Following an unsuccessful sighting yesterday evening, I returned to an area of arable farming on land known as Sunk Island. An adult (or almost) female Red-footed Falcon was found here a few days ago and has remained in this area throughout. When I joined other birders, the falcon had recently caught a vole (snatched from a Kestrel) and eaten it. A good distance away across a field, the Red-footed Falcon sat in a large hawthorn tree. It remained there for more than three hours, just looking around and doing some occasional preening. Eventually and surprising us all, it hurtled towards us in pursuit of a Kestrel, passing fairly close before disappearing behind a hedgerow. The Red-foot chased the Kestrel over some distance and when we thought it would be lost, it turned around and came back to the field where it has previously settled, remaining on the ground for a short time. After this tremendous view on the ground, the falcon again went off after the Kestrels and disappeared from where we were.
A wonderful sighting and my fourth Red-footed Falcon in Britain, all the others being juvenile birds, I have seen both male and female adults while on Corsica. Comments are closed.
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