19
own, she could not supply enough from this
small marsh alone, and to hunt in surrounding
arable fields for larger prey such as young
rabbits, etc. meant leaving the nest for
long periods. This was dangerous with Crows
nesting nearby, and worst of all the Bittern,
perhaps the deadliest enemy of very young
Harriers.
Baby Moorhens and Coots had been available
nearby, but these were disappearing fast -
mostly due to a Great Black Backed Gull who
had found an easy source of food and was
picking off the youngsters with enjoyable
rapidity.
The inevitable happened. The weakest chick
was devoured by it's siblings and then a
second went the same way.
By now the Mother was desperate and achieved
a feat not witnessed by the Watchers before.
She was seen to hover over the reeds and
then sharply pounce to reappear carrying in
her talons a fully grown adult Coot. Coots
are very solid birds for their size and
she must have found it heavy, because initially
she had a struggle to lift it high enough
over the reeds. Swiftly her wing beats
steadied and strengthened and she carried her
burden successfully to the nest.
Although female Marsh Harriers are only
slightly larger than the males, they seem to
be of a heavier build and can carry weightier
prey than the males. So a deserted female
has a slight advantage, although as was proved
this time, it was outweighed by the disad-
vantage of not being able to guard the nest,