Tregaron Bog

Cracking male Hen Harrier quartering the southern end of the bog this evening. The harrier put up over 20 snipe, 3 green sandpipers and a wood sandpiper. The 2 species of sandpiper are similar and both have white rumps, however in flight wood sand appears more delicate, paler overall with a noticeably pale underwing (dark in green sand). Rather usefully this evening's wood sand called continuously - a distinctive soft chiff iff iff call. The harrier hung around for about 20 minutes before slowly heading towards the northern end of the bog. A relatively early bird like this may not have come too far and might be from the increasing Welsh population, which now stands at between 40 and 50 pairs. A bit of a success story compared to England, where, despite there being enough habitat to support about 300 pairs of harriers the species is virtually extinct.