the notched wings were just strange.
Wasn't it just moulted flight feathers? In summer birds drop flight feathers in a predetermined order with usually the same flight in both wings dropped at the same time, this will give the appearance of a notch in the wings.
Maybe but they looked very symmetrical and deliberate thru the binos. They looked clipped
Either way they were still a lot bigger than a buzzard as one flew over us an hour later lower down the valley
loads around my parents near Reading, wonderful to watch. They are mainly carrion feeders but do take small mammals, or as per other posts are getting quite bold.They stole some chicken my Dad had left out while waiting for the barbecue to heat up a year or two back, now they'll apparently take it off your fork if you aren't quick!
As well as the forked tail you can usually hear them too, quite a distinctive call (audio in link)
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/red-kite/
I may have warned my kids about them when they were little. I told them Kites only took things that weren't moving, so to not sit still for too long when out in the garden........I am a bad Dad, aren't I?
@ElShalimo I am am somewhat jealous now. I might suggest Honey Buzzard. but Golden Eagle would not be inconceivable in the lake district, they had a resident pair around Haweswater up until the female died, followed by the male about 5 years ago. Have you reported to the RSPB or other bird group in any way? If not then please do so, even an inconclusive sighting may help as you may corroborate sightings from others
@nbt - thanks, I'll report it.
After spending a week on Uist it did look very familiar. By the way if you want to see short-eared owls on Uist don't bother going looking for them. Simply drive across South Uist about 4:30am and there's loads hunting near the main road. We saw 5 on the early morning dash for the ferry.. and also had 2 very close encounters with red deer 😱
Yeah, we saw about half a dozen short eared owls on North Uist at 10am when driving from the hotel up to Balranald reserve. Wonderful sight.
On a related note I might have seen a golden eagle yesterday in the Lakes. We were walking from Mosedale to Bowscale Tarn and above the valley were 2 very large birds. They were about 200m up and far too big to be buzzards. The colours under the wings looked yellow not white, they had pronounced feathers like fingers at the edge of the wings too. Interestingly the lower bird had had some v shaped notches mid-wing half way along the trailing edge. The size and colour made me think they were juvenile golden and the notched wings were just strange. Buzzards are so common nobody would mark them in that way
You would know if it was an eagle by the number of twitchers hanging around......, if you are right it's a remarkable spot
Used to occassionally see them over Lyme Park
I shall keep my eyes peeled then. I've only seen little raptors so far, it seems to be wall to wall curlews up where we are. We did see a buzzard really close up on our Wednesday ride last week, on the old road over the top between Buxton and Coombes/Whaley.
golden eagles have been seen in the lakes IIRC - spreading their range. Don't worry - gamekeepers will soon kill them
I moved to Norfolk about 9 years ago and used to see the occasional one here and there (same with buzzards), but now it is rare i ride my bike of an evening and don't see one.
But it seems to be at the expense of the owl population and smaller raptors, see less and less owls.
we have loads of kites here (Wessex Downs/Thames), and a family of buzzards continue to nest in the trees about 200m away. They don't seem to compete with each other - and don't fight, unlike the crows and either of the larger species
Judging by the number of owls we can hear each evening, they've not affected them either!
@tjagain - there used to be a breeding pair in Riggindale (Haweswater) but the female disappeared and then the male did eventually too. I don't think there's been any permanent residents since around 2004/5
Some do fly down from Scotland, have a look around then head north again
see less and less owls.
<singletrackpedant>fewer and fewer</singletrackpedant>
@big_n_daft much more chance of them being juvenile sea eagles.
Doing really well in Scotland (after reintroduction) and some have been released on the Isle of Wight and are getting all over the place.
I've 100% seen kites in North Staffordshire and friends have seen them in The Peak.
But it seems to be at the expense of the owl population and smaller raptors, see less and less owls.
There isnt much overlap between them in terms of prey or protecting territory. Kites whilst they look big and impressive are mostly scavengers and pretty lightly built. Whilst there have been drops in other raptor numbers I have seen nothing linking it back to the kites or buzzards.
Kites used to be known as Shitehawks, they are basically scavengers despite their looks.
They are getting regularly seen over Sheffield and the Peak, hopefully breed here soon.
My favourite kite shot, just off the M40. What you can't see is the pile of chips and cafe rubbish just out of shot that it was going for:
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/1898/30989445068_b4da121e06_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/1898/30989445068_b4da121e06_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/Pdr1n3 ]IMGL8176[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/timrusson/ ]Tim Russon[/url], on Flickr
Me and the Mrs have both seen kites right behind our house in lowton, near leigh not far from Pennington flash.
We have sightings NW of Derby and eastern side of Nottingham, and a competent bird spotting mate of mine is sure he had his first sighting over Ilkeston a week or two back
In England the reintroduced birds can be found in the Buckinghamshire/Oxfordshire area, Northamptonshire, Yorkshire, Gateshead and Grizedale Forest in Cumbria.
That seems out of date. Loads in mid Beds. Friends spotted them for the first time in Cambridge this year.
A colleague said that that a red kite took a pigeon from his garden fence this week
I thought that they mainly ate carrion?
I know farmers shot them for "taking" lambs in the past but in reality they were usually mopping up the afterbirth not the lamb
