UKH

I was up on Pen Hill near Leyburn and saw at least two kites soaring and swooping around the northern escarpment. Have they spread from elsewhere? I haven't been up the hill for a few years but used to be up regularly and they were never apparent. I watched a curlew fly up and take one of them on. Lots of them nesting.

Probably on holiday from The Black Isle, there's feckin hundreds of them here.

They do spread, but slowly. Given how many there in some parts of the UK I’d expect them to have spreaded much quicker. Great birds to watch.  

Pretty rare where I live. Saw one last year in the Hodder Valley near Whitewell. There are more in South Lakeland and I've spotted the odd one near Tebay.

Yes, I think they might have been checking me out for potential carrion? Do they take eggs or chicks? A few of the other birds weren't happy.

There seem to be a few spots where their expansion suddenly hits a brick wall or should that be some leadshot.

Driving down the M40 and A34 in March we lost count of the number of Red Kites we saw

They may have spread from Harewood. There was a planned release there some years ago and they've become relatively common in that area. I used to see them frequently when visiting family there. 

Have seen them at Eavestone for a few years now.

Been at Grafham this week and there is one that flies incredibly low over the village 

Saw loads from the A14 between Grafham and the M1 😊

The one I saw in South Lakeland (Lowick) I think had been released in nearby Grizedale Forest not long before.

I get them landing on the roof of my house, and often have thirtyish circling overhead - never get bored of seeing them either.

That is awesome when I was growing up they almost seemed like mythical beasts!!

I am always cheered by seeing a Red Kite; probably because I first saw one back in the mid-70s when they were proper scarce.

A Wensleydale sighting seems perfectly reasonable.  My sisters in Knaresborough see them frequently enough, and that's hardly a laden swallow's flight* away.  Another friend about ten miles south of there has them gathering in a noisy group in a tree at the bottom of her garden.  Quite different from how rare they once were.

Down here, I first saw them just west of Frome, then twice further west again.  Now every once in a while I can see them from my garden being mobbed by jackdaws.  They're spreading out.

For what it's worth, I genuinely cannot remember when I last saw a Kestrel.

T.

* African swallow, that is.

They're like gulls in Reading. Very successful reintroduction. See them every day, in groups up to 20. It's easy to get blazé, but they are still lovely to see.

Jackdaws and crows will mob them, and buzzards. So I guess they will take young.

Ironic given the observation in another thread of fellow corvids taking wren chicks.

Be careful.. I've pointed out red kites to my kids, as they are a large bird of prey with lighter patches under their wings. 

However I've since realised that many of these "Kites" had broader rounder wings and a smaller tail and were actually buzzards (which the rspb says is the UK's most common bird of prey)

We see Red Kites over the house every day. Most I’ve seen in one go is 54 before I lost count. A few years back a sighting hear the house was rare.  If they aren’t in your area regularly at the moment, they will be in not so many years.

Easy to distinguish; buzzard has a fan tail, kite has a v-tail, is twitchier in flight, and has a more pronounced mid-wing gap. As you observe, a buzzard's wings are more 'eagle-like', being straighter and deeper.  

What?! Kites and buzzards look completely different! The tails are the biggest give aways even at a distance. 

They have spread significantly but they aren't common in many parts of the country. They seem to spread along motorways because the verges are their main hunting grounds it seems. So the reintroduced ones on the M40 (High Wycombe wasn't it?) now seem to be common up towards Brum and on the M4 corridor west towards Bath - but not sure if they've made it to Bristol and the South West?

The other reintroduction was up in Yorkshire north of Leeds I think. We don't see them much on the M1 around Sheffield but you do see them up around Leeds/York. I was noticing them on Monday driving up, but I headed into County Durham then Northumbria and it was back to buzzards and kestrels. Round where I'm from originally in Worcestershire, when I'm back seeing my parents you get loads of buzzards but I've not seen kites so they don't seem to have found the M5 yet!

Lots round here too. They were released in a couple of places close to me.

Now the result that they are going to become too numerous, and will have to be culled on some estates (I'm now talking of brick-built, not those such as the Duke of Buccleugh's). Hence my plan to produce a culinary guide to producing good Kite dishes.

Simply whizz one up in a blender with some chilli and garlic for a great Red Kitechup. 

Occasional ones  here just south of bristol, but still a rare sight

These numbers seem astonishing (to me). What is going on - are they a lot more gregarious than other birds of prey? Do they out compete and push out buzzards? I'd be upset if my local buzzards had to move on.

Not so astonishing if you visit one of the feeding centres! 

On the M40 stretch say ten miles either side of High Wycombe I’ve counted 40 on a number of occasions, often ten in the same patch at once. 

Whenever I’ve got some leftover rice I boil a few eggs and make kitedgeree.

