Peregrine 1 - 0 Teal

Eventually managed to get out with The Chief Spotter at 14:15 today - half the blasted day gone, and, as it turned out, the driest half.  Driving north, the plan was to 'treat' herself to Little Owl and GWE and see what else was about.  And my humble motor got increasingly further from the equator, so the sky greyed and the precipitation worsened.

LO was nowhere to be seen, and at the Budge, the GWE was located opposite near the Heronry.  Crackin' views, and then all hell broke out.  All the birds lifted of the field but the cause was temporarily a mystery.  But the Lapwings were giving aggressive attention to something, and a move of the scope from the grace of the GWE showed it to be a female Peregrine, her right foot pinning a drake Teal to the ground.  There then followed several minutes (or, if you were that Teal, several hours!) of struggle, with feathers being plucked whilst the duck tried in vain to get away; not a chance!

For the next 30 minutes, it was quilt stuffing being separated from meat, and other than the occasional look-see, the raptor consumed the lot; that's quite a meal.

I have never witnessed this carnage before, nor had such magnificent views of a Peregrine.  She was quite a beast.  And, as expected, dear reader, a shitty-shotty!