Red Kite makes urban visit

J. Ramone

I know they used to be a common sight in cities in past centuries but I was slightly surprised to see a Red Kite circling the square in Rathdrum today while I was at the ATM.

Birdnuts

J. Ramone wrote: »

I know they used to be a common sight in cities in past centuries but I was slightly surprised to see a Red Kite circling the square in Rathdrum today while I was at the ATM.

Good Lord - Thats pretty cool, though i hope this behaviour is natural and not because the bird is sick/disorientated - given that a poisoned dead Red Kite was found just outside Rathdrum only last month:(

J. Ramone

It looked very healthy as it flew around for a few minutes. I bon't know what it might have been hunting for. The jackdaws didn't seem too bothered. I cant think of anything it might have been scavenging either.

The danger is that it might pick up a poisoned rat or two. I don't know what the numbers are but i'm seeing a lot more of them this year.

Hopefully they will start breeding this year.

Birdnuts

J. Ramone wrote: »

.

Hopefully they will start breeding this year.

Indeed - that would be truely historic given that they've been extinct over the bulk of the country for the best part of 300years(as far as I'm aware they became completly extinct on the Island of Ireland by 1790):)

boneless

J. Ramone wrote: »

I know they used to be a common sight in cities in past centuries but I was slightly surprised to see a Red Kite circling the square in Rathdrum today while I was at the ATM.

I found red kite bones on an excavation in the centre of Dublin, a few years back . They were in a rubbish pit dating to the late 17th century.

Birdnuts

boneless wrote: »

I found red kite bones on an excavation in the centre of Dublin, a few years back . They were in a rubbish pit dating to the late 17th century.

Gordon Darcy referred to such finds in his excellent Lost Birds of Ireland which came out about 10 years ago

boneless

Darcy did all right. It took our animal bone specialist a while to identify the species, but we actually used Darcy for ideas as to what they might have been. It's not very often I get to mix my two passions in life !!

Slightly off topic but I hope you will forgive me; we think one of the houses we excavated may have been that of a brushmaker- many badger skeletons in the record.

Discodog

I was involved in the first Red Kite release in the Chiltern Hills of England. The birds were pretty tame right from the start & would often been seen on roof tops etc. They seem to have a natural boldness which maybe is why they were common over cities.

Mabel

Does anyone know how many Red Kites are actually left from the re-introduction? I remember discussing them with a fellow birder from England about how I would have loved to see them in Wicklow. He replied that once they get breeding they'll probably end up in Dublin in no time anyway! Perhaps a bit naive, but I would love to see them nonetheless and any updates I've read about the re-introductions have not been good ones

Rainbowsend

From memory there were thirty birds released, and I know of at least four that have been found either poisoned or shot, maybe more? They should be nearing maturity soon and hopefully start breeding which will give them a chance to increase in number. It would be wonderful to see them as regularly as we are now seeing the Buzzards, they are beautiful birds as are all birds of prey and would be a fantastic tourist attraction if only they were allowed to live......just look at the feeding stations in Wales they are so popular with tourists.

Birdnuts

Rainbowsend wrote: »

....just look at the feeding stations in Wales they are so popular with tourists.

I firmly believe we should set up such "vulture restaurants" in the release areas of all three raptor re-introduction projects during the lambing season so as to minimize these birds exposure to illegal poisoned carcasses:)

Discodog

The really funny thing is that the first release in England was close to the M40 motorway. Coach loads of twitchers would drive past on their way to Wales & not realise that there were Red Kites flying above them !. The release site was the ultimate in security as it was a country estate owned by the oil billionaire John Paul Getty !.

Anyone who has seen a Red Kite close up can see that they cannot tackle big carrion. Local farmers came to see the birds as chicks & the vast majority supported the release. We did have one farmer who claimed that the birds were in his fields looking for lambs. We filmed them eating......earthworms !.

But a local school used to always have a couple on their roof. To everyone's amazement one Red Kite swooped down & took a blue tit from the bird table - that's not mentioned in the bird books !.

As for tourist attractions 70% of the visitors to Mull say that seeing the Sea Eagles is the main purpose of their visit.

Rainbowsend

I think the feeding stations are a great idea, especially when first introducing them to an area, I know it doesnt encourage them to fend for themselves but that could happen when they are well established.

I'm all for it.

heavyballs

fyi i nearly ran over a red kite on the road from Avoca to Arklow,he was down trying to lift what looked like a dead rabbit
he/she didn't seem to have the strength to lift it,antway i drove away and then came back a few mins later to see it hover above our car,also it had a tag on it's wing,what a magic loking bird in flight and pretty big also

Birdnuts

heavyballs wrote: »

fyi i nearly ran over a red kite on the road from Avoca to Arklow,he was down trying to lift what looked like a dead rabbit
he/she didn't seem to have the strength to lift it,antway i drove away and then came back a few mins later to see it hover above our car,also it had a tag on it's wing,what a magic loking bird in flight and pretty big also

Classic Kite behavior - they were very common and popular with people in medieval Times for their waste disposal services and hopefully one day soon such activity as you were lucky enough to witness today will become common place throughout Ireland:)

Connacht

Ref. Discodog above.
(sorry, I've no idea how you do that quote box thingy.)
I'll be going to the Mull next year and 100% of the purpose of my visit is to see the Sea Eagles.

Birdnuts

Connacht wrote: »

Ref. Discodog above.
(sorry, I've no idea how you do that quote box thingy.)
I'll be going to the Mull next year and 100% of the purpose of my visit is to see the Sea Eagles.

Lucky sod:) - Though I shouldn't complain too much since I'm flying out to Zimbabwe at the end of the week myself to work with Black Rhinos:D;)

greeneyedspirit

Connacht wrote: »

Ref. Discodog above.
(sorry, I've no idea how you do that quote box thingy.)
I'll be going to the Mull next year and 100% of the purpose of my visit is to see the Sea Eagles.

Yup, same here - heading over to Ft. William and surrounds in two weeks (woohoo), looking for eagles.
I agree about the feeding stations, it would be a good start to help establish a healthy population of birds. A mate of mine is helping with a project in Nepal, setting up vulture restaurants and stuff. Brilliant.