Pallids still on the move

The wave of Pallid Harriers has reached S Spain!  Many still hang around in W Europe, but the records from e.g. Finland are dropping steeply. One of the Finnish colour-ringed nestlings was photographed on migration near Falsterbo in southernmost Sweden on Sep 24th. Also the number of putative hybrids has increased by a few, although many of the submitted birds have either been 2nd cal yr females or just slightly odd juvenile Pallids. This huge invasion has certainly added a lot to our understanding of plumage variation in juvenile Pallid Harriers, but at the same time more questions regarding the extent of hybridization arise.

A brother to the bird seen in Sweden, near Falsterbo, on Sep 24th, photographed at the nest site near the town of Kajaani, C Finland on Jul 11th. Thanks for the co-operation at this nest-site go to Pekka Pouttu, for informing me in the first place, to Vesa Hyyryläinen who found the nest, ringed the chicks and gave his permission for my visit, and to Teppo Helo for actually taking me to the spot.