Stopped at a petrol station just on the outskirts of Reading a couple of weeks back, and there around 15 Red Kite circling above us. I thought they were gulls at first, then looked again and they where 100% Kite. Unbelievable to see in such an urban area
They were released many years ago around the Oxford/Reading area as part of a project to reintroduce them back to their natural habitat. Mrs Mam's mum lived that way and we used to spend time watching them back around 1999/2000. I got some good pics of them coming down to pick up chicken pieces in the back garden ( I will see if I've still got them). The project has been a great success and I believe it was extended along the Thames corridor. We are beginning to see them now down here in Kent between Canterbury and Dover. ** Edit it was 2009.
I went to Gigrin Farm in Rhayader where they feed the kites last August. It was an amazing experience, and they said this was a quiet day. Apparently the kites don't come every day as they prefer to source their own food; they only turn up on days where there have been slim pickings . Then they will come halfway across Wales to get a good meal. It's apparently better to visit in the winter when there's less food about and a larger percentage of kites come in to feed. If I've got this right they reckoned there were about 80 nor 90 birds on the day I came. Top days have nearer 300.
Stopped at a petrol station just on the outskirts of Reading a couple of weeks back, and there around 15 Red Kite circling above us. I thought they were gulls at first, then looked again and they where 100% Kite. Unbelievable to see in such an urban area
Wycombe away last season there was plenty of them flying around. I spent more time watching them than watching the match.
The Red Kite's initial persecution to the point of extinction was perversely the result of its very success as an adaptable scavenger. Plus the added idiotic evil of the huntin'n'shootin brigade I think Pepys references the scourge of so many Kites in and around London. They thrived on man's rubbish. Until of course idiot man decides they are a pest. Just like feral pigeons in cities and gulls on land fill sites, they're only their cos we leave tons of stuff out on which they are happy to feed. A Red Kite is undoubtedly a raptor, a "bird of prey" so is automatically branded a threat by the lame brained and those with a vested interest in exploiting nature for commercial gain. Red Kites much prefer their food to not be running or flying away, as scavengers they prefer it to be inert, dead ideally. They're not choosy if that's a wildlife cadaver dead from natural causes or the discarded junk food of some chav. If they're really hungry then yes they'd probably chase live prey: mice, voles, small birds, chicks in nests. So it is just about conceivable they'd be tempted by a pheasant (insert name of any other 'game' bird here) nest, if they were hungry enough and the weather was bad enough. Chances are though that if conditions are that bad the pheasant nests will be failing anyway. I see them circling about rooftop height quite frequently but am yet to see one roosting or down on a meal. Their recent success and that of the buzzard suggests our countryside is less inhospitable than a decade or two ago. Red Kites will continue to spread into suburban and even urban areas if we leave crap out for them to eat
Not seen in my garden, but it did come up in my crossword which in turn piqued my interest.
The Cassowary grows to 6 foot, runs at 30 mph, kicks like a mule and can slice you in two with its deadly claws. The world's most dangerous bird. Not one to get on the wrong side of.
...The Cassowary grows to 6 foot, runs at 30 mph, kicks like a mule and can slice you in two with its deadly claws. The world's most dangerous bird. Not one to get on the wrong side of.
Red Kites are regularly seen flying around in the fields and the roads around us in Eynsford.
Stunning birds and my personal favorite. Quite a few here in Norfolk now. Pleased you are seeing them in Kent as I lived in chislehurst as a kid and Eynsford was a regular Sunday afternoon visit with grandparents when my love of birds began (sadly back in the early 70s it was bird egging that was a hobby 😬)
Albino Mallard duck (I think)in Canary Wharf this morning
Arthur, sorry but isn't that just a domestic mallard?
Thanks Stig: was hoping someone would correct me if wrong. That individual kept swimming very close to a regular coloured one, so I assumed the two were related. I read after, that a sign of albinism would be light coloured eyes: I don't think this one had, so you are right.
Comments
I spent more time watching them than watching the match.
Plus the added idiotic evil of the huntin'n'shootin brigade
I think Pepys references the scourge of so many Kites in and around London.
They thrived on man's rubbish. Until of course idiot man decides they are a pest. Just like feral pigeons in cities and gulls on land fill sites, they're only their cos we leave tons of stuff out on which they are happy to feed.
A Red Kite is undoubtedly a raptor, a "bird of prey" so is automatically branded a threat by the lame brained and those with a vested interest in exploiting nature for commercial gain. Red Kites much prefer their food to not be running or flying away, as scavengers they prefer it to be inert, dead ideally. They're not choosy if that's a wildlife cadaver dead from natural causes or the discarded junk food of some chav. If they're really hungry then yes they'd probably chase live prey: mice, voles, small birds, chicks in nests. So it is just about conceivable they'd be tempted by a pheasant (insert name of any other 'game' bird here) nest, if they were hungry enough and the weather was bad enough. Chances are though that if conditions are that bad the pheasant nests will be failing anyway.
I see them circling about rooftop height quite frequently but am yet to see one roosting or down on a meal.
Their recent success and that of the buzzard suggests our countryside is less inhospitable than a decade or two ago.
Red Kites will continue to spread into suburban and even urban areas if we leave crap out for them to eat
Easy to see why the Kites we fly were named after this bird
The Cassowary grows to 6 foot, runs at 30 mph, kicks like a mule and can slice you in two with its deadly claws. The world's most dangerous bird. Not one to get on the wrong side of.