And when I have a glut of red kites and need to empty the freezer, I bash one flat with a mallet, cut chip shaped pieces out of them and cover in chocolate, a Kitekat. 

There are often several in the sky above Otley (just North of Leeds), it is always great to look out the attic window, where I work, to see a red kite close by.

The Chilterns population has also spread west to the Cotswolds, I often see them above my parents house there.

I understand they do well in landscapes that are a matrix of open land (good for finding food) and woodland (for nest sites), hence doing well in the Chilterns and Wharfedale.

Red Kites are primarily scavengers rather than hunters which perhaps explains their gregariousness in some areas. They will take live prey but are not such efficient hunters as many other species of birds of prey.

Centuries ago they would have been very common in many towns and cities where they helped to keep the streets clean and were very much valued for their services. In Tudor times they would allegedly steal food from the hands of people in London.

Once us humans began to clear up our towns and cities the kites had to rely on other sources of food which brought them into conflict with hunting interests and they were heavily persecuted.

Common Buzzards have expanded their range and numbers substantially in recent years. They are very succesful generalist predators as well as scavengers. There are currently about 1,800 breeding pairs of Red Kites in the UK compared with nearly 80,000 pairs of Common Buzzard so they are still vastly outnumbered by Buzzards.

Had a red kite at head height when riding bike yesterday. It had been sitting on a fence as I came past. Quite beautiful 

They’ve made it all the way east to Norfolk and Suffolk as well as the fens and Lincolnshire Wolds.

In herts 10-15 years back they were a rare sighting (still remember being impressed and thinking wtf was that when I startled one off the road whilst cycling)  but have increased in numbers steadily. Now its rare not to see several during the day and often more.

Initial re-introduction was High Wycombe which is why you see so many on the M40.  These have spread to inside the M25 - my daughter sends me photos from her garden in Edgware to wind me up although I have seen them there when visiting - as well as in other directions.

The other re-introductions were Harewood (just N of Leeds) - this population is expanding into the Dales, somewhere in the Corby/Kettering area - you can see this lot on the A1(M) sometimes and around S Leicestershire and neighbouring counties, and also somewhere in southern Scotland.

I've only ever seen one in Greater Manchester but funnily enough 3 were seen the other day W of Manchester so they're coming 😁

Beautiful birds, never get tired of seeing them.

Me too, when even seeing one at a distance in mid-Wales made the weekend.

First Scottish reintroductions were on the Black Isle (north of Inverness) which started in 1989 (so similar date to the Chilterns), with a second site a few years later close to Stirling. These were later followed by reintroductions at Laurieston (Dumfries & Galloway) & near Aberdeen.

https://www.scottishraptorstudygroup.org/raptors/red-kite/

Thanks, I'd (obviously) never heard about the other three in Scotland.

Had a look through the SRSG website and the main thing that comes across - b**stard managed grouse moors.

So witness the red kite comeback - what is to stop black kites also spreading in ? They seem to have similar feeding habits ...

I don't think there's anything stopping them. Also, the first siting in the UK of a Black-winged Kite was in April.

Do you have to peel them first?

We're close to Wensleydale and there are one or two around us on the moors on Swinton Estate. And quite a few more buzzards.

Indeed, as I learned ... (to my embarrassment) after having misindentified many based on it being a big bird of prey with the "distinctive" patches under its wings. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Buzzards are fine looking birds, but the [real] kites are a better looking bird to my eyes, since I learned to distinguish the two 😆.

The reason I admitted my daftness about this, was in case anyone else was making any similar mistakes 

Saw one on the side of Pendle Hill in 2019. They stand zero chance in and around the Forest of Bowland. Too many shooting estates... Also saw a Hen Harrier sitting on a fence post in the same vicinity in about 2004. Never seen one near us again. The fact that the RSPB have to guard Hen Harrier nests speaks volumes.

Saw one last weekend at  Tintwistle Knarr and one today at  Hobson Moor Quarry. Possibly the same one. Amazing birds!

Talking of amazing (Canadian) birds... are you related to Carly Rae?

Sorry for lowering the tone, but I saw a 3-4 page spread on this starlet whom I had not heard of previously in the Guardian.

Wrong spelling unfortunately. 

On a school field trip in 1990 in the Brecon Beacons we saw one, and the national park ranger with us pointed out it and said it was one of the rarest birds in Britain. 

Fast forward to when lived in Oxford and commuted through the Chilterns, and there were so many I had to put the wipers on in the car to keep the windscreen clear.

Apparently some of the fancy hotels around there feed them regularly for the benefit of their guests.

I saw a pair wheeling above Bamford edge a couple of weeks ago which was a surprise, never seen them in the Peak before. 

