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One for the twitchers....................

I'd opt for Merlin given the colouring.

Last Sunday there were three male hobbys (hobbies?) hunting over the Vienne. Terrific sight. Also, a few years ago we had a pair over-wintered on our Shoot in Sth. Yorks. They preyed on small birds using the pheasant feeders.
 
I withdraw my last post about too early for a Hobby as I have just noticed the date on the original post 30 03 12. That will teach me not to jump in with both feet.
 
Sparrowhawk is kestrel sized and light under wings but not white.
As it is fairly prolific, it would be the most likely. Merlin is darker and much rarer.
As wayne says, there are likely to be many juveniles around at present which can confuse things considerably.
 
You have a serious size issue Tom if a "kestrel" sized bird can turn into a harrier!

How big was that winter barbel again?
 
i was cutting the hedge the other day, looked up and there, only 40 ft above me was a huge red kite just sitting there, amazing!
 
There are a pair of Kites nesting on the farm here. A few weeks ago I saw one of them swooping over a sheep as if trying to drive a lamb away from its mother. I've kept my eye on it ever since and not seen it misbehave. And just outside the village is a field and small wood where a Booted Eagle can regularly be seen.

When they cut the grass for silage or hay in large fields you often see between six and ten large raptors hunting the field looking for mice and voles.
 
Tony, in truth i aint got a clue what the bird is, the more pictures i see the more confused i get!!

The first one i saw swooping over a ploughed field near Frogmore Gardens in Windsor, it was early in the morning and i was on my way to work, i saw it very briefly. Then driving through Lanarkshire the other afternoon/evening i saw three of them all together and i am convinced they where the same bird.

I saw them at a distance, maybe a hundred or so yards, the thing that sticks in my mind was that they had a white underside and black tipped wings (underside) one looked to be black on the upperside. The one in Windsor was swooping and turning sharply over the turned field, the three i spotted over a sparse heather hillock appeared to be doing the same thing.

I have seen pictures of all sorts of birds in the past couple of weeks and in truth they could be anything!

I wish i could get a picture of one.
 
Funny as Lapwings crossed my mind too i.e. black and white, swooping low over a field, kestrel sized and 3 together ;)
 
Very likely to be a hobby, dark and light colouration, close to the thames (water, where they often feed) and chasing insects. They have been here for at least two weeks. I saw my first on the water park sunday b4 last and a mate has now seen two groups of several birds feeding over the lakes eastern water park nr fairford, glos. Absolute stunning sight.

Paul
 
Yep quite a few about now, but on the 30th March?

Think it will need to go down as an unidentified bird?

Neil
 
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