Who can name this Species? (Solved!)

This bird of prey landed some way away

on clump in a swamp in Eastern Poland,

where I was hoping to ‘shoot’ European Cranes.

To this day, I do not know the species

Please enlighten us by naming it!

Adrian Lewis suggests it is a Marsh Harrier…Agreed! Solved.

Marsh Harrier in swamp in Bialowieska Forest

Tags: Bird of Prey, Colour, Nature, Photography, Poland, Wildlife

17 thoughts on “Who can name this Species? (Solved!)”

Adrian Lewis on January 31, 2016 at 08:31 said:

Hi, Paula! I’m pretty sure that this is a male Marsh Harrier, such as sometimes occurs on the Somerset Levels. My reasons? Well its large relative to the marsh grasses, certainly buzzard or harrier size. Large pale head and eye; and the Collins Bird Guide specifically mentions the “uniformly pale blue-grey tail”; and there is also a large panel of that colour in the closed wing; and of course the habitat is right, as are the brown back and the black wing tips. Google (male) Marsh Harrier and look at the images and see what you think. Hope this is helpful. Am down to my last bottle of Forbidden Fruit – this could be serious!!! Adrian xxx

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- paula graham on January 31, 2016 at 09:21 said:
  
  Thank you, my friend…Forbidden fruit can be bought in the Uk, my brother did google search for it. I understand your need. Thank you for naming the Harrier…almost certainly right. Beautiful bird..it did catch something but I could not detect what it was..as distance was great.
  
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  - Adrian Lewis on January 31, 2016 at 11:21 said:
    
    Yes, I get FF (+ many other beers!) from Beers of Europe, who are near Kings Lynn, in Norfolk. They have an excellent service – make orders pre-noon one day on the net or by phone, and receive the drinks the next day. Glad to be helpful with the bird – I was an avid birder 1967-2002. xxx
    
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Cornelis Verwaal on January 31, 2016 at 01:31 said:

Beautiful bird, nicely taken by you

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themofman on January 30, 2016 at 23:15 said:

Merlin hawk.

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- paula graham on January 31, 2016 at 09:27 said:
  
  Very close!!
  
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Tommy on January 30, 2016 at 02:22 said:

LOvely picture. I think it’s a kangaroo bird.

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- paula graham on January 30, 2016 at 09:51 said:
  
  yea, I am impressed you did not call it a gull!!! xx
  
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  - Tommy on January 31, 2016 at 08:18 said:
    
    Ha, ha. I nearly did.
    
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FlyTrapMan on January 29, 2016 at 23:52 said:

My instincts tell me the bird could be a sparrow hawk (unlikely…sparrow hawks are diminutive) or perhaps a type of buzzard or harrier.

This website might be useful: https://www.rspb.org.uk/Images/wingprayer_tcm9-188788.pdf

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- paula graham on January 30, 2016 at 09:48 said:
  
  Thank you, my friend…I frequently see sparrowhawks, but this bird is much larger. this bird lives near and perhaps even over the Russian border…so is an East European bird of prey. I started my photography through my interest in wildlife…and now run and care for my own 3 acre mini wildlife reserve!
  
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  - FlyTrapMan on January 31, 2016 at 01:55 said:
    
    Really? That’s interesting — what kind of animals live on your reserve?
    
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  - paula graham on January 31, 2016 at 09:26 said:
    
    We in UK are not over endowed with mammals, but I see: fox, badgers, rabbits, squirrels, rats!, mice, voles, and roe deer and lots of birds..my favourite the European goldfinch..a little beauty.I will do a post on this bird soon, for you!xx
    
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Otto von Münchow on January 29, 2016 at 23:26 said:

I have no idea what species it is, but you captured it beautifully.

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BRH on January 29, 2016 at 22:32 said:

I’m not an expert – marsh harrier? Dreamy shot!

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- paula graham on January 30, 2016 at 09:42 said:
  
  Could be..I looked on the net…am now hoping a ‘birder’ will see photo and tell me..the white on the wings must be a giveaway.
  
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(b)ananartista SBUFF on January 29, 2016 at 22:15 said:

I’m landing too

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