On Saturday 10th June, there were reports of a rare vagrant, a Red Footed Falcon (1st Summer male), being seen on Frensham Common, in Surrey, UK, a short distance from where I live. Although I popped over for an hour or so on Sunday, my main opportunity to see it was on Monday evening (12th June), heading over there at around 6:30pm.
Here's a map of the area (original source here), and I've added in red the approximate area I'd seen the Falcon spending time in.
With a few others watching the Falcon (two of whom decided not to stay on the marked path), it didn't take long for me to spot the Falcon. The Falcon's usual behaviour seemed to be to wait towards the top branches of one of the dead trees, then suddenly swoop down to catch some prey, before returning to the same or other branch. Realistically, most photographs are therefore were always going to be of the bird waiting on the branch. With only a monopod, some wind, and a fair distance to the subject, I was never going to get a good shot, either. But nice to get what is known as a 'record shot' (photographic evidence of the species, but certainly not going to win any awards!) - eating a dragonfly
We were treated to a Hobby mobbing the Falcon for a minute or two, but the Hobby soon left the area, with the Falcon holding its ground. It all happened too fast for any photos, unfortunately.
After everyone else headed-off, and with the car park only due to shut at 9pm, I thought I'd wait for a while longer, and with the wind dying-down, I was treated to a spectacular show. The Falcon's behaviour changed markedly, climbing high above the tree-line, hovering at times, but also trying to catch insects on the wing (similar to what a Hobby does). It also meant that as well as spending time over King's Ridge (the North-South path to the East of the red), it came South of the East-West path I was standing on, so was much nearer than had been seen previously. See below for some of the shots I was able to get.
[As ever, depending on our device/browser, you should be able to click on the photos to see them in a better quality.]
Here's a map of the area (original source here), and I've added in red the approximate area I'd seen the Falcon spending time in.
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| Frensham Common, area in red was the approx. area I saw the bird flying around |
With a few others watching the Falcon (two of whom decided not to stay on the marked path), it didn't take long for me to spot the Falcon. The Falcon's usual behaviour seemed to be to wait towards the top branches of one of the dead trees, then suddenly swoop down to catch some prey, before returning to the same or other branch. Realistically, most photographs are therefore were always going to be of the bird waiting on the branch. With only a monopod, some wind, and a fair distance to the subject, I was never going to get a good shot, either. But nice to get what is known as a 'record shot' (photographic evidence of the species, but certainly not going to win any awards!) - eating a dragonfly
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| Red Footed Falcon eating a dragonfly, Frensham, June 12th 2017 |
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| Enjoying the view |
We were treated to a Hobby mobbing the Falcon for a minute or two, but the Hobby soon left the area, with the Falcon holding its ground. It all happened too fast for any photos, unfortunately.
After everyone else headed-off, and with the car park only due to shut at 9pm, I thought I'd wait for a while longer, and with the wind dying-down, I was treated to a spectacular show. The Falcon's behaviour changed markedly, climbing high above the tree-line, hovering at times, but also trying to catch insects on the wing (similar to what a Hobby does). It also meant that as well as spending time over King's Ridge (the North-South path to the East of the red), it came South of the East-West path I was standing on, so was much nearer than had been seen previously. See below for some of the shots I was able to get.
[As ever, depending on our device/browser, you should be able to click on the photos to see them in a better quality.]
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| Red Footed Falcon flying, Frensham, 12th June 2017 |
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| Red Footed Falcon flying, Frensham, 12th June 2017 |
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| Red Footed Falcon flying, Frensham, 12th June 2017 |
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| Red Footed Falcon angling to catch some prey on the wing, Frensham, 12th June 2017 |
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| Red Footed Falcon enjoying the sun starting to set, Frensham, 12th June 2017 |
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| Red Footed Falcon flying with prey, Frensham, 12th June 2017 |
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| Red Footed Falcon flying, eating prey, Frensham, 12th June 2017 |
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| Discarding some of its catch (bottom-left of photo) |
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| Red Footed Falcon flying, Frensham, 12th June 2017 |
