Male Northern Harrier - Nesting pair

 As mentioned in the previous post, on the day I discovered these birds were nesting in the area the female as well as the male were not particularly happy at my presence. The male was probably being more aggressive in response to calls from his mate. I didn't spend a lot of time in the area since I was intruding on their territory, just staying long enough to get a few photos.

I did spend a few days in subsequent weeks just monitoring the area hoping they succeeded in raising their young. I did see a couple of juveniles in some of my later visits. I have learned that quite often a male will mate with more than one female and since he is the main food provider it's important to not stress the pair since the male may chose to spend more time providing food to a partner in an undisturbed area.  That may partly explain why it's much more common to see the females since they likely outnumber the males in any given region.