Black-shouldered Kite - Elanus caeruleus
On Sunday March 29th 1998 Marco Witte from Texel discovered a Black-shouldered Kite Elanus caeruleus on the northern part of Texel. He warned other birders, so after a few hours all Dutch twitchers gathered together to see this totally unexpected species. It showed itself very beautifully and was sometimes sitting for hours on a hilltop or a treetop and was seen catching and eating mice.
29 March 1998, De Cocksdorp, Tecxel NH; © Leo Boon.
29 March 1998, De Cocksdorp, Tecxel NH; © Arnoud van den Berg.
29 March 1998, De Cocksdorp, Tecxel NH; © Arnoud van den Berg.
The bird was seen till Tuesday March 31st. There was also the coincidental news that there was also a bird in Denmark at Skagen on March 29th-30th 1998. The bird on Texel was the second record for the Netherlands. The first record was a bird seen and photographed on May 31st 1971 in Flevoland (cf Dutch Birding 20 (2): 84-85, 92, 98, 100 and Limosa 46: 93-94, 1973).
Do you want to go to the main-index, the 1998-index or the next new species, the Green-winged Teal?