Hungarian Red-footed Falcon (Falco vespertinus) wintering in Spain

Falco vespertinus 2w ♂ Véjer de la Frontera, Cádiz, 6.1.2012 (Stephen Daly)

On 6th January 2012, 1500hrs. at Patria (near Vejer de La Frontera), Cadiz, Andalucía, Stephen Daly & Stephen Knapp saw and photographed a ringed 2w male (euring 7) Red-footed Falcon (Falco vespertinus). It is not only an overall scarce species in Spain but accidental in winter. Stephen Daly published an entry in his blog with photos of the bird and asked if any Spanish ringing program had been held. Indeed, according to the lastest data available on the whole of Spain, through official reports in the journal Ecología for 2007, only three birds have been ringed from 1973-2007 in Spain, with two more in 2008 (as explained in this blog). No foreign recoveries had been reported for this species, a scarce migrant and sometimes irruptive species in Spain with over 200 individuals in 2008. So where the bird came from?

Falco vespertinus 2w ♂ Véjer de la Frontera, Cádiz, 6.1.2012 (Stephen Daly)

Watching the photos from the Stephen blog, Hungarian ringer János Tar realised that the vespertinus was one of his. Indeed he reported that the bird had been ringed as a chick in 2010 at Borsodi Mezőség, near the Tisza river, Hungary.

According to Hungarian Birdwatching website, this area is located E of Budapest (see map below) and it's  a flood-plain of arable fields and saline grasslands there this species breeds.
 

Location map of Borsodi Mezőség (marked 'A') [Mapa de la zona de anillamiento (marcada con 'A')]

Distance between the ringing site and Véjer de la Frontera is of c.2535 km (see map below). It's the first to our knowledge recovery of a Red-footed Falcon in Spain but not the 1st falcon from Hungary, since the famous Saker falcon (Falco cherrug) 'Piros' visited the country in 2009 (see the full story of Piros in the rarebirdspain blog here). Perhaps its arrival might be linked to the extraordinary season for Pallid Harriers (Circus macrourus) in Spain this winter 2011-2012. Thanks to Stephen Daly for sharing this stunning story.

2535 km is the distance from the ringing site to Véjer de la Frontera [2535 km es la distancia entre el lugar de anillamiento y  Véjer de la Frontera]

Resumen. Cernícalo patirrojo (Falco vespertinus) húngaro invernando en España. El 6.1.2012 Stephen Daly detectó un 1w de Cernícalo patirrojo cerca de Véjer de la Frontera, Cádiz. Puso una serie de fotos en su blog (dos de muestra arriba) donde se aprecia que el ave estaba anillada. El anillador húngaro János Tar al ver las fotos observó como el ave era una de las que había anilado él en Borsodi Mezőség, cerca del río Tisza en Hungría.Esta localidad dista unos 2535 km de Véjer y la presente es la primera recuperación conocida de la especie en España, donde hasta la fecha sólo se han anillado unos cinco ejemplares coincidiendo en parte con irrupciones de aves como la de 2008.