This afternoon I watched, very close over my head, A pair of Red kites "Cart wheeling". I never knew they did it, never seen it before, and quite close it was astonishing. Background is we have a breeding pair moved into my neighbourhood, and this case seems to be mating ritual. This is a video of cart wheeling, not mine
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJedjMC1UO8&ab_channel=FilmingWildlife
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I wouldn't be surprised if they're eradicated again. They've bred so profusely since their re-introduction, they seem to becoming a pest - unless they predate on the damn magpies and parakeets!
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indeed, thankfully the ring necked parakeets round here have sodded off since the Kites arrived.
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>> they seem to becoming a pest -
I see some of the townies who moved out to the country are now complaining that Kites "hover in an “intimidating” way over homes and gardens"
Can I join the "SLAP pull yourself together you t*** " police?
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 12 Jun 22 at 19:26
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We saw loads of them in our last house ( Llanrhaeadr near Denbigh) - regular cartwheelers. They are recent arrivals to that area and I suspect that they will have some haters already. We moved last June to St Asaph (around 7 miles north and more urban) - we have a larger garden and a great mix of traditional birds - we've seen a couple of Kites up here, much rarer. Awesome things.
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ISTR a story that a pet rabbit was taken locally by them. I only have a smallish garden but managed to catch (rather amateurishly I'm afraid) two swooping for chicken scraps I'd put out for the wildlife.
www.youtube.com/shorts/D7nLC2umnpU
Last edited by: smokie on Sun 12 Jun 22 at 20:09
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It's buzzards around where I am... there's a nesting pair near to me and are often high up over the house on nice days... groups of crows will fly up to mob them but they just fly higher well out of reach.
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I was masrhaling a remote site and had first a kite and then a buzzard taking a good look at my bald pate, from very close level. Had me worried for a while, but the crows saw them off.
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Hawks round 'ere. I chase 'em orf if I sees 'em after my dicks. Nice pair (m&F) of bullfinches visit daily.
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Not sure if they're breeding round here but they've gone from occasional/unusual to being sufficiently commonplace not to arouse comment. Probably spread from Rockingham Forest but could also be from the original Stokenchurch releases. They're often mobbed by corvids, either Rooks or Jackdaws, and by songbirds.
Not yet reached the Hebrides but we saw them beyond Inverness along the road to Ullapool.
The extent to which they take live prey seems to depend on which source you read and perhaps habitat. The RSPB describe them mainly as scavengers of carrion and, in urban settings, food waste like leftover take aways etc. Some reports from the Chilterns of Seagull style snatching of food from picnickers.
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Red kites are basically scavengers although they will take small mammals such as mice shrew, voles etc. Once common as scavengers in our cities and still perform that role in India.
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Actually the the scavenging kite you see in India is the Pariah or Black kite.
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A lot of people put out things like chicken carcasses for them, my neighbour is one and as a result we often have a kite overhead. People say they will take chickens but they have not to my knowledge had any of ours.
They are certainly a common sight now. I did once have one nearly join me in an open topped car near Henley. It was actually in the act of swooping down for some road kill and I just got in its way. Pretty big at close quarters.
The pest bird here is jackdaws. They go round in packs of 8 or 9 (the teenagers I assume) and are assiduous builders of nests in chimneys. We had an unused chimney here that was blocked by them years ago, when the house was demolished we got two full bin liners of nest material out of it.
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I very much doubt a kite would take a live chicken. Far too big.
Was over at Rutland Water at the weekend. There are a pair of Ospreys on the nest there.
On the Broads around here Marsh Harriers are a fairly common site now. They were down to one pair in England in the 1970s. Peregrines have made a good comeback too and are becoming a common sight in city centres. There are a pair nesting on Norwich Cathedral.
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Was over at Rutland Water at the weekend. There are a pair of Ospreys on the nest there.
A certain lady member directed me to this site:
www.lrwt.org.uk/rutlandospreys
I also have the Norwich site, but their cameras don't seem to work ATM;
derbyperegrines.blogspot.com/p/our-webcams.html
Neil
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I first came across Kites in the late 90s when I kennelled and trained dogs near a feeding station for the Rockingham re introduction site. The pair we have here have come from a few breeding pairs on Horsell Common, which in turn are related to the Chilterns initial reintroduction site in the early 90s. I have seen them, at close quarters on the ground raiding the bins at Princess Risborough station, and ruddy huge they look.
