Eleonora's Falcon, 2cy dark morph, Hickling and wider coastal area, Aug 26 - Sep 1 2022

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Summary

I was readying myself to leave the house at around 08:00 when I got a text of a dark phase Eleonora's Falcon seen and photographed a few minutes before at Horsey Gap car park, heading north, by Mick Saunt and Tim Hodge. I cycled the one minute to the coast as fast as I could, and waited. I called Mick Fiszer who was en-route to Horsey and he kindly agreed to pick me up and try searching from Waxham. Shortly after we arrived, MF heard from MS that the bird had just flown inland at around 08:27. Seeing as many Red-footed Falcons arriving on our coast make their way quickly to Hickling, it was definitely worth the gamble so we decided to head there straight away and try our luck.

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We arrived at about 08:45 and walked down Whiteslea track the viewing mound. As we approached the mound, the first bird I noticed was a falcon low over the reedbed and heading our way! Initial impression was of a Peregrine-type bird rather than one with the more dashing flight of a Hobby. I put MF onto the bird and we watched as it came closer and revealed itself to be the Eleonora’s Falcon. Fortune favours the brave! For the next 35-40 minutes, the bird remained in flight over the 100-acre field, hunting, before we lost it over the back of the dead trees. The bird was usually fairly distant, but on several occasions it approached us more closely allowing plumage details to be noted.

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Not long after we last saw the bird, a few people arrived including Mick Saunt, Paul Lee, Steve Gantlett, Steve and Dot Smith, and Dave Edwards, but the bird proved elusive. It was seen later on perched in a tree for a long period but couldn’t be identified until it flew. It proved tricky on that first day but was seen a few times subsequently in the Winterton-Eccles stretch of coast and inland at Hickling again, allowing numerous people to travel and see it. That first period after Mick and Tim saw it at Horsey of the day was incredibly tense and exciting and bolting off to Hickling pretty much instantly was one of the best birding decisions I’ve made. My abiding memory of the falcon after the initial views of it over the reeds at Hickling was a few days later as it flew into my scope as I watched the sea at Sea Palling. Quite an amazing bird to see at any time but on a seawatch in good light and against the sea, it was doubly impressive. I passed it on to Andy Kane who was watching a short distance north at Eccles and he also enjoyed views of the bird.

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This was the third record of the species in TG42. The two previous being:

• A 2cy bird seen on Jul 6 1987, also at Hickling, but not accepted until 2000 (M. J. Rogers and the Rarities Committee, British Birds 94: 468; P. Morris, Norfolk Bird & Mammal Report 2000: 282-283)

• And the debacle of a photographed but misidentified 2cy bird at Winterton North Dunes on Aug 20 2020 (C. Holt, P. French and the Rarities Committee, British Birds 114: 597)

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Detailed description

Size-wise and in direct comparison, this appeared to be a clearly larger and heavier falcon than a Hobby. It was actually reminiscent of a small Peregrine at times.

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Structurally and in direct comparison, the bird was longer-tailed and longer-winged than a Hobby. The wings seemed broader at the body too, and less pointed / scythe-like than a Hobby. At times it reminded us of a dark-phase Arctic Skua.

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In flight, the difference from a Hobby was striking and much more apparent than I had imagined. It was altogether a more relaxed and lazy flight style. While the three Hobbies present were dashing about on sharp, rapidly beaten wings, the Eleanora's was gliding much more frequently on clearly long and flat wings, often heading directly at us. When it did flap, the wingbeats were clearly shallower and slower than on the Hobbies. There were Hobbies present through almost all of our observations with both species regularly flying in close proximity allowing excellent comparisons to be made. After a few mins, the Eleonora’s became pretty easy to pick out from any Hobbies present. The more leisurely flight of the Eleonora's gave the impression that it was almost quartering the area like a harrier as it searched for prey.

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Plumage-wise, when the bird made closer approaches it was possible to see that it lacked the white cheek and collar of a Hobby, the red trousers of a Hobby, and the pale ground colour to the underparts of a Hobby. We were able to observe all those features on the Hobbies when they were at a similar range. At distance, the Eleonora's appeared basically all dark, while at closer ranger and in good sunlight the upperparts in particular appeared distinctly brown-toned. This brown tone became slightly paler/greyer towards the tail, which showed some barring in one view as the bird banked. The plumage in the mantle and inner upperwing area appeared a little raggedy and perhaps worn. The upperparts of the Hobbies present were distinctly dark grey in comparison. The underwing was hard to discern mostly, but on a few occasions darker coverts were seen along with a paler area below them, most notable on the primaries. This reminded me of an Arctic Skua underwing as it 'flashed' on a couple of occasions. The rest of the underparts were hard to observe, generally appearing dark.

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All the plumage features noted above, along with size, structure and manner of flight identify the bird as an immature (2cy) dark morph Eleonora's Falcon.