Marsh Attacks

On Thursday morning I managed a reasonably thorough, if quick, blast around Aldcliffe.
Freeman's Pools were quiet, as seems to be the norm at this time of year. 5 little grebe were present, including a well grown juvenile.
There were a couple of green sandpiper and a snipe at the Wildfowlers' Pools plus three further green sands on the Flood along with an adult and 2 juv little ringed plover.
I was chatting to fellow Aldcliffe regular Ray Hobbs when I spotted a large dark raptor heading toward the drumlins. It was a large female/juv marsh harrier. It continued to fly in the direction of Freeman's Wood before banking round and flying out to the river.
Over the next 10 minutes or so, despite my not being able to actually see the harrier, it was obvious where it was as waves of panicking lapwing, starlings and other species flew up off the marsh as it seemingly made its way out toward Stodday.
Once again, I was a camera-free zone so here's one of my old recycled sketches...

Jon