Country diary: marsh harriers fly low in the orange glow of the sallows

Claxton, Norfolk: The return of these birds, from just one breeding pair in the whole country in the 1970s to more than 400 today, is a great success storyIn this weirdest, wettest of autumns there is at least a little compensation in the long-lingering foliage on our winter trees. The sallows are still domes of dull fire in the landscape, and through this slow burn of the last summer's sunshine there is a looping knot of five marsh harriers at play in the westerlies.Their flight is low and wind scattered. Yet they keep coming back to the one spot and, against the orange glow of the sallow, they insert these intricate short-lived patterns of mahogany brown, where long, elegant wings and tails tangle with the sudden gusts. Continue reading...