Black-winged Kite – Sea Palling, Norfolk, 16^th August 2026

A sketch of my first Black-winged Kite in Morocco in December 1991.

I saw Black-winged Kite in both Morocco in December 1991 / January 1992 and in Egypt in December 1995 / January 1996 (and, if I’m being old-fashioned, I also saw White-tailed Kite in Texas in April 1992!).

Now, I try hard not to have favourite birds (where would you begin, and where would you end?) but Black-winged Kite would be RIGHT up there.

As such, the prospect of getting Black-winged Kite on my British List has always been an appealing one, albeit one that was a very remote prospect until 30 or 35 years after those encounters in North Africa.

In this context, the BBRC Report for 2023 describes how Black-winged Kite was amongst the most hotly tipped next firsts for Britain for many years. It notes the chances of one turning up seemingly increased in the preceding couple of decades or so, with records in northern France, the Channel Islands, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden.

It continues that this gave the impression that the species’ arrival in Britain was imminent; but British birders waited, and they waited... and they waited. It speculates that perhaps, as with so many raptors, the relatively short hop the Channel was too far, but observes that the English Channel is just 32 km wide at its narrowest, and birds were proven to cross the Skaggerak from Denmark to Sweden, involving a sea crossing of at least 60 km.

It then describes how, after an earlier false start, there was a report of a probable, seen from a vehicle on the A14 at Kirton, Suffolk, on the 16th April 2023, but this was considered ‘Not Proven’. However, coincidentally or not, a definite Black-winged Kite was then located and videoed near the A489 in Newton, Montgomeryshire just two days later, on the 18th April 2023.

Ultimately, this became the first British record. Although it couldn’t be relocated, three months later a bird was sighted on Brayden Marshes between Hickling Broad and Horsey Mere, Norfolk, on the 17th July 2023 where it remained until the 20th, making a visit to Trimingham on the 18th, before moving to Felixstowe Ferry, Suffolk, between the 20th and 21st July 2023 and St. Oysth Marsh, Essex between the 21st and 23rd July 2023.

The majority of voters on both BOURC and BBRC considered all these sightings to be of the same bird, and further, the decision about the age of the bird erred on the side of caution and so it a 1CY+, i.e., age unknown.

Whilst, in principle, this bird would have been twitchable in Norfolk, Suffolk or Essex, in practice this had proved a trip too far. Maybe I’d already realised that if I wanted Black-winged Kite on my British List I had to plan a (very) long game.

This proved to be the case. There was no repeat performance in 2024; no records of Black-winged Kite occurred. However, in 2025, there was a broadly similar series of records, just perhaps hinting at a returning bird (although no such decision has yet been made by BBRC).

After a possible was reported at Exminster Marshes, Devon on the 18th May 2025, a definite was sighted at Frampton (and nearby Slimbridge), Gloucestershire on the 20th August 2025. Whether the same bird or not, later in the same year it (or another) was again recorded in Norfolk, at Hickling between the 7th and the 11th September, and at Ludham between the 26th December and the New Year.

In 2026 this bird continued to be seen in the same area of Norfolk – at Ludham until the 4th January, Horsey (and also Brograve Levels), between the 7th January and the 3rd February, back at Ludham between the 8th and the 23rd March, at Sea Palling on the 12th April, at Hempstead Marshes between the 8th May and the 12th June and back at Sea Palling from the 13th June onwards.

This consistent series of reports clearly moved the prospect of twitching the bird into realms of the ‘achievable’, especially so when combined with the news of Zitting Cisticola’s having successfully bred at Corporation Marsh, Walberswick, Suffolk conveniently close to the home of my old birding mate Mike Thompson in nearby Reydon. News about these birds slowly emerged from the 3rd August 2025 onwards; within three weeks news of a singing male had been replaced by news of successful breeding, and so again, twitching both was very achievable.

In the event, nothing happened; although I alerted Mike Thompson about the cisticolas and he successfully twitched them, any vague plans Steely and I had to twitch these two ‘megas’ when he was ‘on shore’ from the Isle of May during the mid-November to mid-March period remained just that.

Moving on, and in late-summer 2026, I was still biding my time, aware that the lack of reports of Zitting Cisticolas from Corporation Marsh after the 8th May 2026 was much more to do with another breeding attempt taking place there than ‘no news either way’.

Almost exactly a year after news of the Zitting Cisticolas had first emerged, reports of what was probably two fledged broods of birds (plus attendant adults) emerged on the 7th August 2026. Game on?

