A Red-footed Falcon in Oxfordshire 19th May 2025

Red footed Falcons are very rare in my home county of Oxfordshire.I think only five have occurred in the county, my first and the third for the county was an adult female in roadside trees at Merton Borrow Pit  from the 23rd of June to the 2nd of July 1997 just after I had moved to Oxfordshire.

The two before were a first summer male seen hovering over Wolvercote Gravel Pit on the 12th of June 1983 followed by another male hawking insects over Standlake Gravel Pits on the 27th and the 28th of May 1987.

After the Merton Borrow bird nine years elapsed before the next record came of a male at the RSPB's Otmoor Reserve on the 14th of July 2006 which was seen only briefly and then disappeared.

Fourteen more years then passed before a female was discovered at Piddington just inside the Oxfordshire border during May 2020. A number of Oxonbirders including myself managed to get brief glimpses of it but it was far from satisfactory due to the bird frequenting private land owned by HS2 and an uncooperative almost hostile site manager who would not allow access.

Around the 10th of May this  year an image of a falcon was posted on Facebook by a person who was unsure what it was and suggested it might be a Hobby but it was clearly a female Red footed Falcon. This resulted in much discussion and griping on the Oxon Birding Forum as to where it was photographed and why it was suppressed and eventually after a number of days it transpired the image was taken on Chimney Meadows, a BBOWT reserve which for some reason is not that forthcoming about sightings such as this due it is said to it being a sensitive site for the Tree Sparrow which is a rapidly declining species in the county.

Then later in the month an unconfirmed sighting was reported from Rushy Common, not that far from Chimney Meadows, between Witney and Stanton Harcourt on Sunday the 18th of May but the observer could not be entirely sure it was one as he had to look into the sun but he was fairly convinced. 

Matters quitened down but Simon took a stroll along the Thames Path from Newbridge the next day, intrigued by the report of the possible bird at Rushy Common and after a mile walk found a second calendar year female Red footed Falcon doing its thing, hunting dragonflies over the open fields  and scattered trees at what has to be said was an idyllic location by the River Thames and not that far from Rushy Common. There was also some conjecture that this bird was different to the female that had been pictured on nearby Chimney Meadows.

The news was broadcast on the Oxon Birding Forum group as well as nationally,.precipitating a rush from any local birder able to drop everything and set off to see it.First off the mark were Thomas and Ben, a couple of participants in the Oxon Big Year while others such as myself followed in their wake at a more sedate pace.

I was at the doctors when the news broke so had to bide my time until I had seen the doctor but the minute I was out of the surgery I called Badger and we arranged to meet at his home in Abingdon and drive to Newbridge where hopefully we could find somewhere to park and make the mile walk along the Thames Path to where the falcon was last seen.

There was just one small metaphorical cloud on the horizon and that was parking at Newbridge which is a narrow bridge over the Thames with nowhere to park except on either side, in one or other of the car parks belonging to the two pubs, The Rose Revived or The Maybush which are also situated on either side of the bridge  

Neither were thought to be amenable to birder's parking on their premises but as it transpired The Maybush were happy to allow parking and showed more than a passing and genuine interest in the presence of the falcon and why so many birders were making their way through the pub's grounds and taking the Thames Path beyond.

Badger and myself headed out along the path, a pleasant enough walk beside a tranquil sunlit river, the riparian vegetation harbouring numerous Banded Demoiselle damselflys dithering and hovering amongst the fresh green blades of the reeds and that look superficially black but on closer inspection can be seen to be beautiful iridescent shades of dark green and midnight blue . Mayflies too, danced in their gossamer winged hundreds over the river, obviously deciding today was the day to complete their life cycle.

The path wound onwards following the river's course and, passing through a small copse, a gate opened out onto a wide vista of grass fields and it was then we saw the falcon, flying in the sky chasing after the plentiful dragonflies.

We walked onwards to join a few other local birders and then were treated to Oxfordshire's sixth Red footed Falcon flying above us at great speed and with supreme agility at varying heights. Eventually it settled in a bare tree and I walked closer and took some photos of it perched in the tree.When flying it never really came close so I struggled in the bright sun and white cloud to capture it in flight and settled instead for a few images of it perched in favoured trees. 

From what I could see it looked to be a second calendar year bird, the two central tail feathers had been moulted and replaced with adult ones. It would not breed this year but next year when fully adult.

Red footed Falcons are reported annually from Britain with the months of May and June being the most likely time to fnd them here.This year has seen quite an influx with many birds being reported from southern Britain. An unprecedented flock of eight spent some days at Carlton Marshes in Suffolk earlier this May. Their breeding range extends from Estonia. Slovakia and Hungary (40% of the European population breed in Hungary) eastwards to north west China and they winter in the south of Africa, where the world's largest Red footed Falcon roost was discovered in Angola involving close to a million birds.

Often migrating in flocks or small groups and even roosting together they can complete a non stop flight across the Mediterranean and Sahara in five days and their total migration of 8500-10,000 kms can be completed in two weeks.

We spent about four hours watching the falcon. It would hunt for a period and then return to two favoured trees where it would sit for some time before resuming its hunting. 

Gradually through the afternoon other local birders joined us as the falcon began to fly ever higher in the sky,  being joined by up to five Hobbys which made discerning which was which a challenging  test of identification skills.

In the end both myself and Badger conceded we had seen enough and headed back to Newbridge well satisfied with our time spent with this Oxfordshire mega.

Let's hope it will not be too long a wait until another graces the county