Walking on Dartmoor Yesterday (Sunday) we saw a Red Kite. It spent quite some time hovering a short distance from us and perched on some nearby rocks also. Having checked the identifier I am sure it was a Red Kite, but would like to know if there have been any other reported sightings in the Dartmoor area because I thought that they were only really to be found in Wales.
We cursed afterwards that we were so busy with the binoculars that we didn't think to get a photo. It was so close it certainly wouldn't have been just a speck in the middle of the picture!!
Hi Goldfinch and welcome to the forum.
Red Kites are not confined to Wales. They are to be seen in The Chilterns, Northamptonshire, parts of northern England and Scotland. However, I have not heard that they have been seen in Devon
Sorry to raise this but are you quite sure it was a red kite? Hovering doesn't sound like characteristic behaviour. They normally glide particularly on thermals with the minimum amount of wing flapping. Did you notice whether it had a forked tail? What about the wingspan - was it 5ft or more?
Here's a photo of one coming down to feed in my garden near Reading in Berkshire and one circling overhead to help you with identification.
And a pair together.
What do you think? Does this fit with what you saw?
Regards
TJ
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Tony
My Flickr Photostream
Hi Goldfinch,
TeeJay has a point about the hovering and those excellant photoes may help you decide whether it was a Red Kite or another species. Once you see one, you wonder if you'll ever mistake them again - they are huge compared to something like, say, a Buzzard.
I saw them whilst walking Offa's Dyke last year in Eastern Wales. I live near Ross-on-Wye near the Welsh border and my landlady (who has some interest and knowledge of wildlife) told me a month or so ago, that she had seen a Red Kite in our local woods by the river Wye and not to make this public knowledge. I guess old fears about illegal killing is still in people's minds. This just shows, however, how Red Kites are spreading all the time. I'm expecting reports of them in the West Midlands and maybe even Birmingham, within a few years.
Corriepaw.
On earth there is no heaven, but there are pieces of it - Jules Renard
Hi again Goldfinch
As others have said the reintroduction of red kites into this country has been a major success story. They seem to be doing well with one or two exceptions in some areas where persecution still seems to be a problem. They seem to be popping up all over the country.
I've checked a couple of reporting sites like Birdguides and Birdnet and there have been reports of recent sightings in Cornwall and Devon so it's perfectly possible you could have seen one. It would be good if you could confirm identification though.
Regards TJ
I take your point and admit that I am not a regular bird spotter, but we made some careful notes about the colouring of its underside, we see buzzards on Dartmoor all the time both at a distance and close quarters and it definitely was not a buzzard.
The underside definitely fits your pictures with the black tips, white sections and brown section at the front of the wings. It also had the forked tail. whilst it did hover, this was for very short intervals and it spent most of the time crossing from one side of the valley to the other above the marshy area around the river.
Excellent news, Goldfinch. It certainly seems like a good spot. I hope my photos helped you and I trust you didn't mind me querying the hovering aspect - I had visions of a kestrel like scenario. LOL
Although the reintroductions were in specific locations they do seem to be spreading. In my area, for example, they have spread from the Chilterns westwards along the Thames valley at least as far as Newbury and Oxford and I understand they are now being seen to the east in Hertfordshire.
Whether the one you saw is colonising or just passing through remains to be seen
As you can probably tell I'm a fan of them. Although I see them on a daily basis they still give me a thrill whem they come over, sometimes quite low.
Hope you see them again and thanks for letting us know.