I am the bird in the sky, looking at yooooooouuu - - Show Me A Photo Contest Round 8

Well, I saw this week's contest theme.... and now an 80's song is stuck in my head! I blame you, @nelinoeva! 😁😁

I do love the damn song and if you haven't figured out which one it is, maybe I'll let you know at the end of the post; now, time for some bird photos!

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This bird in the sky theme is a little more difficult, since a lot of my fast-movement photos tend to be out of focus! But I've been improving my photography skills, and manage to gather a few of them. It was hard to pick my favourite, but will have to go with this one!

^{Common kestrel / Peneireiro comum (PT) - Falco tinnunculus, female}

I know I have posted this photo somewhere before, but this was one of the rare times I was able to get decent photos of a kestrel in flight. Kestrels, as a few other species, have the ability to hover in mid air, scouting for prey, sometimes flapping their wings but barely moving from the same place - that's what this female was doing; and this behaviour, associated with the size, is a good trick to identify a kestrel far away.

Moving to a bigger species, and this was the photo that got me indecise about which photo to enter the contest. Beeen long since I saw these guys, and if it weren't for the pandemic a birdwatching trip to Alentejo (probably my favourite birdwatching region in the country) to see them again would be almost warranted!

^{Common crane / Grou comum (PT) - Grus grus}

Cranes come spend the winter in Portugal, going away in the Spring. They are huge birds, and can normally be seen in large groups, sometimes in the hundreds. Imagine how cool is to see one of these flocks!

Couldn't resist showing them on the ground; a couple and the juvenile. With this coloration and this size, it's impossible to confuse them with any other species in the country.

The skies of Alentejo are also a great spot to see some birds of prey, like this booted eagle, far away. Booted eagles have two different colour patterns, a lighter form and a darker form; this is the light one.

^{Booted eagle / Águia calçada (PT) - Hieraaetus pennatus}

Or this black kite, that was closer than the booted eagle, but was fleeing the scene quickly.

^{Black kite / Milhafre negro (PT) - Milvus migrans}

Oh well. While I can't visit Alentejo again, since I live near the sea, there are some species that I will see in the sky in an almost daily basis...

^{Yellow legged gull - Gaivota de patas amarelas (PT) - Larus michahellis}

Lots of seagulls!

No matter which species I'll see flying above, one thing is certain: it always brings me joy to see an...