The Red-footed Falcon here turned up the day we went on holiday to Dorset, almost three weeks ago. In that time I have had to suffer some immensely gripping photos. Even after we arrived back, a string of other commitments cropped up and it was only now that I finally got my chance to go and see it. I was most surprised that it was still there, I would have expected a bird of prey to have moved on by now.
The question is, was it worth the wait? The answer: Yes it was. In the end I stayed with the bird for over 3 hours watching it at incredibly close quarters, once down to as little as four feet away! Due to the weather it spent long periods sheltered and out of sight, and when it showed it was often brief. However, there were a couple of periods where it showed for longer, and it was in these periods that it came close and rewarded our patience by being awesome.
We got to watch it catch a worm, as well as bank around the fence posts. Occasionally a car would drive past it up the track, less than a foot away and the bird did not even flinch. Needless to say, I took plenty of photos, some of which are good enough to pass as record shots...
-Red-footed Falcon
Other birds were very thin on the ground, with the highlight being a Common Buzzard. I did get a Peregrine while I was walking through Manchester, and a Kestrel whilst walking home, bringing my daily falcon count to three...
Species List:
Chatterley Whitfield Colliery: Pied Wagtail, Red-Footed Falcon, Swift, Woodpigeon, Black-Headed Gull, Magpie, Whitethroat, Robin, Common Buzzard,
Very nice................
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