Wednesday, September 02, 2015

Soil Hill Mystery

        Soil Hill today 2 what I thought were Buzzards were soaring high up
        but closer inspection of the pic revealed  a whitish head so I suspected
        that one was a juvenile, one was deffo a common Buzzard but the other
        is now unknown, it was nice to bump into Graham Haigh while at Taylor
        Lane where we encountered a Weasel but nothing else, I took a look up there
        a bit later on and a juv Cuckoo turned up.

        Then up to Roper Lane after a call from Dave Sutcliffe where he'd scoped
        a Redstart which was good and a lifer for me, was quiet at first but then had
        half hour of decent stuff, Sparrowhawk & Kestrel fight, hovering Kestrels
        and Ravens flying through, Linnets also bobbing about.

        2 Buzzards ?,







4 Raven, 2 Sparrowhawk, 8 Kestrels, 1 Cuckoo, 1 Redstart,
        2 flocks of Linnet and 2 flocks of Siskin.

12 comments:

heavy birder said...

At first glance Im thinking juvenile Lanner Falcon, blue feet suggest one of the large falcons. Dosnt seem dark enough for Saker or heavy enough for Gyr and Eleonora,s should still be in the nest, of course it could also be a hybrid has falconers are known to interbreed species. Makes me think of a bird me and DF had at Walshaw on 20th August that baffled me at the time.

Dave Brotherton said...

They were both soaring around like Buzzards do, I put on grapevine 2 Buzzards but on closer inspection was confused as to what they were.

David Sutcliffe said...

Better putting 2 buzzards Dave than ignoring. Great to get some very good photos. It must have looked fantastic whether a falconers bird or not. Lanner seems to be the favourite so far.........

Dave Brotherton said...

It was Dave but the wing span still has me doubting a falcon, you can't tell on the pics but both were big birds but one bigger than the other,they circled for a bit then ventured toward Bradford.

AndyC said...

Hybrid Gyr / Saker /lanner type. Falconers bird very worn tail feathers..??

gwh said...

What about a Pallid or Montagus female ?

Unknown said...

Perhaps I'm missing something but the last pic appears to be a immature female peregrine?

heavy birder said...

The Top three are the Lanner Falcon the other ones a Kestrel.

Unknown said...

I should have been clearer, the 3rd of the large falcon pictures appeared to me to be an immature peregrine. I could not see any indications that the bird was an escapee, no jesses or similar. I would be interested in what characteristics point to Lanner Falcon, a fairly rare bird in captivity. Whereas the bird in the pic appears to be a peregrine, a relatively widely seen falcon in this area, at time of year when this years young will be dispersing.

[BTW I used my daughter's G mail earlier in error]

Dave Brotherton said...

Leucistic bird ? just an idea

Dave Brotherton said...

Ferruginous Hawk is a fave for me.

heavy birder said...

Will post a brief article on why I think its a lanner