Just down the road from where I live there is a Red Kite sitting on eggs.
If you stop the car by the side of the narrow road and look across a very narrow field there’s the bird on its nest – almost at eye level because of the lie of the land. I’ve stopped to have a look at the incubating bird several times in the last couple of weeks.
Every time I have looked, she has been facing from left to right as the wind has been from the east.
There are now hundreds and hundreds of Red Kites doing this in so many parts of the UK – a massive change from my youth.
Some things are going well. Of course, Red Kites used to be regarded as vermin and were unprotected by the law. Now they are seen as an asset.
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My wife and I saw a Red Kite up close for the first time the other day whilst driving and were surprised about how big they are. Lovely to see .
Totally agree as a child growing up in the 50s and 60s the number of raptors you would see was minimal. My first sighting in this country of even a Buzzard was in 1979 on my way to Towyn to do a canoe course. Even that beauty was a victim of shooting but luckily was saved by the Welsh Mountain Zoo. The views of Kites today is breathtaking although I do worry about zoonoses being passed on to the mass flocks at feeding stations. Having said that in medieval days Kites were scavenging in thousands in London and towns of the World. We need to protect all wildlife without the fear of being ostracised by the hunting and shooting fraternity.
Sadly though not everyone shares that view and I was dismayed to hear a Farmer recently saying that there are too many Red Kites about these days!! Further , they along with Buzzards, were to blame for reduced Hare numbers.
Bill, that just goes to show that he either knows very little about what he is saying or is just downright lying I’m afraid.
Why people who should know better spout such drivel is beyond me.
Red kite population increasing in size?
I call this ‘puttock augmentation’
http://www.dmackdimages.co.uk/blog/2019/4/puttock-augmentation
Tell the farmers Brown Hares have contracted rabbit hemorrhagic disease. This could account for their reducreduction in numbers.
My dog barks at Cuckoos
Sadly the hundreds and hundreds of red kites sitting on eggs doesn’t apply my local population (Northern Scotland). Despite being re-introduced not far from Inverness at the same time as in the Cotswolds (which is presumably where the population in Northants originated from) we still only have just over 100 pairs. This is despite the fact that research has shown that the birds up here fledge the same number of chicks as in other parts of the country. The main difference is that there are a lot of grouse moors close to Inverness.
Matthew – thanks. Chilterns (not Cotswolds) and we did hjaave a local release in Northants, but your overall point is correct.
There are a lot of keepered estates near you. I vaguely remember (or misremember?) that the English-released birds (of Spanish origin) tended, more often, to breed at 1yo whereas the Scottish-released birds (of Swedish origin?) at 2yo. That will have had an impact too, but the level of persecution is also important (and I may have misremembered). Thank you.