‘Nature is lavish with her riches for those who have eyes to see’
Charles Tunnicliffe
.
Bedfordshire Sunrise - red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning
It was as if Bedfordshire was fighting back, making a point about my birdwatching trips to other parts of the country. It was saying ‘look – we have birds here too!’
I’ve had a thing about Red Kites for a while, ever since I saw my first one in Bedfordshire a couple of years ago. They’re a real success story – a bird driven to the edge of extinction, clinging on as a few pairs in Mid-Wales, only to be re-introduced and make a real comeback in England.
The Kites we have here won’t be from the original Welsh stock, they’ll be outliers from the Chilterns, where they’re almost as common as Sparrows. Nevertheless, it is good to see them spreading our way. I can watch them as they re-colonise the countryside.
Bedfordshire Red Kite
I’ve been trying to get a picture of one of our local Kites for ages, but they’ve always managed to elude me for one reason and another. Until this morning, that is. I took Scarlett to the nursery at 8.00am and drove home along the back lanes. There, above me, a pair of Red Kites was cavorting on the breeze. Now, as chance would have it I had my camera in the car – I’d brought it along to photograph the sunrise. I pulled over onto the verge, wound down the window and got off a few quick snaps.
And there you have it. My first picture of a Bedfordshire Red Kite. You can just about make out the white bars on the wings, but the silhouette and the forked tail are unmistakable. Maybe I should carry the camera in the car more often…
Tales from the Wood - The Diary of a Badger Watching Man 
I always read your blog posts – always – but rarely comment. I have friends in the Chilterns and always see an enormous number of them whenever we go up there. We spent a very enjoyable couple of hours at my friends’ childrens’ summer fete watching the kites circle aboce us, so close you felt you could touch them. Anyway, several months ago I was doing my normal drive home through Mid Sussex when I saw that tail in the sky above me. I knew – but I couldn’t believe it! It was a buzzard everyone told me – but I know what a buzzard looks like and there is NOTHING with a tail like a Red Kite! I reported it to Sussex Wildlife Trust who didn’t scoff at me! I told a Raptor specialist in Kent – he didn’t scoff either. Then, at my in-laws on Christmas Day in Newbury, we got out of the car to hear “that noise” and there was another above us. Circling over their (large) housing estate. The Red Kite is back!
Someone I know who works at Sussex Wildlife Trust told me that in medieval times, there were as many Red Kites as we have pigeons. What an amazing thought!
As an aside, at the Wildlife Rescue where I volunteer we had a beautiful female badger brought in at the end of last week.She had got her neck and paw caught in netting. It took one of our volunteers four sleepless nights to trap her so she could be treated. She didn’t eat for three days and is very stressed in our ICU – but without our intervention she would have died for sure. The wound in her neck is deep and infected. We are keeping our fingers crossed for her!
Keep up with the blog – I always enjoy reading it!
Hi Rebecca, and thanks for writing in
I enjoyed reading your comment because it sounds so like my experience. I first saw a Red Kite in wilds of Wales many years ago, and then spent a happy afternoon sitting on a hill in the Chilterns a few years back with Kites soaring overhead on the wind, keeping in position with tilts of their tails. Like you, they seemed to be only a few feet away. A memorable experience! Then I started seeing the Kites in Bedfordshire but could never manage to get a picture until now.
I’m glad that they’re back. They were apparently common in London in the 18th Century. Grays Inn Road in Central London (where I used to work) was famous for them. Their near relative, the Black Kite, is very common in big cities in India. I’ve stood on the roof of an office building in Bangalore and looked them in the eye as they floated past, which was interesting.
And fingers definitely crossed for your badger. I hope she makes a full recovery.
All the best
BWM
awesome! I love red kites, they stun me as much as badgers when I see them 🙂
BWM, a little update. After four weeks the female badger made a great recovery, put on 4.5kg and was released back to where she came from on Thursday. Apparently she ran off towards her sett at a right old rate of knots……….a real success story!
Hi there,
We’ve got a Red Kite circling overhead at our farm in Leighton Buzzard at the moment. I’m a bit worried as we always have a breeding pair of Buzzards here each year and I hope they won’t be scared away.
Hi there, and welcome
I’ve always wondered if the name of Leighton Buzzard was related to Buzzards. Probably not, but it would be nice.
I’m not an expert, but I think the Kites and Buzzards seem to get along together. We have a lot of Buzzards at the moment (I counted five circling over the field behind my house the other day) and they don’t seem to be affected by the Kites. I have a friend who lives on the other side of the Chilterns where Kites are common, and you often see mixed flocks of Kites and Buzzards circling together. I think they have slightly different niches, with the Kites being out and out scavengers, and the Buzzards being more active hunters (though I sometimes see them feeding on worms, which is less glamorous).
Interestingly, the Buzzard has made a comeback almost as spectacular as the Red Kite. I have a copy of ‘The Breeding Birds of Bedfordshire‘ from 1992 in front of me, and the Buzzard is listed as having only 8 breeding pairs in the whole county. I probably have that many within walking distance of my house now. I think the Buzzard is back to stay.
All the best
BWM
Hey BWM, I saw a red kite at Sparsholt college, Winchester, Hampshire a few weeks ago! Really made my day that they are spreading down here! Stunning birds!
Hi Ele – good to hear from you
Good news about the Red Kites. They certainly are a success story, but I didn’t realise they’d spread so far south. I look forward to the day when they re-colonise the whole country.
As for your other questions, my NV scope is a Bresser. It seems to be pretty good, but it’s the only one I’ve used so I’m not an expert. I picked it up on ebay for about £75.
My new camera cost about £300 – Sony alpha 200, with the 18-70mm kit lens and an extra Sigma 70-300mm zoom, plus case and all the bits. There are many newer models out there, but it seems to fit my needs and budget with the extra lens. I still don’t know how to work it properly, but I’m getting better.
It’s still a dilemma with the camera though. My compact bridge camera did (and still does) everything from macro close-ups to 18x zoom, with video and sound recording, and it was easy to carry. The Sony is a beast that needs a big bag to carry it with the spare lens, but it does seem to be better at taking quality pictures. Like everything it’s a trade-off.
All the best
BWM
I saw a Red Kite flying over Caddington (near Luton) yesterday. My little grandson pointed and said ‘airplane’ ! It was a stunning sight.
We saw a red kite over Great Brickhill just north of Leighton Buzzard a few days ago and every time we’ve crossed the deer park at Woburn Abbey in the past two months, we’ve seen a kite. Absolutely wonderful.