Kites on the move - eyes to the skies

A memorable moment for me this morning when at 10.55am a Red Kite appeared over our Penrhyn Bay garden. The gulls went crazy! Immediately a second bird joined it and the birds slowly drifted east. I called the family and we watched them thermal higher and higher until they joined another 2 Red Kites! Superb - 4 Red Kites together. Although Kites breed inland from here, these didn't look like local birds as they seemed to continue north out to sea. Next stop Isle of Man? Solway? Two Buzzard also flew north a few minutes later.

A few more birds on the Orme this morning too, despite the early morning easterly winds being bitter.

Two Ring Ouzels still western cliffs. Also 5 Redwing, White Wagtail, 9 Pied Wagtail, Crossbill, 3 Wheatear, 3 Sandwich Terns, 6 Blackbirds, 2 Sing Thrush, 30+ Woodpigeon, Great Tit and 10+ Siskin moving through.

Two of the Kites on the move this morning. The birds seem to be non-breeding birds as they have started their moult early in the year. Red Kites moult annually, with non breeding birds beginning to moult as early as January / February. The moult takes several months to complete. The first bird above seems to be in quite heavy moult and moulting its primaries and some tail feathers, while the second bird seems to have nearly comleted its moult and is only missing some secondaries.