I had never seen them death spiral however till now. Breaking apart at about 30 yards over my head, it was pretty awe inspiring.
Interestingly most of our kites are Spanish, being imported as chicks, and now it seems the Spanish kites are in massive and sudden decline, and we were due to export chicks back, Brexit put that on hold.
Last edited by: Zero on Mon 13 Jun 22 at 09:26
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The party trick of Marsh Harriers is for the male to pass a fish to the nesting female in mid air. It the fish and the female catches it. Sort of mid air refuelling
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I came across them at a similar time when I/we were regularly going down the M40 to Oxford for a variety of reason. IIRC our first sightings were at the Stokenchurch area which makes sense being close to the introduction site.
There has been a big a very drop in parakeet numbers in the Esher area but not seen any Kites here. Pleased to see/hear less of the green horrors.
I now realise that our plums totally escaped being raided last year.
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>>.... in the Esher area but not seen any Kites here.
From home I have now seen a Red Kite twice in the last few days.
The first one was distant, circling maybe a mile or two away.
Last evening there was lots of noise from crows. It sounded like they were mobbing something.
It was a red Kite that was flying, not very high, but unusually in a straight line and came almost over our house but I lost sight of it.
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( Jun 22 - my previous views)
This week I saw one close to Hanworth Crematorium / Hounslow Heath - so SE of Hatton Cross ( LHR) and half way to Twickenham.
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Often seen circling round here (Wokingham). The local rag had stories of small animals being lifted away by them. My daughter caught one on camera swopping low into our garden to pick something up. it barely had enough space for the ascent, it's partner followed but didn't come in so low. Here it is
drive.google.com/file/d/1-KDkG73tNzk0WwAwDwdS9t-GhfrEI3n0/view?usp=sharing
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I was on Elmbridge common the other day and there was one circling.
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...I've been in the Chilterns for a few days, and you can't get away from them....
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I see they are sending some red kite chicks back to Spain as there is a shortage
www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61903943
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>> I see some of the townies who moved out to the country are now complaining
>> that Kites "hover in an “intimidating” way over homes and gardens"
Ignorance Shirley. Somebody said to me they were bothered by them, I assumed they had been buzzed or something like that but they were just referring to the circling. That someone is intimidated doesn't mean they are intimidating. They live aloft, scanning for grub. I said at worst they are waiting for you to die. Don't die and you will be OK.
It's not beyond credible that they might acquire seagull tendencies if their numbers increase and people keep feeding them but I'd be surprised. They don't seem to be at all aggressive and they are certainly not as quick and agile as the fish-and-chip gull. They are low energy fliers, gliders, not violent hyenas of the air.
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>> Ignorance Shirley. Somebody said to me they were bothered by them, I assumed they had
>> been buzzed or something like that but they were just referring to the circling. That
>> someone is intimidated doesn't mean they are intimidating. They live aloft, scanning for grub.
TBF, if you see them up close they are pretty primeval looking, beady little darting eyes, a very hooky beak, forked tail, big claws........
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Mrs B and I are regular visitors to the CAMC site near Denham (Wyatts Covert). Kites are visible practically all of the time but have done nothing to deter the parakeets which are present en masse.
Off to Central London at the end of the month for first time in a year; old colleagues get together. LAst time I was there I was very aware of parakeets round Russel Square. They were never a thing when I worked in London (1979-2013).
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All birds look a bit alien to me. If your look at any mammal in the eyes you can sort of relate to iit. You can understand what it is thinking at a very basic level. If you look into a birds eyes it’s just alien. I suppose it’s because they are basically dinosaurs.
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> TBF, if you see them up close they are pretty primeval looking, beady little darting
> eyes, a very hooky beak, forked tail, big claws........
That's Mr Eustace, my french teacher.
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We see a lot of red kites along the M4 corridor. They seem to feed on roadkill on the minor roads. Earlier in the year we stayed near Harewood House on the outskirts of Leeds and our hotel fed the kites scraps so there were usually a couple mooching around. As others have said this might encourage aggression in time but it’s charming now.
