Red Footed Falcon at Grove Ferry

Red-Footed Falcon .

I called into Grove Ferry this afternoon and after checking 'The Ramp' i walked back past the paddocks along the river and back towards the Feast hide , i didn't really see much other than lot's of Sand Martins with a couple of Swallows , there were plenty of warblers of various species in fine song .

I decided to spend sometime inside Feast hide to try and practice some flight shots of Sand Martins flying low over the pool but their speed and my slowness resulted in failure on my part , i did enjoy watching them and a Green Sandpiper flew in adding a bit of variety , i then noticed all the Sand Martin's disappear  , then i saw a Hobby and then a second bird which i also thought was another Hobby , i fired off several shots with my camera before really looking at them (bad habit) .

Female Red-Footed Falcon.

I then looked at the first bird and although no real plumage detail could be made out i could clearly see it was a Hobby , however the 2nd bird was different in profile and made me wonder ?? , i looked at my camera to see if it captured any plumage detail and it looked like their was orange on the head which would make this 2nd bird a female Red-Footed Falcon.

Red-Footed Falcon.

I wanted to be 100% sure on id before i put the news out and as soon as i uploaded the pics on my computer i could clearly see a female Red-Footed Falcon looking back at me , hopefully it will stick around for a few days so others can enjoy seeing it to.

Here are a few photo's of the not to be forgotten Hobby. 

Hobby.