Many Hobbies were apparent on arrival, cruising around high over the gravel pits, lazily picking off hapless damselflies. I looked hard but I could not make any of them into the immature male Red-footed Falcon I had come to see. We walked round to another pit where some birders had told us it had been seen most often, and after a little bit of searching, I picked up the falcon on its different jizz and flight action. Frustratingly, the bird remained over the far side of the pit and after a while drifted off. At least seven Hobbies accompanied the Red-foot, mostly lovely adults, but at least one first-summer bird. The falcons seemed to stay together in a loose flock, drifting around the gravel pit complex hunting insects in the clear blue sky. We headed back to the first pit and as luck would have it, the Red-foot was there, gliding over the Poplars with a couple of Hobbies. This time, we got better views, with his slaty-blue grey underparts contrasting with his chequered underwings. A smart bird!
Little else of note was seen at Horton, except for a large flock of non-breeding Great Crested Grebes, c100.
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