Garden Birds and wild birds thread.

A winters tale. What’s the connection to Red Kites though?
Shakespeare. " When the Red Kite nests..look to lesser linen"

A nod ,in A Winters Tale,..to the raptors habit of stealing clothes from washing lines ,back in the days when folk hung linen high ,house to house, on the streets of London...to adourn their nests.
 
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When I look at the first line of your post..it's quite amazing..thinking back.
In the 70s the House Sparrow was the most abundant bird in Britain.they were everywhere.The Red Kite meanwhile..was virtually extinct......Things change..over the years...

Man has fuckedcabout with nature ,...on a whim.

Red Kites shot by game keepers and also ravaged by the savage Rabbit 'disease'which decimated numbers acoss the country.Then reintroduced.Red Kites turn up everywhere now,for those with eyes to see..
And now being shot at again.ho hum....

Masters of the air ,and seldom in any rush.

Saw my first one just outside Chesterfield Derbyshire ,about 20 years ago ,perched in a tree ,magnificent, off the road taking you from the M1 into the town centre.

Only ever seen this bird actually on the ground feeding once.....few years back Belper Derbyshire,spotted one at a sheep carcass.
I know they prefer scavenging rather than live prey....less effort,minimum energy expended,which can be used ,instead for their Ariel dexterity....Masters of the air.
Great post mate, you certainly know your birds.

I saw a lot or Red Kites when i was working on telecom towers, especially around M40 corridor in Oxfordshire. Also i saw plenty in Herefordshire Wiltshire Gloucestershire and Warwickshire. Also saw quite a few in mid Wales and around Dumfries-Galloway, Scotland.

My best sighting was when I was working about 40m up on a tower in Herefordshire (IIRC), about 15 years ago. I was busy working away on a lovely day and i got to see a pair of Kites fly in unison by the tower under me by only 5M or so, wingspans cant have been more than a metre apart from each other. Their graceful presence of seeing a pair of magnificent birds of prey close up blew me away. Talk about a wow moment. Something I'll never forget.
 
Great post mate, you certainly know your birds.

I saw a lot or Red Kites when i was working on telecom towers, especially around M40 corridor in Oxfordshire. Also i saw plenty in Herefordshire Wiltshire Gloucestershire and Warwickshire. Also saw quite a few in mid Wales and around Dumfries-Galloway, Scotland.

My best sighting was when I was working about 40m up on a tower in Herefordshire (IIRC), about 15 years ago. I was busy working away on a lovely day and i got to see a pair of Kites fly in unison by the tower under me by only 5M or so, wingspans cant have been more than a metre apart from each other. Their graceful presence of seeing a pair of magnificent birds of prey close up blew me away. Talk about a wow moment. Something I'll never forget.
Kites are amazing birds to watch, don't get much action where I am now, rarely saw them in England when I lived there, great to see them make a come back
 

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