Red footed falcon

I went to North Cave Wetlands on Tuesday. Lots of people, not too many birds.I walked down to the " new workinhgs". Here I was able to see avocet, little ringed plover, common terns, shelduck, tufted duck and lots of black headed gulls. I presumed that this is the area the birds prefer and explains the lack of birds on the other parts of the reserve. From the road you cannot see all of the area, so hopefully I did not miss anything.
I then returned to to the main part of the reserve and went into Crosslands hide. Not a lot of birds to be seen. A family of great crested grebes fishing was the highlight.
I then went to the South hide.Since all the benches have been taken out of the hides I have got into the habit of taking a fold up chair. It is not as high as the benches but I find it more comfortable than standing or leaning on the window ledge.
My first sight of this bird had me a bit confused.

It took me a minute or two to work out what it was, and then the bird lifted its head out of the water.

No other birds were close enough to take pictures of. A common tern was flying about looking for fish, but whenever it got close to th hide it would "tern" away. After lots of attempts this was the best shot I managed to get.

Not much else to report from my visit. As I was about to leave I checked my phone and read a report of a red footed falcon near Sherburn in Elmet. However the report was not positive so I drove straight home.
On Wednesday morning the bird was reported again so I went to see it. I parked at the roadside like several other birders and walked down the path to join them.
The bird was perched on wires a fair distance away, but through my scope I could see its red feet.

 This photo was not taken by me a friend sent it to me, A friend of his had taken the picture.
The one below is the best I could manage. Bird number 156 this year

I left just after lunch as I am waiting for some garden furniture to arrive. After tea I decided to go to Colton just outside York. As I parked the car I saw a barn owl flying over a field of recently cut grass. It suddendly dropped out of sight close to the hedge and then a male kestrel flew in and went to the same spot. The kestrel soon flew away and a while later the barn owl started to fly again.
I left the car and slowly walked down the hill towards the field. I could not see into the field due to the height of the hedge, but from a gate I managed to see ther barn owl perched on a fence post on the far side of the field.

 

Then a female sparrowhawk flew across the field and the barn owl flew over the railway line and out of sight. As I walked back to my car I saw goldfinch, yellowhammer and whitethroat. A pleasant end to a good days birding. Still no sign of the garden furniture, so at least one more day of waiting at home. However the weather forecast is not good, so it will probably not be good weather to go out in.