Birdwatcher records a first for the Isle of Man

A delighted birdwatcher has recorded a remarkable first for the Isle of Man.

Brian Liggins was at Glascoe dub, off the Bride Road in the north of the island, when he spotted overhead an Eleonora’s falcon - an extremely rare visitor to Britain and Ireland.

He captured two record shots of the raptor, a long distance migrant which breeds in colonies on the Mediterranean and winters predominantly in Madagascar.

If accepted by the Manx Bird Records Committee, the official adjudicator of scarce and rare bird records, it will be the first-ever confirmed sighting of the species in the island.

There are only 10 British records up to 2022 and six other possible sightings since then.

Brian, 49, of Douglas, said: ‘I pulled in at Glascoe dub and noticed the gulls lift.

‘I thought “there’s a peregrine” but when it flew over I realised “that’s not a peregrine, it looks more like an Eleonora’s falcon!”

‘So I scrambled in the car to get the camera out and managed to get two record shots for proof of ID.

‘The sighting was confirmed by one of the UK’s top birders and others in the Isle of Man.

‘I’m delighted as it’s a Manx first.’

Eleonora’s falcon breed on small islands and coastal cliffs in the Mediterranean from Spain to Morocco and Greece to Cyprus.

The Greek islands host the largest percentage of the global population of the slender-winged and long-tailed raptor during its breeding season.

It specialises in hunting migratory birds like swifts.

One population off the coast of Morocco has taken its hunting skills to whole new grizzly level.

It’s been recorded catching its prey alive, stripping the little birds of their flight feathers and then stuffing them into crevices - trapped but still alive - ready to feast on later.

In autumn they migrate more than 9,000km over the Sahara desert and equatorial rainforests to their wintering grounds in Madagascar.