There are epic days while out birding, and seven days ago I had just such a day/find. I left home at 5:30 am and had actually not seen much, till my last stop of the morning when I found a Northern Harrier nest!!!!

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Actually, I know where the nest was located (young now fledged), but could not actually see the nest. Northern Harriers nest on the ground on small raised mounds of land in the middle of bogs. It is impossible to see their nests unless you are a glutton for punishment. One would need to wade through the swamp / bog braving all the horse flies, mosquitoes, other bugs to get anywhere near the actual nest. I stayed on dry land!

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A few days prior to my find I had noticed a male and female Northern Harrier on the wing at this location. The female dove down into the Bog, and disappeared. Seeing two harriers together made me wonder if a nest was in the vicinity and when I returned to that location … jackpot!  I now saw four harriers together … Mom and her three juveniles. In the intervening two days the young had fledged and often sat in a nearby dead Tamarack Pine. I proceeded to watch the juvenile Northern Harriers for hours. Their acrobatics as the young hawks learned to fly told me where the nest was located. The juvenile harriers would dive to the ground out of sight … at the same exact spot.

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Here are some images I have taken over the past seven days of the Northern Harriers.

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Learning to Fly

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One Juvenile Landed on a Remote Road

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More Images ...

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I took all of my Harrier photographs from quite a distance while seated in my car. My tool for camera stabilization is a “bean bag mount”. I love the medium sized bag from Grizzly. They are inexpensive mounts and a person may place it directly on the window frame of a car. I have also placed mine on rocks, tree stumps, etc. to get a stable camera platform. It is easier to carry in a small backpack than a tripod. One does need to fill the bag with your favorite “stuffing. I am using dried peas! Link to the Grizzly company. I bought mine via Amazon … minimal cost.