Young birds were closely monitored and protected from predators after six summers without fledging success
A pair of Montagu’s harriers have raised four chicks in an English wheat field, the first success for Britain’s rarest breeding bird since 2019.
The fledglings took their maiden flights this week after being closely monitored by the RSPB and the local farmer, with a protective wire-mesh fence installed around the nest to repel predators such as foxes.
The location is being kept secret because it is private farmland, but also to enable the young birds to feed up and grow in strength without disturbance from over-enthusiastic birders.
The Montagu’s harrier has long been a rare species in Britain but after a recent high of nine successful nests in 2011 its population has dwindled, with no fledging successes for six summers.
