Dave Curtis
New member
This raptor was photographed at Inner Marsh Farm, Cheshire, UK on Saturday 26th October 2002. I thought it was a dark juvenile female Merlin, possibly of the Icelandic race subaesalon.
A number of regular observers said that this bird has been present for most of October and has caused a lot of discussion. The bird was thought by some to be too dark and too big for Merlin and juvenile Hobby was suggested.
The wing tips appear to stop well short of the end of the tail in other photos.
I would be interested to hear some other views. Sorry about the state of the photo, it was taken at 60x through a Swarovski scope using a Coolpix 990 at maximum zoom - the bird was a long way away.
Dave Curtis
A number of regular observers said that this bird has been present for most of October and has caused a lot of discussion. The bird was thought by some to be too dark and too big for Merlin and juvenile Hobby was suggested.
The wing tips appear to stop well short of the end of the tail in other photos.
I would be interested to hear some other views. Sorry about the state of the photo, it was taken at 60x through a Swarovski scope using a Coolpix 990 at maximum zoom - the bird was a long way away.
Dave Curtis