown with cream head. I would guess marsh harrier

Best book ID is either the Collins or Hamlyn British and European guide
Also look at bird ID videos BTO website - there is one for harriers