Red Kite

123oclock

Was down in Woodenbridge for New Years and had the pleasure of seeing a Red Kite..I knew i would have a chance to see one but was just out for a leisurly walk when we saw one circle above us, at first i thought it was prob a buzzard by the way it was soaring but as we got closer it was bigger and then saw the tail...I wish i had a decent camera i took a photo but i was too slow to react and get a close up...i had binoculers with me even though it took me about 10 minutes to realise to use them as i was spacing looking at it....it was a good start to the year for me..my next mission is to see one of these eagles that we now have.....

Birdnuts

Thanx for that - must get myself down to that part of Wicklow ASAP for some grade A birding:)

E39MSport

Yeah, cheers for that. Would love to see one in Ireland. Went to Wales last year and was shocked at the number of them. Saw them in groups of up to 10.

ThunderCat

Awesome birds. With a bit of luck they will become a more familiar sight in this country as time goes on. You did well to spot it, it looked to be very high up judging by its size in the picture. Well done.

snowstreams

I went down to avoca one time to see them. You can see groups of 4-5 of them flying around sometimes.
Here is a few pics i took of them.


Ive a few more pics of them up on Flickr here. They really are amazing birds.
Buzzards fly around with them alot too.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/snowstreams/sets/72157622509712652/

dodderangler

Was at wooden bridge myself today and seen 3 red kites
Absolutely beautiful to watch
She was about 100 metres above the car soaring down by the river and way above her was 2 buzzards
I never realised the amount of bops in aughrim seen buzzards red kite a kestrel and a sparrowhawk fly by
I seen a buzzard imitate a hovering monouver
Wasn't proper kestrel hovering but he stayed in same spot his back arched wing tips pointing towards the sky using the wind to stay in one place while the female circled bout 70 metres above him

Birdnuts

dodderangler wrote: »

Was at wooden bridge myself today and seen 3 red kites
Absolutely beautiful to watch
She was about 100 metres above the car soaring down by the river and way above her was 2 buzzards
I never realised the amount of bops in aughrim seen buzzards red kite a kestrel and a sparrowhawk fly by
I seen a buzzard imitate a hovering monouver
Wasn't proper kestrel hovering but he stayed in same spot his back arched wing tips pointing towards the sky using the wind to stay in one place while the female circled bout 70 metres above him

Tis a great spot allright - reminds me of the stuff I used to see on my trips to the Dordogne in France in the days when Ireland had SFA in terms of raptor species/numbers.

dodderangler

Birdnuts wrote: »

Tis a great spot allright - reminds me of the stuff I used to see on my trips to the Dordogne in France in the days when Ireland had SFA in terms of raptor species/numbers.

Last time I seem that many birds of prey in same area was when I went to Hong Kong and seen black kite , vultures , white belly sea eagles, and steppe eagles circling around mountainside
I was told they follow the trains and scavenge from whatever the trains knock down

Birdnuts

dodderangler wrote: »

Last time I seem that many birds of prey in same area was when I went to Hong Kong and seen black kite , vultures , white belly sea eagles, and steppe eagles circling around mountainside
I was told they follow the trains and scavenge from whatever the trains knock down

I'm planning a trip to one of those raptor migration hotspots within the next 2 years. Tarifa in Spain is meant to be a fantastic spot both in Spring and Autumn with mega numbers of Black Kites, Honey buzzards along with big numbers of Griffon and Egyption Vultures. Loads of eagles too including Booted and Short Toed.

bobwilliams

Saw an amazing kite today about 2 miles outside Aughrim on the way to Rathdrum,only had a poxy phone with me and with the clouds the pictures were terrible.
Defo worth a trip down for anyone who's interested.