![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvXUXU24X5YzUxxUb1ivsCRC6ZpOmVFc4bJbiS3XrlzwiWgqHWp6gFrsZHMPS_6pqnqS5zVQdAcG0ThexvYHVGSlLgXiPWrZm2UiqJGYr2Mq94PiEyaTqjlaBdoMXk6Po__kWVGMwMM4cq/s320/falcon+10032011+3.jpg)
I showed the pictures to Kojak (after twitching two Stonechats that he located) and he agreed that it didn't look like a Merlin but we both came to the conclusion that it didn't look right for a Peregrine either. If it was one it was one freaky specimen. Reasons why it doesn't fit a typical Peregrine include its size (it appeared about as big as a Collared Dove), the black tip to the tail, the lack of a pale grey rump, the relative weakness of the head pattern (e.g. the moustachial strip looks too long and thin) and the apparently plain belly and underwings. If it were bigger any of this wouldn't matter too much - it was just so small! I have no clue about this bird, perhaps it's some sort of falconer's hybrid or perhaps I'm losing the plot and it's a runt Peregrine.
Kojak and I did have a typical Peregrine, a female, from Woodpecker Meadow at Banstead Woods and Mark Stanley picked the bird up pursuing Rose-ringed Parakeets over his Chipstead Valley garden later that afternoon. We staked out Harrier Field till well after sunset for Barn Owl, but had no luck, only hearing a Little Owl.