New Birdlife Visitors

[SteveS1]

Can anyone ID these?

 

[ian123running]

Kestrel?

 

[SteveS1]

Kestrel?

No we have some resident Kestrels and these are considerably bigger. That tree is a field away. Here is a shot with two large crows next to one for scale. In flight they have a large wingspan and V shaped tail.

 

[Alex N]

Red kite

 

[MUTTY1]

Ditto. Size apart, kestrels have a ‘gentler’ face.

 

[SteveS1]

Red kite

Ah yes. Thank you. There was at least half a dozen of them.

 

[Alex N]

Excellent. Very elegant flyers, though I’ve never seen one here in the Peak. Mostly kestrels, a few owls, and (very rarely) hen harriers.

 

[SteveS1]

Excellent. Very elegant flyers, though I’ve never seen one here in the Peak. Mostly kestrels, a few owls, and (very rarely) hen harriers.

I tend to associate them with the M40/M4 corridor, lots around Henley-on-Thames. But this is NW Kent I guess they are getting around.

 

[Tarzan]

We have Red Kites and Buzzards down in Essex nowadays.

 

[JensenHealey]

Plenty of Red Kite sightings these days in Worcestershire.

 

[Jono_13]

and Herefordshire...

Watch for a body twisting motion to control flight as well, the tail turns in the opposite direction to the body to allow them to turn quickly for such a large bird.

They are bigger than most of the other birds... That might be a juvenile, I think the feathers darken with age.

 

[JensenHealey]

Yes - I was about to mention - the Red Kite is not a small bird - for England it counts as a jolly huge one!

 

[gintonic]

I tend to associate them with the M40/M4 corridor, lots around Henley-on-Thames. But this is NW Kent I guess they are getting around.

loads in Hertfordshire as well. Some spectacular aerial battles.

8H0B7425b by uh_simon, on Flickr

IMG_4004crop2 by uh_simon, on Flickr

 

[Colinb]

Loads of red kites around the Skipton, Harrogate area. I'm often working up there on a project in Fangfoss and I can guarantee to see half a dozen every day on my commute from Skipton to Fangfoss.

 

[Goldenmouse]

Loads of them near me in rural Northamptonshire.

 

[justshoemark]

We have lots of red kites and buzzards. On the Salisbury plan mainly red kites these days. Not so many Kestrels but screen a few sparrow hawks.

 

[MUTTY1]

Haven’t seen one in Cornwall which is odd as they were re-introduced in Wales; obviously headed east rather than south. Centuries ago they were the dustbin men of London apparently.

We have plenty of Peregrines instead

 

[justshoemark]

Ah yes we have a pair of peregrines that live on Salisbury cathedral.

 

[Suffolk Tony]

They make a strange, whistling sound. The first time we saw any was when we were walking through a wood in High Wycombe & thought someone was whistling for their dog. Starting to see them here in mid-Suffolk too.

 

[Nero]

I don't mind kites, but I wish they would tidy themselves up a bit. On the ground, they look distinctly scruffy, and it's not good enough. My web-footed ladies go to great lengths to make sure their feathers are all lined up and ship-shape.
There was an edition of Chris Packham and Beast recently where a whole host of kites landed, and it looked like a Damned concert