Red-footed Falcon!!

News of a 1st summer male Red-footed Falcon on Dunwich Heath on Tuesday evening had me up early (again!) this morning, to see if I could catch up with this species. I've seen a female Red-footed Falcon in Britain before, but this was my first male, so I was really keen to see it. Luckily, as the blog title suggests, I got lucky, and had super, 'scope views of the bird as it perched up in a dead tree in the reedbeds at the bottom of the National Trust's Dunwich Heath. It was also seen flying around briefly, catching dragonflies! An excellent addition to the "year list". No photos unfortunately, but here's a link to see photos of this species.

In addition to the falcon, I also added Little Gull to the "year list", with a first summer bird that flew overhead, along with several Mediterranean and Black-headed Gulls. Other birds seen on the heath were: Linnet, Goldfinch, Dartford Warbler, Green Woodpecker, Stonechat and several Whitethroats, including 1 carrying food to a nest.

Whitethroat

Whilst looking for the falcon, I also heard a booming Bittern, pinging Bearded Tits and a calling Cuckoo. A Little Owl was seen on the drive.

Year List update:
165 - Red-footed Falcon
166 - Little Gull

RSPB Lakenheath- 28th May 2013

During our recent trip to Suffolk Jayne and I popped across to the RSPB's Lakenheath Reserve in the search of a male Red-footed Falcon, that had been present for over 3 weeks. Unfortunately, the day before our visit it had had a run in with a local Sparrowhawk and wasn't playing ball. Added to that, the weather had turned cool, wet and windy, so we left slightly disappointed!

Despite the "no-show" from the falcon, we did manage to see and hear 25 species of bird including 3 Hobbys hunting together, hunting Marsh Harriers, Reed, Sedge,Cettis and Grasshopper Warbler, "pinging"Bearded Tit, a Kingfisher and several Cuckoos, including this one that perched briefly.

Cuckoo

This Reed Warbler sat singing in the reeds near the path and I managed to grab a few shots before it disappeared again.

Reed Warbler

Lesvos -23rd April 2011

Hi there. I was thinking about last year's trip to the Greek island of Lesvos today and realised that I'd only blogged about the first 2 days of my week long trip. So here goes for the 3rd day.

An early morning return visit to the Kalloni Saltpans started with a look over the small pool opposite the main entrance. 20+Ruff were feeding along with Black-winged Stilt, 1 Little Ringed Plover, Black-headed Yellow Wagtail and an absolutely stunning male CITRINE WAGTAIL (14th lifer).

Citrine Wagtail

Moving over to the main driveway the female Red-footed Falcon was still present on the overhead wires and a Little Owl was sat perched on a metal post.

Red-footed Falcon (female)

The usual waders were seen on “the moat” (Black-winged Stilt, Wood Sandpiper, Ruff and Avocet) and new additions were a Common Sandpiper, 6 Black-tailed Godwit and a White Wagtail. 2 Black Storks flew over and Little and Great White Egret were fishing.

After breakfast we drove up to the Scops Owl site at the Kalloni Mini Soccer Pitch . One bird was spotted straight away and we managed excellent views as it sat tight up against the trunk of one of the Eucalyptus trees.

Scops Owl

Next stop of the day was the Ruppell's Warbler (15th lifer) site on the coastal road near Petra. We parked up in the layby and within 5 minutes had our first sightings of a male bird, singing and flitting about on the vegetation. Over the course of the next half an hour we had another 4 excellent views and managed to get a lovely photograph as the bird perched up against the blue seas below.

Ruppell's Warbler

Also present from the layby were a male Eastern Orphean Warbler (16thlifer), a male Subalpine Warbler (17th lifer), male and female Black-eared Wheatear (white throated form), a Crag Martin, a Shag on the sea, a fly-by Hoopoe, Linnet and Goldfinch.

After a short drive from the Rüppell’s site we arrived in the coastal town of Molivos. Walking down to the harbour area we saw Swallow, House Martin, Swift and about a dozen Alpine Swifts. Jackdaws were present around the Castle, including several pairs entering potential nest sites in the castle walls. More Alpine Swifts were also seen here, as were Red-rumped Swallows and a pair of Black-eared Wheatear (dark throated form). Butterflies seen here were Red Admiral, Painted Lady and Scarce Swallowtail. Lizards called Anagama were also seen basking in the sunshine on the walls of the castle.

Anagama

On the drive back to 2 Ravens and a male Cirl Bunting were seen near “the bandstand” area near Kalloni.

Another amazing day!!