Jan 2, 2023

First good bird of the year (and in Bergen): Red Kite

 After a period of family visits and working I really needed to go out and look for the first birds of 2023. First I had a stroll with Hickman at the biological station (which produced a Black Guillemot). After that I wanted to check kviturspollen for Little Grebes. Just before I arrived there I saw a large, slender raptor flying over the area. I saw without binoculars that it was a kite. I had to park and check the bird. Still in the car I saw through my bins it was a Red Kite, but it was gliding and flying fast with deep wingbeats. I choosed to take pictures while still in the car, before the bird disappeared behind the trees. It all took about 15 seconds I guess, but I had pictures!! Sorry for the quality, but you can see it is a Red Kite😀. I searched a little while afterwards, but it had gone...








Record shots of the Red Kite. You can see the deeply forked and long tail, long wings and the white fields on the undersides of the primaries, as well as the light feathers on the upper wing...