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.
Don't have Ringed Necked Parakeet's in Kettering. Don't know why. It's not that cold. Native to Sidcup aren't they?
Plenty in the Orpington area. They fly over my house every day.
I don't get why they haven't populated areas other than the South East. I used to live in Orpington, well more than half a lifetime ago (30+years) Never had them then! I can only believe they're either lazy or it's the climate that's stopped them spreading north, but I can't believe they'd be that sensitive to minor temperature differences.
They are definitely spreading out from the city. I've seen them here in Essex recently (though annoyingly not been able to photograph one here yet). You might expect a species that can cover 150 miles in a day might have got rather further. I don't think latitude per se would be the reason that they aren't seen in Kettering. There are sizeable populations in Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle and there have been multiple sightings in Sheffield, Leeds, Nottingham, Derby and even Glasgow. That they are more likely to be seen in cities could be due to a number of reasons. It may be that they are separate populations from different escapes or releases of caged birds. It could be that highly populated areas are a little warmer, that there are easier supplies of food on bird feeders or maybe just that there's more sightings of a similar number of birds because there are more people about to see them. Finally, it's not just an individual species' ability to cope minor temperature changes, it's the ability of anything that is their prey food - it's all interconnected. That said, I'm not sure that Parakeets are particularly fussy eaters, so unlike something like the Netted Carpet Moth, it'd probably survive in a whole range of places.
They are definitely spreading out from the city. I've seen them here in Essex recently (though annoyingly not been able to photograph one here yet). You might expect a species that can cover 150 miles in a day might have got rather further. I don't think latitude per se would be the reason that they aren't seen in Kettering. There are sizeable populations in Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle and there have been multiple sightings in Sheffield, Leeds, Nottingham, Derby and even Glasgow. That they are more likely to be seen in cities could be due to a number of reasons. It may be that they are separate populations from different escapes or releases of caged birds. It could be that highly populated areas are a little warmer, that there are easier supplies of food on bird feeders or maybe just that there's more sightings of a similar number of birds because there are more people about to see them. Finally, it's not just an individual species' ability to cope minor temperature changes, it's the ability of anything that is their prey food - it's all interconnected. That said, I'm not sure that Parakeets are particularly fussy eaters, so unlike something like the Netted Carpet Moth, it'd probably survive in a whole range of places.
Thanks for that. I wasn't aware of the clusters in other big cities, the biggest town near me being Northampton but I've yet to see one there either. Interesting. I did once see some playing pitch and putt in Sidcup, well the Parakeet's weren't playing obviously 😉
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.
They fly over my house every day.