Briefly hovering like a Kestrel but at a high altitude. Aintree NW UK (yesterday) (1 Viewer)

birdmeister said:

I'm struggling to make this into a Merlin.

The first two photos show a slim, long-tailed falcon. I think the wings are fairly narrow at the base, though I could be wrong. The third image seems to show a shorter tail, but this is almost certainly due to angle.

Behavior sounds more like a kestrel to me, too. I have occasionally seen Merlins flying high on migration, and rarely soaring as well, but American Kestrels do this far more often. I suspect that is similar in the (Common) Kestrel, too (?).

Perhaps the thick terminal tail tip is suggesting Merlin to some? I wonder if Kestrel undertail pattern can look like this at times, too.

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SteveClifton said:

It's a tricky angle, and little plumage detail is visible, so perhaps it is a Kestrel after all. I'd like to see some more images to be sure either way...

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SteveClifton said:

It's a tricky angle, and little plumage detail is visible, so perhaps it is a Kestrel after all. I'd like to see some more images to be sure either way...

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RichieTwitchy said:

Sorry Steve, that's all I could take as it quickly came into view.

The reason I didn't take any more of the bird soaring or hovering is because - if it wasn't for bad luck then I wouldn't have any luck at all - the battery warning light flashed and I needed to change it. By the time I swapped the batteries it was too high in the clouds to be identified as anything really.

But I made a mental note of its behaviour.

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