I see so many it’s hard to credit the RSPB figure of only 4400 birds across GB (2020) Being so big and usually on the wing maybe they maximise their visibility.
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They were introduced to the Harewood/Adel area around 20 years ago - I've seen them around there regularly since.
I first saw a significant number probably 30 years ago, when Gigrin Farm near Rhayader started feeding them as a visitor attraction (still active to this day).
Last edited by: tyrednemotional on Mon 13 Jun 22 at 14:47
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A good time to reshow this from a few years back
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFwHRCrLkOA&ab_channel=MrKnowwun
Because last week I found a fresh ring of pigeon feathers on the lawn. So one has returned.
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Nice video. Beautiful bird with amazing ability to fly at speed through woodland.
As as aside if anyone is interested in birds and likes to identify birdsong I have been trying out the Merlin App. From Cornell It truly amazing. Have tried similar app a few years back and they were a bit rubbish but this one is great and what’s more it’s totally free.
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Lucky here, I back onto an SSI and Natures main road, the Basingstoke Canal.
Any day I can walk out with the dogs and see a Kingfisher, Herons, Cormorants, in the early morning bump into a deer or badger, I have foxes peering into my garden in the evening. Day birds of every type visit the garden, depending on the time of year we have noisy woodpeckers.
At night its owls and bats.
30 minutes from London by train, 10 minutes from the M25, 10 minute walk to coffee shops and Waitrose, 10 minutes walk to two gastro pubs. Lando Norris* lives 5 minutes walk away, and 10 minutes the other way some of Surreys most undesirable.
* he did, but he is in Monaco now I think.
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Sounds like a great spot for birds. Try out that app and see what you think
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I just installed the Merlin app to try. Outside there are some sparrows feeding on the ground. I answered the questions in the app to see how it worked, and sparrows was the second hit. Its first choice was "skylark".
I'd try the birdsong id, but I'd get a "greater spotted jcb in reverse" at the moment.
I'll try again when I'm actually in a field somewhere.
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>> "greater spotted jcb in reverse" at the moment.
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"canary crane" ?
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I tried it at a reserve yesterday ani identified the song of fifteen birds. I could identify most of them myself and so can confirm it’s accuracy. A few I missed but the App heard and identified them. Down to my loss of hearing in the upper range.
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>> Sounds like a great spot for birds. Try out that app and see what you
>> think
I did, its really very good.
Just went for a quick wander round the garden and It found
Eurasian Blackbird
Eurasian Jackdaw
House Sparrow
Common Wood pigeon
Airbus A380
Piper Seneca
Kawasaki Z900RS
Impressed
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>> Sounds like a great spot for birds. Try out that app and see what you
>> think
Any chance of a link?
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>> Any chance of a link?
Its a phone app, so Play store
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>>....last week I found a fresh ring of pigeon feathers on the lawn. So one has returned.
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I liked your video.
Over the years the same end product several times in my garden. I have often seen the culprit but not suitable for a video shot.
The closest I have ever got was literally at my feet.
The culprit and a victim landed with a thump at my feet. Not sure who was most surprised but off she went with the meal.
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I've got one called BirdNET which seemed to work OK too. Not something I use much though
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Both Birdnet and Merlin are by Cornell Instituute of Ornithology and are very similar.
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I tried the merlin app, unfortunately it couldn't identify any bird. There's lots in the trees in the back garden with birds, shame i did wonder what some of them were.
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I had Merlin fail when my new phone had Android 11 on it. Much head scratching later, and they SAY it's an Android bug
Anyway, the fix they suggested worked for me. Deny microphone permission to Google Assistant, the bit that responds to Hey Google
I denied it and keep it that way, as I don't use hey Google, but if course you could just do so during your Merlin session.
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Alas I took out a Red Kite today, M4 between Chievely and Reading. Road kill on the hard shoulder in the form of a fresh cock pheasant, Kite wheeled down to it, glanced my bonnet, rolled up the windscreen* disappeared over the roof in a cartwheel to the ground where it got squished by the care behind.
No damage to the car, just a greasy powdery dusty smear .
Unusual, they are usually very traffic savvy.
Shame.
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Fortunately they aren't very dense. Very lightly built things.
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Red Kites - bathtub tom