As luck would have it, I’d long had an invite to a bash in Seahouses / Beadnell in Northumberland on Saturday the 15th August to celebrate Steely’s 50th birthday, which was on the 12th August. This involved a boat trip around the Farnes and a hog roast at the Craster Arms in Beadnell.

This would conveniently place me two hours into a seven plus hour journey to Sea Palling, so I slowly resolved to go for it, booking accommodation at a Premier Inn in Norwich on the night of Sunday the 16th August (as well as at Mike’s in Reydon on the following night, and Gary’s in Barrowford on the return journey).

Having very much enjoyed the celebrations the day before, I left my accommodation in Seahouses sometime after 09:00 to commence the long drive from Northumberland to Norfolk.

I stopped at Wetherby Services on the A1(M) for a very belated granola and yoghurt and croissant Pret a Manger breakfast (so late they had stopped doing bacon rolls) and fuel and at a service station on the A17 south of Boston for more fuel, but otherwise it was a long (and uneventful) drive. I snacked on my prepared salad and lump of cheese to keep me going through the tedium of the A47 through East Anglia. That said, travelling this way to Norfolk was at least a little nostalgic. Typically, as I reached the final hour or so of my long journey, the journey around Norwich and beyond to Sea Palling through the Broads became particularly trying, due to large-scale roadworks around Norwich and never-ending rural roads beyond.

Anyway, by around 18:00 I had navigated my way beyond Sea Palling to the viewing location at a double gate alongside the very minor road just inland of the sand dunes north of Sea Palling.

So long in the car had done nothing for my mobility, but I quickly(?) assembled my gear and commenced scanning for the kite. Beyond the gate I was looking out over fields and marshes with shelterbelts, hedges, ditches and an overhead electricity line. There was a lot of suitable habitat, and more of the same continued for miles around. Where to look? What if it was elsewhere? I constantly scanned with both my binoculars and my relatively new Swarovski Balance ‘scope and Manfrotto walking pole / monopod combination, but …… .

Fortunately, a birder on a bike soon arrived. This proved to be Tim Allwood, who very successfully birds the TG42 10 km grid square within which we were located, and as such, as he suggested, sees the kite virtually every day. Salvation!!!!

After we had had an initial chat, Tim wandered off around the edge of the field to our left to (I suspect) check out a roost site of the kite. On his return, we were joined by another local birder / togger armed with the world’s largest bridge camera. Again, we generally chatted, before Tim cycled off to check areas further to the north. My scanning had produced two Kestrels, a Marsh Harrier and a Buzzard, but not the object of my quest. The old boy birder / togger was able to provide some consolatory advice about it typically suddenly appearing after being out of sight for ages, and also mainly being seen early in the morning and the evening (together with the times he had first seen it on previous evenings) but I was less than optimistic. My preferred game plan did not involve coming back for it the following morning, but things weren’t looking good.

However, in fairness to the old boy, he suddenly calmly announced that the kite was showing. Unfortunately, (and diplomatically…..) my understanding of his directions was not good. He described the bird being on the overhead wires beyond the third overhead electricity wires pole, but when I followed these instructions all I could see was a Kestrel, which caused a few increasingly terse comments between us. However, it eventually emerged that he meant the first three overhead electricity wires poles diverging away from the line of the nearer poles in the middle distance, and on finally grasping this, there it was, sat it full (if distant) view!!!!

Wowser!!!

I was able to take it in at leisure, as, apart from one brief flight I caught the back end of, it remained on view throughout the remainder of my stay. It was possibly up to c.900 m away(?) but there was no haze and the light was still reasonable, and the clarity (even when zoomed up to 45x) of my new ‘scope was incredible. Thus, even the dark eye patch was visible, despite the range involved.

I thanked the old boy togger / birder who departed soon afterwards, but not before Tim Allwood had returned. Whilst continuing to take in the bird, I then I chatted to Tim, a top bloke, at some length, discovering the usual fascinating inter-connections, including an eclectic Javier Caletrio, Stuart Green, David Steel – all very enjoyable. We were joined by a couple who I got onto the bird and were extremely grateful, as it was their umpteenth time of looking. Tim also provided me with a recommendation for a local pub to have a celebratory pint and meal before returning to Norwich; The Greyhound in Hickling. In the event this wasn’t quite as successful as it might have been as they weren’t doing food as it was the quiz night, and the gathered clientele included an element of ‘mediaeval woodcut’ but it was the thought that counted (and the old boy had refused all together to give me any such recommendation!).

Oh, a description of the bird? As above. Just wowser!!!!


Black-winged Kite habitat, August 2026.

Black-winged Kite, Hickling, Norfolk, March 2026 – image chosen as it is similar to the views I had at Sea Palling (photograph credited to David Bryant).