Thank you to Stephen Buckle for pointing this out and for Ian Forest for taking the photo in the first place. In this picture (taken on the 5th of January) there is clear wear on the tail and also nicks out of the 4th and 5th primaries on the left wing and the 5th primary on the right http://www.birdforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=363416&d=1325799121 The most recent pictures on this site (Renton's I think) show no such wear but were taken before Ian's so the feather damage could have occurred between shots. If those out and about can have a look see for this feature (might be tricky on a moving bird so might be beat to rattle off a few shots of the underside if you can) then it might help to confirm if there's a second bird or not.
We saw the Marsh Harrier flying across Greenabella Marsh at 1540hr yesterday. Ray Scott and I managed a few shots but the quality wasn't good because of the distance and light. Nevertheless they may be useful to you in your quest to discover if the bird is on it's own. Photos on the forum.
Thank you Renton, pictures are definitely good enough to confirm it as the bird Ian photographed at the start of the year. The distinctive nicks in the primaries can be seen and also a new notch in the secondaries on the left wing which I noticed on the bird that flew over the Tanks this morning. Looks like it has a full crop so good to know it's feeding well.
Must admit that having gone through all the photos I still think there is only the one bird. The 'nicks' to the primaries on the left wing are the same on each bird/photo. The photos I took with the worn tail were taken after about the third day of high winds when I think the damage must have been done. It was present on Dormans Pool yesterday morning - primary tip damage and tail worn still.
There's a good chance that there is just the one Ian but we're pretty sure that there were two on one day, providing the timings were right, as they were seen at the same time a good few miles apart. Always helps if people are looking so thank you to those for keeping an eye out :)
I see what you mean. I think several have passed through even late on in 2011, but I think there is only one lingering bird. It seems to hunt over a large area covering most of the estuary marshes on the north side of the river in an area bounded by the river right up to Seaton Carew and across to the A689.