Hi,
On a walking holiday in the Lake District, west of Derwent water near the top of the fells my dad and I spotted this bird of prey hovering on the wind and swooping to hunt prey.
we both distinctly saw a fork in the bird’s tail (not sure if this was just to guide itself or whether it is how it usually looks), and when the bird swooped into the sunlight it looked quite red in colour.
I have attached a video.
what is this, can anyone help please?
A bit difficult to tell from the video but your mention of a forked tail and reddish colour suggests a Red Kite to me. Some computer whizz may be able to improve the video to help i.d. as the brief glimpse of the wing flapping looks very like Kestrel.But from your description I would still say Red Kite.
Pete
Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can