Amur Falcon

Driving back from John and Debbie's home last weekend, I stopped to photograph the falcons sitting on the pivot. Like last year, I managed to get [reasonably] good photos of the male and only a fuzzy photo or two of the females. These latter are ironically prettier than the males which is not the norm in the avian world.

 The Amur falcon (Male)

 Then, lo and behold, a week later I popped up there again to see Debbie who'd not been well, and stopped on the road to photograph the female! 

 Amur Falcon (Female)

The Amur falcon male has white underwing coverts which are visible in flight. The male has uniform grey plumage and rufous underparts. He has an indistinct malar stripe. The female is a lot more striking with streaked underparts to chestnut belly. She has an even less prominent malar stripe. These birds are common non-breeding Palearctic migrants who travel enormous distances from Asia to the Eastern parts of Africa.  

I'm enjoying seeing them on powerlines in medium to largish flocks at the moment. 

I'm linking to Wild Bird Wednesday here

HAPPY WEDNESDAY TO YOU ALL!