Amur Falcon, Tophill Low East Yorkshire

[Hotspur]

The long staying RFF 1st cy male at Tophill low has been re-id'd as Britains first Amur Falcon.

[Bobolink44]

Thanks for the post James. Wow! Check out the underwing here:
http://www.birdguides.com/pictures/default.asp?v=1&f=183405&r=0&st=0&q=
and more vague here (scroll down the page past the more common tophill low birds):
http://www.surfbirds.com/cgi-bin/gallery/search2.cgi?location=tophill%20low

[MichaelF]

What's more worrying is that the white axillaries are also easily visible on this pic from 23 September . . .
http://www.birdguides.com/pictures/default.asp?f=181845&r=0&st=0&v=1&q=

Wonder why it wasn't picked out earlier??

[RoyW]

With so many Red-foots around in the spring I would suggest that most birders didn't bother looking closely at the shots from 23 Sept - which would be considered no more than record shots - I wouldn't mind betting that there are a lot of people who wish someone had though...

[MichaelF]

True . . hindsight is a wonderful thing!

[Hotspur]

With so many Red-foots around in the spring I would suggest that most birders didn't bother looking closely at the shots from 23 Sept - which would be considered no more than record shots - I wouldn't mind betting that there are a lot of people who wish someone had though...

The pics from the 23rd sept are showing artifact - the underwing coverts were being moulted during its stay at tophill and it wasnt striking until recently - dave mansells recent shots show feathers still coming through. More striking was the pale cheek and moustache on the falcon. The cere and feet were also quite orangey.

[Hirundo]

Yes, I think people are being a bit harsh with the criticism of not IDing it straight away. It was a monster spring for Red-foots and this was a moulting 1cy bird - who knows how many others got away in northern europe this year?

It will be bad news for the big listers if it's really gone though...

[Bobolink44]

Attaching a scan of one of the excellent plates from Lewington in Birding World vol 11 no 7 that shows how subtle the differences between 1st summers can be. I agree, hindsight is a wonderful thing, but unlike the forum bashers on other groups, I would have been cautious on the ID of this at first. Headpattern on the Tophill bird could easily match Red-foot and although the bird has no reddish breast patches, it also lacks the breast and flank streaking of a 1st summer Amur. This may well have been one of those birds that you had to wait for it to moult to be certain. Let's hope it sticks around so we can learn more about it.

[RoyW]

I'd like to make it clear that I wasn't criticizing the fact that the bird wasn't identified earlier - full credit is due to the guy who did realise the significance!

I was trying to point out that with so many photos of Red-foots taken this year few people would have given the Sept photo more than a brief glance (conversely if anyone had even suggested that it could be something rarer all photos of the bird would have been examined in minute detail!). As it was it is easy to see how the apparently white underwing coverts which are show in the photo were overlooked ('Artifact' and moult aside, the photo does clearly seems to show white coverts so the ID could have been queried then - if someone had noticed it - and was brave enough to make the suggestion).

Personally I'd already seen so many Red-foot photos this year that I barely glanced at any of the shots of this bird (and I don't thing I'd have realised it could have been anything different anyway).

[Bobolink44]

Totally agree with you Roy and don't think your earlier comment was critical. We were inundated with Red-foot photos this year and I don't think there was anything to scream Amur about it. Now it's moulting to more adult-like underwing coverts, it's an easier call. Maybe with close study, there could be some more ID features to discover.

[Mark Andrews]

The pics from the 23rd sept are showing artifact - the underwing coverts were being moulted during its stay at tophill and it wasnt striking until recently - dave mansells recent shots show feathers still coming through. More striking was the pale cheek and moustache on the falcon. The cere and feet were also quite orangey.

Agree James, then this came out today...Look at the date....Ouch!
http://www.birdguides.com/pictures/default.asp?v=1&f=183511&r=0&st=0&q=

[forktail]

from Oct 8th...

http://www.birdguides.com/pictures/default.asp?v=1&f=183511&r=0&st=0&q=

if you've never seen an amurensis you might not be aware of the
significance of the white covs moulting in. I guess there weren't many
folks familiar with amurensis twitching it.

shame it did one. When the full underwing covs were moulted in it would
look a real stunner, like this one:

http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?action=searchresult&Bird_ID=1064&Bird_Image_ID=14314&Bird_Family_ID=&p=10

Tim

[Mark Andrews]

from Oct 8th...

http://www.birdguides.com/pictures/default.asp?v=1&f=183511&r=0&st=0&q=

if you've never seen an amurensis you might not be aware of the
significance of the white covs moulting in. I guess there weren't many
folks familiar with amurensis twitching it.

shame it did one. When the full underwing covs were moulted in it would
look a real stunner, like this one:

http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?action=searchresult&Bird_ID=1064&Bird_Image_ID=14314&Bird_Family_ID=&p=10

Tim

Sadly, quite a few of the local birders are familiar with Amur Falcon. Just shows how difficult this feature can be to see, and I can vouch for that from experience in China. It's a pity this image didn't surface earlier!! and yes, they are stunners, but then so are Red-foots

[JHvS]

I was told yesterday that the light underwings had been dismissed as a photographic effect, and that people had suggested Amur Falcon on more than one occasion during its stay... just to be told it wasn't one.

[forktail]

A reply by LGRE to a post I made on UK400 group is certainly intriguing and flags up that several 'high profile' people were aware of the fact that the bird had some white coverts moulted in from very early on in its stay and they actually raised these concerns. I could post it here but it might be best if folks register and read it that way?

Asian afficionados would (probably) instantly realise the significance of the white coverts as amurensis is one of those enigmatic species that people are keyed in to see.

It will be even more intriguing to see how this all develops...