Kite watching

I don’t get red kites as commonly as Buzzards and I see kestrels even less than red kites so I think that was lucky you saw some Red kites. Red kites are doing better than they used to and there one of the success storys. I went to wales a few weeks before I went to the bird of prey centre cause I wanted to see some Wild red kites so I went to the red kite feeding area near or on the Cambrian mountains  and wanted to see them feeding and get some pictures and I managed to get lots of pictures and film. Iv only ever seen a red kite near my local area Once or twice cause there was one in the Cotswold hills.  unfortunately I found out a Red kite got shot there by someone who the police think might of been someone who was just passing through and didn’t actuaky live in the area that shot the Red kite. and the police were onto the person that did it I havnt found out any updates about that yet though. I think it was in 2020 that I found out about it. and before the pandemic if I went a long way somewhere I most commonly see them doing a flyby on a Moterway on the way to or from the outside London. I havnt seen a red kite for a long time now and   I think you were lucky that you saw some Red kites. 

Always great to see Red Kites Pete, we are beginning to see them more regularly over our local valley now but as far as I'm aware no regular breeding pairs in S Suffolk. We keep hoping fingers crossed.
We drove to our local NT site Ickworth Park about a 20ml round drive to walk our daughters dog and had a really good raptor sighting. In total
4 Kestrel
2 Buzzards
1 Sparrowhawk and
1 Red Kite all seen along the B1066

It's good that yiou have found a few potential nesting pairs of Kites in your area Pete, hope they survive as no one has told them that your area is so dicey, fabulous bird to see soaring up and away.

Wendy S said:

The bright  and  windy  weather  early on in the week seemed good for getting  the  raptors  stirring  so we had a visit  to  see if our local Red Kites were active. Well wrapped  up against  the icy wind we found a sheltered spot where  we could  scan the distant trees for any movement. After a few minutes  two Red Kites could be seen in the area of an old  nest tree. After careful  examination  with the bins we could  see it was male and female  and the way they  were acting  we presumed they were s pair and hopefully  selecting  the old nest to reuse. After moving  down  the lane a bit we found two more  birds settled in a treetop near to a site where  Kites  had bred before. Hopefully  there  could  be two pairs  breeding  in thst area which considering it is on the edge of a lowland shoot.On the drive  bsck there were another  pair  of  Red Kites  displaying nearer to home so we could have plenty to watch in the coming spring 

Fortunately our local Red Kites seem to be tolerated over our local Grouse Moor - hopefully that is because the locals love and would miss them rather than the fact that there has been less shooting over the last couple of years. 

You only used to find them Wales and didnt get them here at all but they started exspamdimg there range cause of all the conservation effort to bring them back again. I saw lots of birds of prey 2019 and 2020 and looked out to see if I could see bird of prey very often and was desperate to get a close up cause I couldn’t get one the very first time I saw a bird of prey even though I was stood right next to it that day since I was too amazed to take pictures.
Every time I went in the car or for a walk since that day I was determined to take a close up of a bird of prey since I failed to do so in such a close encounter. so I would look out for birds of prey and had an eye like a hawk. And people would keep telling me. And every time i saw one I tryed to catch it on film or take pictures and get a close shot. Almost every time I went out I would be able to point one out whenever I saw one. Most of the time it was usualy a Buzzard with there outstretched wings and fanned our tail souring and would even spot some hunting useimg thermals and doing flyovers as close as where I am locally even hunting over my garden in spring and summer. It never lands though. The same year I saw a red kite on the way to Whitminster I also had a red kite with forked tail do a flyover over my house . I dont know why I saw so much birds of prey that year at all. Through the mid to end of 2019 I noticed more red kites than Buzzards mainly around Moterways and wondered why I can’t see any buzzards or kestrels and why I’m seeing more red kites. I saw more birds of prey in 2019 than I did any other year so I got lots of pictures and films of other birds of prey and red kites aswell that year. Wales isn’t far away from me either it’s 1 hour and 16 minutes away. when Iv been to the Cotswold hills like Selsley common where they have a sign saying they have a nest of 4 Common Buzzards past there there’s a sign that says This way to go to Wales so when I’m on my way back
I joke and say let’s go to Wales it’s just down there and it’s not far way either all you have to just turn around and were on our way. Iv seen less Red kites since 2019 and I think I saw some before the pandemic that started in April but after that I didn’t see any at all. 

This is is the areas I saw the red kite nearby locally  in 2019 

    

With what you said about getting see the conservation efforts I think you were at the right place at the right time to see the conservation 

efforts with the red kite since it was nearby 

They didn't expand from Wales. They established several release areas throughout theUK and the birds spread form there. They spread all the way up the A4/A40 corridor from Berkshire to the Cotswold and have spread all the way up the Derwent valley in Co Durham. They have certainly grown in numbers in Wales but in my 34 years living in Cheltenham I never saw a Red Kite flying in from the West and I strongly suspect that the daily feeds are a reason for it. During the recents. years you feel they should have dispersed from Wales to Hereford/ Gloucestershire as well as down to Avon, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall but free food is a big pull and a big earner.

Yes sorry I didn’t realise how I put that I acidently put it the wrong way. I didn’t mean they exspanded from Wales And  dispersed from Wales to Hereford/Gloucestershire. I meant they had a far more limited range so used to only be found in Wales and if you wanted to see a Red kite you would of had to go to Wales and there range exspamded. Abit more compared to recent years cause of the red kite reintroductions.  And There more common than they used to be. alot of people thought the feeding stations help the Red kites  so should keep feeding them. but others Thought it doesn’t cause of the food. I dont really know if the feeding stations  help them or not . But a lot of people like going to see them being fed. And the reintroductions  has defiantly helped them and it helped there population to do better than recent years and the ban on poisoning and shooting them was also one of the reasons there population started doing better than before. Unfortunately some people still do it and 2020 was the worst year for raptor Crime. RSPB called it the 2020 Raptor crime wave so I don’t know how that affected the red kites but they were shot and poisoned Aswell. Apart from the crime wave  They have been doing better than they used to.

Bob,a couple ofthe Kites released in the North East were from the Yorkshire birds and one returned back to the Leeds area and started breeding down here. A friend of mine did the transporting and had quite a lot of input in the scheme. I try to follow the Friends of Red Kites web pages and the locals in the N E seem to have adopted the Kites which is great.

Zo there is mixed feeling about feeding stations in the UK as some say it does not encourage the birds to spread. No official feeding was set up in Yorkshire and it is thought that is why they have spread and bred over a fairly wide area. Three years ago we were talking to locals living close to the Ballymack Hill Farm feeding station in Dumfries and Galloway and some considered them a pest as they did not venture too far from the feeding station. Others loved them and it was certainly a good income for the farmer and who can blame them. It certainly interesting to see and hear the Kites on a misty winters afternoon. They were very vocal, a lot of chattering going on not like the usual cries we hear near nest sites. It was well worth the few quid it cost to visit and the coffee was half decent after a cold walk nearby.