Well I must be a lucky so and so, whilst walking from Bittern Hide to Island Mere today, I stopped to take some pictures of a Tree Creeper afterwards I looked up and to my amazement saw a Red Kite flying over towards Whin Hill, so I rushed after him and got several good shots of him see one of them below.
Well I consider myself very lucky to photograph two Red Kites within 2 months in Suffolk, first one was at Gedgrave.
I hope my luck continues.
Happy Birding everyone
Great picture. I am trying my hand at bird photography can you tell me what camera and lens you used?
Thanks
Hi Ben
Thanks for comment, my Camera is a Canon 7D and my Lens is a 500mm f/4 Prime lens and I had a 1.4 Extender fitted
Best Wishes
John
I saw a Red Kite about three weeks ago flying above the ToysRUS roundabout in Ipswich. I am used to seeing them on the M40 but this is the first time I have seen them in Suffolk. Are they getting more common around suffolk?
I will heading that way on Friday and will keep an eye out.
Hang on.............. my wife says ToyRUS they sell them don't they....boom boom!
Hi David
Red kites are indeed becoming more frequent in Suffolk. At least one has been present all winter, favouring the Boyton/Gedgrave area. There have also been regular sightings, possibly of a different bird, at Minsmere and other locations along the coast.
There are two origins of red kite sightings in Suffolk: migrants from Europe and wanderers from the English Midlands.
Migrants are most likely to be seen on sunny days from mid March to mid May, with fewer autumn records. These will be birds migrating from winter quarters in Spain to breeding areas in Scandinavia that have drifted across the North Sea. They rarely hang around for long, but we can several different birds during the spring.
Wanderers, mostly young birds, disperse away from the breeding areas in the Chilterns and Northants in the autumn and often settle for the winter in areas many miles from their natal sites. They usually return to the Midlands in the spring, although some young birds have remained in wintering areas well into May.
With the Midlands populations increasing and slowly spreading east, it's probably only a matter of time before red kites begin to breed regualrly in Suffolk - a pair did breed in the north of the county about 10 years ago. After all, who'd have thought 10 years ago that buzzards would now be a widespread breedingbird in Sufoflk?