I got lucky, with the restrictions of lockdown it’s been a real eye opener what I can find that is local to me, birds that I would have travelled a fair distance to see and one of those birds is the Red Kite.

Here are a few facts about these birds, they are protected by the wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. They mainly eat carrion and worms, but are opportunistic and will occasionally take small mammals, they have pretty small feet for a raptor so those reports of them taking a dog or a lamb I find very hard to believe.

The female lays a clutch of between 1 - 3 eggs and incubates mainly alone for 31 - 32 days. The young fledge generally between 50 to 90 days.

What I did notice was a lot of them were missing feathers, I tried to find out why and only came up with the suggestion that they may be moulting or flown into things, apparently they aren’t very good at missing wires, but I did see a lot of play fighting so this might also be a factor.

When there is food on the ground they don’t tend to land but dive and grab, and although a fairly slow diving raptor when 10 are all diving its still tough to get the shots.

They weren’t bothered by me either, they are wonderful to watch as they glide, play and swoop.

I hope I get back to see the young fledge and will continue to take photos of these amazing birds. Don’t forget to check out my IG and Twitter feeds and feel free to message if you have any questions.

Red Kites

I think i’m going a little Cuckoo ………….

I’ve been a bit naughty ……….