Red-footed Falcon INCREDIBLE views

Watching raptors has long been one of my favourite aspects of birding so when I saw reports of a 2cy female Red-footed Falcon only 45mins from home my interest was instantly spiked. Some of the reports almost sounded too good to true as it was giving 'unbelievable views' and 'showing down to 15ft' at times. I'd only previously seen one Red-footed Falcon, back in May 2016 at Wareham Forest and it wasn't a great performer; it came close a couple of times but was usually out of view.

This bird at Isle Brewers near Taunton was fantastic to watch. Despite the drizzle we headed over mid-afternoon and after leaving the car it took less than a minute to get on the bird as it was flying directly over the small group of keen watchers. It had a couple of favoured perches which it was loyal to, returning to them for extended periods of time between flights.

As is often the case with such birds, getting good pics of the wee beauty was a massive challenge. Erratic flight paths from a fairly small bird is a nasty combination for camera autofocus systems and the dull light didn't help either (although at least there was no heat haze). Viewing through binoculars was easier but I was determined to get some okay pics as a better memento for the occasion. Here are a few of the images where things came together quite nicely!