Red Kites

[Thor]

On the edge of Welwyn Garden City, of all places.  They were around here today and yesterday.

[border-rider]

Def. kites

[spesh]

Forked tail on a raptor = Red Kite.

Seeing them over Welwyn Garden City shouldn't really be a surprise, they have been spreading from the Chilterns for years now.

[teethgrinder]

They've spread well into Northants and even into Leicestershire. I saw one or two in the Lambourn Downs yesterday.

[border-rider]

They've spread well into Northants and even into Leicestershire. I saw one or two in the Lambourn Downs yesterday.

They've been in the Lambourn Valley for a long time.  There wear  couple of pairs there when we lived in Lambourn; saw them over the garden quite often

I saw the first one in that area about 15 years ago, near Didcot. It was sufficiently unusual then that people were pulling over to look.

[Ham]

There's a large colony around the M40. Here's a rather good walk around the Chiltern's for 'em http://www.chilternsociety.org.uk/dloads/walk-leaflets/general/RedKitewalkJuly07.pdf

[mattc]

They've spread well into Northants and even into Leicestershire. I saw one or two in the Lambourn Downs yesterday.

They've been in the Lambourn Valley for a long time.  There wear  couple of pairs there when we lived in Lambourn; saw them over the garden quite often

I saw the first one in that area about 15 years ago, near Didcot. It was sufficiently unusual then that people were pulling over to look.

They're now several-a-day in Didcot (my record is 7 in one place). They were released/nurtured in Watlington (near the M40 cutting where most people see them).
At Christmas we actually saw buzzards flying amongst kites over the rubbish tip (+1,000 gulls of course!). That was a first. (Buzzards outnumber them around Lambourn.)

So they're all over the Chilterns, and I've seen a few in the Lambourn Downs, but I haven't seen any in the Cotswolds - which are as close to Watlington as Lambourn is. Any advance on that?

(Didn't know about Northants/Leics.)

Didcot also gets a few smaller brown raptors - possibly Marsh Harriers? Yet to see one close enough to be sure.

[border-rider]

Didcot also gets a few smaller brown raptors - possibly Marsh Harriers? Yet to see one close enough to be sure.

I'd say so.  I saw what I think was one outside Chilton a few times.

[Bledlow]

They're now several-a-day in Didcot (my record is 7 in one place). They were released/nurtured in Watlington (near the M40 cutting where most people see them).
At Christmas we actually saw buzzards flying amongst kites over the rubbish tip (+1,000 gulls of course!). That was a first. (Buzzards outnumber them around Lambourn.)

So they're all over the Chilterns, and I've seen a few in the Lambourn Downs, but I haven't seen any in the Cotswolds - which are as close to Watlington as Lambourn is. Any advance on that?

They've been common over Reading for years, but until recently, I'd not seen any further south. SW of Reading, I used to see quite a few buzzards, but now they've been joined by kites.

Their spread is definitely uneven. Conditioned by food supply? Nesting sites?

[JonBuoy]

(Didn't know about Northants/Leics.)

They were introduced to Rockingham Forest near Corby and appear to be doing very well there.  I guess that they can sneak over the border on day trips into Leicestershire.

[PaulR]

One was spotted yesterday at Huntley, a few miles west of Gloucester.

[iakobski]

(Didn't know about Northants/Leics.)

They were introduced to Rockingham Forest near Corby and appear to be doing very well there.  I guess that they can sneak over the border on day trips into Leicestershire.

Yes, had a pair circling over my house yesterday. They frequently block the single track roads round here (Rockingham Forest), the wingspan of a fully grown one virtually spans the road.

[Jules]

They're sneaking south from the Chilterns at an alarming rate and can often be seen over Uxbridge so perhaps they are going to go urban too.

(might eat the foxes  )

[border-rider]

We saw a fair number of them doing just that (eating a fox) on the Mille Cymru, on the road from Aberystwyth to Devils Bridge.  They're primarily scavengers, though, so it was a very dead fox that seemed to have been run over and chucked over the wall.

I used to see them in the Lambourn Valley following the farmer ploughing fields, and picking off insects and stuff from the earth.

[JohnP]

I was photographing birds at Stanborough this morning an an elderly couple had seen Red Kites off the A414 by the travellers  encampment earlier.

[sub55]

Its nice to see them spreading. Moved to west wales, not far from Tregaron 28 years ago, at that time there was 5 breeding pairs in the cambrian mountains.
Not only were the nest sites  a state secret , the gurkhas protected them as part of their operational duties on exercise. Every now and again when you are out on the mountains , you would see soldiers and thats what they were doing.

I now see them on a daily basis and at certain times of the day , generally an hour before dusk you can see 30 plus in one hit .

[αdαmsκι]

Those of us in the gruppetto on The Little Willy audax saw loads of kites on Saturday.

[Peter]

Its nice to see them spreading. Moved to west wales, not far from Tregaron 28 years ago, at that time there was 5 breeding pairs in the cambrian mountains.
Not only were the nest sites  a state secret , the gurkhas protected them as part of their operational duties on exercise. Every now and again when you are out on the mountains , you would see soldiers and thats what they were doing.

I now see them on a daily basis and at certain times of the day , generally an hour before dusk you can see 30 plus in one hit .

I was in that area round about that time and I remember being made up to have seen a pair of kites.  Later that year, we went to Minorca and I was almost disappointed to find they are like starlings in number there!

[little miss mac]

There are always red kites hovering above some houses down the road from where my parents-in- law live, in Berkshire. I've counted a couple of dozen at a time.

Lovely to see them floating around on the thermals.

[Basil]

They've become so common by us (South Ceredigion - North Carmarthnshire), that we  look up wondering, "Is that a Buzzard?  Oh no, it's just a kite".

[Basil]

Lovely to see them floating around on the thermals.

Mis-read as

Lovely to see them floating around in their thermals.

Bit old, are they, by you?

[Wombat]

There was a breeding colony set up in North Hampshire some years back, so now they are frequently seen around the A34, and the Northern part of Hampshire generally.  Occasionally seen in South Hampshire, but buzzards are the most frequently seen bird of prey round here (Waterlooville area).  On the bird front, I am disappointed that my "anti-heron protection force" a bunch of crows, have buggered off, as we gave up providing specific crow food, as the bloody pigeons ate it all.  Strangely our anti pigeon wire mesh house over the ground feeder has disappeared overnight.  A pretty odd thing to steal, or has a fox got its stupid head stuck in it, and run away in panic?

[little miss mac]

Lovely to see them floating around on the thermals.

Mis-read as

Lovely to see them floating around in their thermals.

Bit old, are they, by you?

It has been a bit parky recently. 

[JohnP]

Still haven't spotted Red Kites in WGC but this fella tried to overfly my head yesterday

[mattc]

Still haven't spotted Red Kites in WGC but this fella tried to overfly my head yesterday

"Tried" ? Was there a bird/hat collision?