This Red-flanked Bluetail is a first for Iceland! Two birds were spotted last week. These beautiful birds are supposed to fly south to warmer climates in winter. Their summer habitat is in Northern Asia and Northeast Europe, as far as Finland. They winter in Southeast Asia.

The Red-flanked Bluetail has been a rare vagrant in Western Europe but has lately been spotted more often, mostly in Great Britain. This one was obviously blown off course and ended up in Southeast Iceland, in the fishing village of Höfn in Hornafjörður.

ORNOSK’s picture of the Red-flanked Bluetail appeared in Iceland’s leading newspaper:  http://www.mbl.is/frettir/innlent/2017/10/24/flaekingsfugla_hrekur_til_islands/