Elmley 16/09/25

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Less windy today and mostly sunny so I made what was belatedly my first visit to Elmley this year.

The male Red-footed Falcon, initially found a couple of days ago, had been reported earlier this morning.  To start with there was no sign of it after I arrived, however I walked down to the brickfields and was surprised to see the bird there. It was sitting in a grassy field though soon flew off, back up the track towards the oaks. 

Good views of the falcon were then obtained, both in flight and sitting in the trees. It seemed to be a second-winter bird on account of some barring on the underwing due to a mixture of old and new flight feathers. It seems quite possible this bird is the same as that exactly one year ago when in juvenile plumage. 

There were also a couple of Hobbies in the same area today.

This was my first outing using the new OM1 so a bit of a learning exercise in how best to use it.

First view of the falcon.

Red-footed Falcon 



Hobby 


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