Harrier Pottering

As far as I am aware J K Rowling has not been sighted in the Shire.  However Harriers have been seen.  Since they have all been Spotted one assumes they are from the earlier stages of the Hogwarts saga.

The first observation of a Spotted Harrier (Circus assimilis) of which I am aware was of one near the junction of Woolcara Lane and Captains Flat Road in January 2010.  This was followed up by a sighting in December 2011 in the middle of Briars Sharrow Rd.

Since then there had been a couple of reports of a Spotted Harrier on a property off Plains Rd Hoskinstown.  On 12 February two Harriers were seen on the property on at least two occasions.  Both were Spotted Harriers - probably an adult and a juvenile.  (Unfortunately no photographs are available at this stage.)

The most surprising point is that there have been no sightings of Swamp Harriers (Circus approximans)
 in the area covered by this blog. This may be explained - or at least illustrated -  by the following distribution maps from the Birds Australia Birdata project.

Spotted Harrier

Swamp Harrier

It appears from this that (in SE NSW) the Swamp Harrier favours areas along the Coast and Murrumbidgee while the Spotted Harrier is found more in areas such as the grassy plains of the Molonglo and Western Slopes.  (A response to this post on the COG Chatline notes that a slightly different picture - in terms of number of observations - emerges if the map is zoomed. However the pattern of distribution says the same: Spotted along the Monaro Highway, Swamp in the valleys of Namadgi.) I wonder if this is due to the difference in food preference: although HANZAB is not definitive it would appear that from analysis of pellets that the Spotted Harrier takes more mammals and grassland species than the Swamp Harrier.

A further point of interest from HANZAB about the feeding behaviour of Spotted Harriers: I just noticed a line in my big reference book about Spotted Harriers.  "Often observed hunting with Black Falcons.  Harrier hunting low, Falcon overhead" citing very authoritative observers."  A Black Falcon has indeed been observed in the area where the Spotted Harriers have been seen.