GTE

I saw a bird of prey as I approached the back of Stanage (on the Causeway) a few weeks ago that definitely wasn't a buzzard, wasn't in the right sort of place to be a peregrine and was too big for a kestrel. It was some distance away so I couldn't see much detail but I did wonder if it was a red kite, although being among high moors, a harrier was another possibility. 

Watching kites and buzzards patrolling a field in Herefordshire as the silage was being cut last week.  Remember having two holidays 50 years ago in the only place you could find them then and not seeing one.

Think I mentioned above, in those days seeing one at distance made the weekend.

With regards to the number of sightings in "new" locations, I think it's likely to be young birds getting pushed out of existing nesting territories and having a bit of a wander. Probably last year's young, I think this year's would still be too dependent on parent birds (if they've fledged yet).

Maybe its different now there are so many but I remember seeing a Red kite near Oban maybe 18 months after the first release on the Black Isle, so they can move around quite a bit. I remember it well as I'd just moved to Argyll after a year in France where I had got used to seeing both Red & Black kites, was driving in the countryside & saw a Red Kite, thought, that's nice, carried on driving & then realised that there were no kites in Argyll (or at least there hadn't been till very recently).

Mentioned it to some bird watching colleagues & they said there was at least one bird which had been around for a few months, with tags showing it was from the reintroduction.

I see absolutely loads flying around here (York-Wetherby ish, spread out from Harewood I believe). Mostly I see them from the car or on foot but never up high (where there are often Buzzards), the kites are soaring the buildings, treelines, hedgerows and little thermals. In flight they look rather floppy and clumsy, their big feathers and tails tossed this way and that in the turbulence but it's clearly no detriment to their soaring, they stay up on the slightest whispers of lift.

I'd never seen one up close on the ground before though until I bumped into a local falconer who has a rescue bird. Those talons, they're a thing of beautiful nightmares!

jk

Not seeing as many mixy rabbits around these days. Maybe the kites are cleaning up?

If I want to see a kite in the Vale of York, I just stand still for a minute and one soon pops over to check if I'm still breathing.

I think I've seen harriers hovering over Ughill Moor in Bradfield Dale, but couldn't get a decent photo to check later.

Reasonably confident I've seen a peregrine on the houndkirk road too. Landed on a fence post right by the track so got a decent look, but didn't think to get a photo at the time. A friend who works in the moors said they'd been spotted, along with various other raptors.

GTE

I'm not seeing many rabbits at all, dead or alive for the past couple of years. There's still plenty of roadkill on my country lane commute, it's just hardly ever rabbits.

There are loads of hares about this year though which is nice.

jk

More rabbits than normal round here, but that could be due to having lower numbers previously  

What I’ve noticed this year is how many people are saying ‘I’m seeing more hares this year.’ !  I have, everywhere I’ve been. Great animals. 

Re peregrines: they turn up almost anywhere these days. 90% sure one flew over my house yesterday.  
 

I spent time over the weekend researching red kite distribution. Good stuff on BTO website with maps etc. My analysis is: they do spread but more slowly than may be expected. In fact, whilst the juveniles (and to a lesser extent adults) travel far during winter, they tend to return for the same area they where born/breed. A very gregarious bird of prey, even huddling together at winter roost sites. I guess they don’t get forced away like many other raptors do (ie those raptors who are more aggressive over their territories).  
Anyway, I saw two last week: in north east Fife (not a strong hold) and one whilst driving down the M74 (where I’ve only seen a couple despite multiple drives up and down his road).  

What you observe with their tails is exactly why they are such acrobatic and talented flyers, their tails are designed and utilised exactly as you describe (ie the ‘tossed this way and that’ is done on purpose).  

A day after spotting them on Penhill I was on another hill just a few miles further up Wensleydale - no sign of kites at all nor in Swaledale.

Yes, I've seen them recently driving up the M74 (me, not the kites). I hope they can dodge the wind turbine blades.

Maybe Kites are very much like modern fighter jets, balanced on a point of stability (rather than in a cusp of stability) so that they can react/twist/turn more quickly.

My wife was out early this morning and photographed 5 hares in a row nibbling on the edge of an industrial estate/ex-airfield. Also she got a brace of grey partridge on the housing estate recreation ground about 50m away. The council have practised relaxed mowing so: result!

Yeah, I saw a few around Corfe hills at the end of May. Not sure I recall seeing as many before.

Saturday morning. 

I find they go better with a nice mature cheddar

Wasn't counting but that's the most Kites I've ever seen going down the M1 to London, well into double figures. Not up to M40 amounts but it's getting there.

It really is a kite flying day today 😁

I have spent a couple of days this week working for the National Park at their offices in Bainbridge, so I asked one of the Rangers who lives locally.  He says that there are periodic Red Kites in Wensleydale who seem to visit, stay for a few days and move on again.  Speculation is they are from the Harewood extended family.