A Letter-winged Kite in Victoria

I was bumming around at home on a particularly wet and uninviting ANZAC day when I got a message from Owen Lishmund. “GOT #@!$ING LETTER-WINGED KITE IN NORTHERN VICTORIA!!!!” A quick check and Owen confirmed with a great picture that he and Dan Ashdown had found a Letter-winged Kite at The Meadows near the Terricks. Despite in being afternoon I was straight in the car (thanks Simone!) and heading north, picking up Scott Baker on the way. It was 1977 when the last Letter-winged Kite irruption hit Victoria and despite the odd claim since one would normally have to go much further north up the Strezlecki Track or into the Channel country to see one. Unfortunately on the way up I was a little over zealous and had an expensive stop with the local constabulary. This coupled with Collingwood starting to lose in the footy did not bode well!

Moat 1 – Tim 0

Eventually after skating along some very sticky, muddy roads we arrived on site. We were very encouraged to see good numbers of Elanus kites, kestrels and other birds of prey around. After crossing the moat in very bad style Scott and I started picking through the 6 or so Black-Shouldered Kites looking for something a bit different. About this time a car pulled up and Matt, Owen and Dan got out and started madly pointing at a bush at a kite we had probably walked past. Scott and I waddled back over and sure enough there it was! Letter-winged Kite! This was a lifer for me and gave me the set of resident diurnal raptors! Queue high-fives! About this time Adam and Brad turned up and we followed the Kite around getting crippling views and a few photos. It was great to see the very distinctive flight pattern and the grey crown and large size made this a young female bird. It was noticeably larger when beside a Black-shouldered Kite. One of the better afternoons in a long time! It did not even matter that Collingwood’s season is long gone. Big thanks to Dan and Owen for finding the bird and getting the news out so quickly!

Letter-winged Kite

Letter-winged Kite

Letter-winged Kite