Rare bird of prey saved from extinction spotted in Hythe

Daily Echo Camera Club member Jordan Callaghan managed to snap photos of a marsh harrier in full stretch in the Waterside at 6.30am in the morning.

Being the largest of the harriers, the species was once so heavily persecuted and hit with such bad habitat loss that just one nesting female was left in the whole country in 1971, according to Hampshire Wildlife Trust.

After decades of conservation works though, the UK breeding population has now risen above 500 pairs, the trust said on its website.

READ MORE: UK's biggest bird of prey one of many spotted in Hampshire

Despite the recovery, marsh harriers are still a rare sight in parts of the country, mostly being found in East Anglia, the Somerset Levels and parts of east Scotland.

Jordan snapped the rare harrier in full stretch carrying food back to its nest. (Image: Jordan Callaghan) The birds stretch out into distinctive V-shapes in the air by holding their wings up, the wildlife trust said.

They usually nest in large reedbeds to feed on frogs, small mammals and other birds like moorhen and coot. 

Hampshire Wildlife Trust said that female marsh harriers can be identified by their "chocolate-brown colour" with "golden-yellow crown and throat".

Males have a "brown back, gingery belly, pale head and neck, and long, grey wings with black tips", according to the trust.