A Pallid autumn
"There it is!" An excited group of birders and photographers stood on the Lancashire Mosses near Croston today searching for a Pallid Harrier across a wide landscape of fields and farmland. The western face of Winter Hill, the most northern point of my own 10km circle for birding, formed the backdrop with stormy skies and warm November sunshine alternating like a landscape scale strobe as the gloriously orange form of the juvenile Harrier twisted in mid-flight and dropped into head height set aside vegetation. Hundreds of Linnets spilled out of the immediate vicinity, and the odd Yellowhammer fled. A crow buzzed the location where the Harrier rested, but in another hour of searching, there was no further sign. My aim - to get some reasonable photos of a Pallid Harrier - had been failed. In all other respects this was a significant sighting. Autumn 2026 has been remarkable for Pallid Harriers in the UK. As well as long-staying individuals on Shet...