157. Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus)

The story for Hen Harriers in the UK is alas very different to the recovery shown by their Marshy relatives. Last year not one pair of Hen Harriers nested successfully in England, and the long-term decline that has led to this is thought to have come about due to intense persecution by gamekeeping and shooting interests. Hen Harriers prey on Red Grouse among other birds, and some shooting estates see them as a threat to their stock, which are managed to artificially high levels so that toffs can come and shoot them in the name of 'sport'. It's not hard to guess which side of the debate I'm on.

The photo is a male Hen Harrier, a very handsome chap. He is pretty distinctive but does look similar to some of his relatives (more on that in the next couple of posts). The female is brown with darker streaking and barring; both sexes have white uppertail-coverts but these are more obvious in the female, contrasting as they do with her darker plumage. Juveniles look similar to females, but with less streaking below and slightly more rufous-tinged underparts. Their preferred habitat is open country, such as moors, heaths, grassland, marshes and bogs. They are very widely distributed in Europe, and in fact the whole Northern Hemisphere, being resident in parts of western Europe and migratory in other areas, breeding in parts of Scandinavia and wintering in southern and eastern Europe.

Hen Harrier, ©Radovan Václav, via Flickr Creative Commons.

Hen Harrier painting.

While I was doing this I felt like I was really struggling to nail the colours, but on reflection they don't seem too far off actually.

154. Red Kite (Milvus milvus)

Red Kites are an oft-cited example of a conservation success story in the UK, and why the hell not - at one point they were restricted to a small area of Wales, and now thanks to various reintroduction programmes around the country they are plentiful once more. I remember seeing one in the Black Mountains in Wales on a family holiday around 1990ish and being MEGA EXCITED, now I still get excited when I see one but it happens a lot more often! In fact it's more than likely I'll see a few tomorrow en route to, or at, Rutland Water. Hurrah!

Red Kites are very distinctive, with their long narrow wings, deeply forked tail and bright colours - a black-streaked silver head and rufous underparts and tail. They feed on carrion so don't need to be bulky and muscular to catch prey, so they are quite slim. In Europe, they are quite widely distributed but mostly in central and southerly parts, and the more northerly populations are migratory, although they don't go far - to southern Europe or Morocco. Their preferred habitat is hilly country interspersed with woodland.

Red Kite, ©Wilfbuck, via Flickr Creative Commons.

Red Kite painting.

343. European Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur)

European Turtle Doves are small, slim doves with intricately patterned plumage. Their preferred habitat is open lowland woodland with undergrowth, often near agricultural areas. They are summer visitors to the UK, migrating to spend their winters in subsaharan Africa. It's well known that Turtle Dove numbers have declined massively in the UK (by 93% since the 1970s), meaning that there is a real possibility they could soon be lost as a breeding bird in the UK if this trend cannot be reversed. They used to be fairly widespread here but are now mostly restricted to parts of East Anglia and the southeast (I myself have never seen one). The causes of their decline are not fully understood but are very likely to include factors such as loss of suitable habitat, both breeding and wintering, and severe hunting in the Mediterranean, through which they pass on migration. To understand these causes more fully, Operation Turtle Dove has been set up by a coalition of partners (the RSPB, Conservation Grade, Pensthorpe Conservation Trust and Natural England); their aims are to:

• build on research into the Turtle Dove breeding grounds in England;
• establish feeding habitat over core breeding range through advisory and farmer initiatives;
• research factors operating during migration and at wintering areas.

Turtle Dove, ©trebol_a, via Flickr Creative Commons.

So why have I skipped ahead and chosen to do Turtle Dove today? I haven't lost it, or run out of brown paint from doing all those eagles, and it's not anything to do with Christmas. In fact, it's to draw your attention to Dove Step, a fund-raising adventure to raise money for Operation Turtle Dove! The Inked Naturalist Tristan Reid, Jonny of the Pacific and Sir Rob of the Arctic are planning on walking a whopping 300 miles next March, covering the summering Turtle Dove range in the UK from East Anglia to the North East! It's both a bit barmy and brilliant, and I am looking forward to reading of their adventures on the Dove Step blog. Please consider sponsoring them on their JustGiving page, to help fund vital research into conservation efforts to help the Turtle Dove before it goes the same way as the Passenger Pigeon.

Turtle Dove painting.

Seeing as it's a special one, and also my last one of the year (I'm going to have a break over Christmas), I chose a slightly more challenging pose and have spent rather longer than usual on the painting. Happy Christmas!