At long last we have managed to get reasonable prolonged views of Barton’s Harrier today, infact Wayne has been watching it from 7 until 4 when he had finally had enough of it disappearing over the brow of fields! We have undertaken extensive research of Pallid/Montague juvenile Harriers and concluded that they must be one of the most difficult birds to separate. The two key features for a juvenile Pallid are the head pattern and the underwing pattern. After spending a great deal of time we eventually obtained reasonable views of the head but could not see a pale collar. With regards to the underwing the bird didn't show a dark trailing edge to the primaries or dark primary tips which is good for Pallid (but this is a variable feature) but the underwing primaries didn't appear to be coarsely barred and no pale (boomerang) patch could be seen at the base of the primaries, so this is more in favour for Monty's. So as much as we wanted it to be a Pallid Harrier it is definitely maybe a Montagu’s!
The following web sites also give food for thought
http://www.dickforsman.com/bird-identification/
http://www.zestforbirds.co.za/ringtail.html
http://andalucianguides.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/pallid-harrier-circus-macrourus.html
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