Reports came out on Thursday while I was surveying in Shrewsbury and reluctant to take the trip post survey on Friday morning on my own, without other folk in the car to share the fuel, I had to wait until Saturday.
The decision was made to leave at 5.30am and to arrive between 10 and 11am, although I was skeptical and keen to get here for fisrt light our plan worked well as the bird remained stationary all morning at a distance until it was warm enough to hunt for flying insects.
As soon as we arrived the bird was hawking over our heads coming within 20 meters or so, we were blown away!
This nature reserve is outstanding, firstly let me give a big thank you to the RSPB staff and volunteers who organised the traffic, opened up new car parking areas and were calm and friendly even when booking two selfish toggers who took it upon themselves to jump over a fence into a restricted area.
Red-footed Falcon: Worth Marshes is a huge area of reclaimed farmland dominated by open landscapes and wetland habitats, containing small wooded pockets and wet marshy areas, ideal for dragonflies the main food source of these small falcons.
A female red-footed falcon was also here feeding on the dragonflies, this was a spectacular individual, with a pale head. The RFF was perched on nearby telegraph wires flying off and catching its prey before coming back to feed.
Really nice to see.
