# Red Kites in Devon



## Biglol (Jul 16, 2007)

Had to visit my daughter on the Gower last month and when we are there we spend a day traveling north looking for Red Kites. We seem to have a soft spot for them. We did see four that time and we got our "Kite Fix". On our way home to Devon, we had just passed Collumpton on the M5 and there above the motorway we saw our first Red Kite in Devon.

A few days later I saw a Peahen about 6ft from my lounge window pecking around on the grass. 
The Beavers in the River Otter are a few hundred yards from where I keep the m/h


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

the Kites are everywhere near my daughter's place in Haddenham (Bucks), and have spread across Bucks & Oxon, and I counted 6 over my son's house in Didcot a couple of weeks ago. Wonderful birds to watch.


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## fatbuddha (Aug 7, 2006)

kites are spreading reasonably quickly from the Chilterns where they are starting to get overcrowded - new birds are off to find new territories.

we saw one last week near Salisbury as we were driving back from Glastonbury Festival. we've also seen one near where we live in Eastbourne so they are spreading to the channel coast now - quite a lot of reports of them in West Sussex these days.


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

fatbuddha said:


> - quite a lot of reports of them in West Sussex these days.


Haven't seen any near here yet. Maybe the Peregrines from Chichester keep them away!


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## fatbuddha (Aug 7, 2006)

> Haven't seen any near here yet. Maybe the Peregrines from Chichester keep them away!


may well be but kites are carrion birds so don't really impact on hunters like falcons.

if you're interested, here's an up to date listing of red kite views in Sussex from Sussex Ornithology

http://www.sos.org.uk/index.php?searchword=red+kite&option=com_search&Itemid=18&searchphrase=all


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## prof20 (Jan 11, 2007)

We have loads of them up here in Leeds, I regularly watch them circling over my house.

They were released on the nearby Harewood estate as part of a UK conservation initiative in 1999.

Majestic and graceful.

Roger


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## Biglol (Jul 16, 2007)

A couple of years ago I counted thirty five above our van in mid Wales.


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## shingi (Apr 18, 2008)

We see them every single day where we live in North Herts. Sometimes there are four or five. Also Buzzards in similarly sized groups. In the winter months I buy economy chicken wings and fling them into the field opposite my kitchen window. I kid you not but it can be a matter of minutes before they start wheeling around overhead making that familiar cry of theirs. It is fabulous to watch but it cannot be denied that there are noticeably more and more of them each year and I do wonder if I should stop supplying the odd bit of sustenance. I love them though.


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