As you'd hope when October finally rolls around, it's been an eventful and entertaining few weeks here on the Yorkshire coast, and this week saw that theme continue.... in brief, a few days ago (22nd), news broke of a Lesser Kestrel photographed at Fraisthorpe Sands, East Yorks that morning. Posted on Twitter as a Common / Eurasian Kestrel, it was subsequently flagged up as a juvenile Lesser from the available images and was put out by the bird news services as such that evening; whether it would still be around the following day (23rd) was in the hands of the gods, but if it was, it would surely prove popular.
After a relatively quiet vismig session at Reighton Sands followed by a few hours office work, I noticed the bird was reported as still being present, and decided to go and have a look; after all, it was less than half an hour away, and while I'm not predisposed to (or a indeed a fan of) twitches - especially the bigger, more competitive circle-jerks - it would likely be educational and an interesting bird to try and get to grips with. I've seen many, but not in juvenile plumage and not on my doorstep, so the positives outweighed the negatives and I headed south.
As expected there were plenty of people there (maybe 60 or more) and of those who were looking, all were focused on a Kestrel sp. that had been hunting in the immediate area for a good while (several hours according to a few I spoke to who'd been there since early in the morning); at no point during the 90 or so minutes I was there did I see a second or third Kestrel sp. (despite regular checks!), and the crowds were exclusively focused on the one bird in question. So, was it the bird?
Well, I did hope for it to be educational, and it was. Superficially, it looked good - first impressions included a generally pallid appearance and a small-billed, cute demeanour, and behaviourally it periodically hunted and fed in a very Lesser-like manner; when perched (and viewed through a scope at distance); with better views, the 'open' face, accentuated by a diffuse and ill-defined moustachial stripe, pale ear-coverts and (seemingly) small and mostly pale bill also looked the part; and the primary formula apparently* matched up.
So far, so good, but in these situations it's best to assume nothing and avoid jumping to conclusions. My views were never good enough to see pale claws, and being completely objective, even freshly armed with the identification criteria there's no way I'd have given the bird a second glance had it not already been under the spotlight (and I'm not sure how sharp I'd be at finding an equivalent at anything other than close range). After discussions with several who know far more than I (probably ever will) about such things, particularly Jack - who remarkably referenced these ID features in his #Migweek talk for us the week before! - I've learned a lot and am really glad I made the effort. For Jack's informed conclusions (including *primary formula references), see here.
The psychology of these events, with the potential of county & national listing pressure, mob mentality and other factors influencing potential emperor's-new-clothes scenerios, is always interesting, as is how they pan out online (and this one is still rolling) - claims and counter-claims, two- and three-bird theories, celebratory and then hastily-retracted posts, accusations, bandwagon-jumpers pretending they knew best after all (and then jumping again), contradictory messages from bird news services and more, all coloured by the inherently wonky prisms of competitive listing, the pressures of delivering 'live' news and self-appointed armchair judges. Still, good fun innit?
