Finders in the Field: Black-winged Kite, Hickling, Norfolk
Britain’s first twitchable Black-winged Kite, has been found at Hickling in east Norfolk.
The first British record of Black-winged Kite came earlier in 2023, when a bird was found in mid-Wales on April 18th. Unfortunately it was only seen by the finders and birders were left wondering how long they would have to wait for a chance to see the species in Britain.
Well, the answer was just 91 days.
Late on Monday evening, the RBA news team opened a voicemail message left on our hotline. The message was sent in by Shelia Postle, the wife of birder and RBA subscriber Alan Postle, who had found the bird and managed to dictate a message for her to send to us.
It was sent as a text message, so the news team had the slightly surreal experience of listening to a robotic voice dictate the news of a Black-winged Kite in Norfolk. You can listen for yourself to the clip below.
Following the message, the team spoke to Shelia to confirm some details and soon mega alert sirens were wailing on pagers and phones up and down the UK.
To the delight of birders who travelled overnight to be on site for first light, the bird was still present and seen at 6:45am.
We spoke to Alan this morning to thank him for getting the news out and to hear directly from him on his terrific find.
With the recent glut of sport on the TV including The Ashes and Wimbledon he had not been getting out as much as he would have liked so he headed to Hickling. Even before his momentous find he was already enjoying what he described as a “perfect evening birding in Norfolk”.
Parking up he pretty much had the place to himself with just one other car in the car park. Having birded a bit from the mound and not seen a huge amount he headed in search of Purple Hairstreaks and enjoyed good views of 10 or 12 individuals. With a Glossy Ibis recently reported around Stubb Mill he next headed there in the hope of refinding that. No luck with the ibis but he managed three Great White Egrets and Spoonbill.
Alan takes up the story of his ‘perfect evening’…
“Whilst panning with my scope I picked up a pale bird in a tree which briefly reminded me of my last visit to the site when I found a male Hen Harrier on the deck. The bird was quite distant but still much too small to be a male Hen Harrier so I started to work through the options. I recalled there had been a Night Heron seen in the area recently and superficially, and at distance, I thought for a moment it may have been this. I quickly ruled it out however as the bird flew and started hovering. This sight instantly transported to a birdwatching holiday I had been on to Spain with Heatherlea Holidays, where we had watched breeding Black-winged Kites.”
“I now knew what I had found was a Black-winged Kite but I was still somewhat in denial or maybe it was just shock at what I was looking at - in Norfolk. I knew I needed to check the books and confirm the id 100%. Looking in my Collins Bird Guide the text began “unmistakable”, well it sure was. I could make out the yellow legs but not the eye colour. The plumage was blue-grey and with the black ‘hands’ I was 100% happy I had found a Black-winged Kite.”
“It was around this time that fellow birder John Tallowin came along and asked me if I had seen much! John hadn’t appreciated the significance of the find until I told him it was rarer than the Eleonora’s Falcon which had been in the area last autumn. Luckily John had a camera on him and I asked him to get as many photos as he could as they would be needed to get the record accepted in case it wasn’t seen again.”
“Having enjoyed watching the bird I soon realised that needed to get the news out. I called my wife and told her what I had found. Unfortunately she had not been able to come out with me as she wasn’t feeling well. I carefully dictated a message to her and told her to get the news to Rare Bird Alert, which she did.”
“John had left the site to go and get a better lens for his camera but by the time he got back the bird was out of sight and most likely gone to roost. The light was fading and we decided to head for home.”
“When I returned home I was still in some shock as to what I had found and the experience I had just had. There was one cold beer in the fridge and I felt I had earned it so I opened it and sat down in front of the TV and caught a re-run of The Two Ronnies and the legendary Four Candles / Fork Handles sketch. It really was the most perfect evening.”
“The very first rarity we saw when we subscribed to Rare Bird Alert was the Black Lark at Winterton in April 2008. We have seen many great birds since then, but I am delighted that I have now managed to find a mega rare bird which others have been able to enjoy.”
18 Jul 2023
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