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| Jardine's Harrier Circus assimilis Murphys Bridge, Queensland, Australia |
I was still just a very small child when I loved searching through an old British Children's Encyclopaedia printed in the 1930s. Of course, my favourite section is still, "Birds of Prey of the World". The photos were small and sepia or black & white and the names and stories are from a time when large ships had sails. It was enough to stir my imagination. I remember Jardine's Harrier, the Korean Sea-eagle (just like Steller's minus the white shoulders) plus the Monkey-eating Eagle and pages of others.
I was older when I discovered newer books with clearer illustrations and found the mysterious
"Jardine's Harrier" was really called Spotted Harrier. A less adventurous name.
Regardless of its name, the Spotted Harrier is a very beautiful raptor and I recommend the adventure of seeing one in the wild.
This harrier was spotted by Kay William's last New Year's Eve. I don't mean Kay put the spots on it, I mean she saw it first. Kevin and I were sitting in the front seats of the car and we didn't see anything and Kay was sitting in the back and called out "Spotted Harrier!" Sadly the grass on the side of the road was too high for me to get a complete view.
Does anyone want a spoilt dog? I'm tired of typing with one hand.
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| Spotted Harrier Murphys Bridge, Queensland, Australia December 31, 2013 |
7 comments:
They are a beautiful raptor with a couple of birds regularly at WTP (Werribee) over the last few years. Good luck with the dog, and your hand!
It sounds as if you've had a fascination for raptors from way back, Russell.
I love how you aged your photos. They'd be right at home in those old encyclopaedias.
Hmmn, I wonder why your dog is spoilt. :)
Thank you Happy. They are spectacular birds.
Thank you Vicki. I'm often nursing old encyclopaedias and spoilt dogs at the same time. It can get kind of hard.
That's a complete new one on me Russell. It certainly has the same profile as our Hen/Northern Harrier but it has highly distinctive plumage. When I saw the first sepia picture and the title I thought you were about to tell the story of an extinct harrrier but thankfully not.
Thanks, Phil. Fortunately, Spotted Harriers are fairly widespread and not so rare.
Harriers are such graceful raptors. Very good effort with the images. You lucky to have such a 'loyal' companion when you work on your posts...
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