Red Kite

snowstreams

cuddlycavies wrote: »

There was tweet on twitter yesterday. A guy was watching one soaring overhead from a bench on the Canal in D2.

Thats great, they must be taking up residence in the city now so. I saw one on the m50 last week.
How did you find that tweet? What tag did u search for?

cuddlycavies

snowstreams wrote: »

Thats great, they must be taking up residence in the city now so. I saw one on the m50 last week.
How did you find that tweet? What tag did u search for?

Dont know. My wife read it. Presume it's one of the Donabate birds.

E39MSport

Kildare bwi branch have Damian Clarke in on the 8th after the AGM to talk about the Kite project: -

Following the AGM we will have our usual monthly talk. This month Damian Clarke will speak on Red Kites in Ireland which will start at the later than usual time of 8.30pm. On July 19th 2007, after an absence of almost 200 years, red kites once again flew free in Ireland thanks to the work of the Golden Eagle Trust, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Welsh Kite Trust. At least 11 nests fledged chicks in 2010 and it looks like over 20 nests will fledge this year which is fantastic news!
Damian Clarke is the Red Kite Project Manager and has been there for all of the highs, lows and hard work needed for a project of this scale. I'm sure Damian will give us a great insight to these magnificent birds and the project.

BirdWatch Ireland Kildare Branch Secretary
deirdre@birdwatchkildare.com
niall@birdwatchkildare.com

Mitch Buchannon

I'm up in a friends place at the moment (Balbriggan) and a few minutes ago she spotted a bird of prey eating/killing another bird in the back garden. She only managed to get the last few seconds of it in the garden on the phone before it flew off. I have stuck the video below. She described it as having piercing eyes and spots on it's wings. Could this be one of the Red Kites or is it more like a Buzzard ? Either way, it's fantastic if she spotted one feeding in the garden.

trebor28

Mitch Buchannon wrote: »

I'm up in a friends place at the moment (Balbriggan) and a few minutes ago she spotted a bird of prey eating/killing another bird in the back garden. She only managed to get the last few seconds of it in the garden on the phone before it flew off. I have stuck the video below. She described it as having piercing eyes and spots on it's wings. Could this be one of the Red Kites or is it more like a Buzzard ? Either way, it's fantastic if she spotted one feeding in the garden.

from that video it was neither a Kite or Buzzard.

from the location and the looks of it it was probably a Sparrowhawk, though hard to tell.

Rainbowsend

Piercing eyes? Sparrowhawk!

ThunderCat

I'd safely say its a Sparrowhawk. Kites and Buzzards are noticeably bigger than the bird on the lawn and i'd imagine it would be a rare sight indeed to see either a kite or a buzzard make a kill in a residential garden such as that one. The Sparrowhawk however is perfectly at home in such a setting and uses its incredible agility and speed to dip and dive over fences, walls, sheds etc. in quick bursts in order to take its prey by suprise. The peircing eyes would ring true with a sparrowhawk too. All in all, a magnificent bird.

BargainHunter

I took some video today of what I think is a Red Kite. How can I get this confirmed? The video is 62 megabytes so I think its too big for youtube.

trebor28

BargainHunter wrote: »

I took some video today of what I think is a Red Kite. How can I get this confirmed? The video is 62 megabytes so I think its too big for youtube.

i would think the video should be fine for youtube.

upload it away!
only problem might be your connection speed.

E39MSport

cuddlycavies wrote: »

There was tweet on twitter yesterday. A guy was watching one soaring overhead from a bench on the Canal in D2.

They may do well in and around our cities. Less likely to be intentionally poisoned and more food for them. Gulls seem to fare well around ballymount etc. Fingers crossed. Would be great.

whyulittle

11 breeding pairs fledged 17 young in 2011, according to Irish Birding today.

coolhandspan

serious question not a wind up...............
Can red kites and buzzards control our magpie and grew crow population. heard that red kite chicks inb dublin were fed on rabbit and magpie whilst being reared.?????

bernyh

[/QUOTE]


I have a really blurry pic I took from my balcony I live opposite the broadmeadows river, over the past few months I have seen these birds a number of times but never had a chance to get a good picture, I was wondering what kind of bird they were looking at this pic it looks like they are also buzzards.. brilliant thing to see from your window.

LostCovey

bernyh wrote: »

I think they are both Red Kites. Nice capture.

Right hand bird definitely, left hand bird 90% sure.

LC

bernyh

ooh i didnt take that pic, I meant to quote someone above sorry... mine is too tiny to really make out x

stevensi

That's a red kite on the right and a buzzard to the left. The thing to look out for when they are soaring is the wedged tail. The buzzard does not have this like in the picture...

Traonach

Huge numbers of Red Kites in Avoca at the present time. Red Kites have communal roosts at winter, so like crows will tend to flock before roosting.

There was 10 plus kites soaring around the bridge in Avoca around 3.45. A squadron of rooks passed by and there was a huge WW1 style dog-fight between the two species in the sky. It was unreal:)

thefly

slowburner wrote: »

As an aside.
When the Kites were first introduced near where I live - I wondered about the ecological impact. I wondered would there be a displacement of some other raptor or other species.
The curious thing is that their introduction seems to have had the opposite effect - it seems to have increased biodiversity. Peregrines are common and Merlins are around here now too. There are other large raptors around as well, but I don't know my stuff well enough to identify them. There was a terrible racket in the trees beside my house yesterday (Magpies and Jays) when out flew a big raptor about 30' overhead. It was about the same size as a kite but stockier and a more agile flier - Hen Harrier maybe?
From my observations, the only population that seems to have (possibly) decreased, is the Ravens.
I love having the Kites about but there is something ungainly about their flight compared to the Peregrine and the Merlin.

Where do you live :eek:

Bsal

Spotted two Red Kites near the Apple Green petrol station before Balrothery today. Its the first time I have seen them outside Newbridge demense since they where released.

Bsal

I was passing the round tower petrol station near Lusk around 2pm today and seen two Red Kites flying low over the fields across the road. They are probably the same two I saw last week in Balrothery, magnificent birds to watch

Nemesis

Just counted 21 red kites hovering over Avoca Village at 5pm today.

My previous record was 17

BargainHunter

How high up were they? Would I need binoculors to get a decent view? Im thinking of going over to Avoca for a look?

ludeen

I have spotted what looked like a pair of red kites around the carrs hill
area of cork, the've been here for a few weeks now, so maybe nesting?
can anyone confirm this ? i looked on birdwatch and there is sightings in
cork area.
L.

slowburner

BargainHunter wrote: »

How high up were they? Would I need binoculors to get a decent view? Im thinking of going over to Avoca for a look?

You'll be able to see them perfectly well with the naked eye, but bins would be useful if you want to see them in more detail.
Before dusk is the best time to be there. The roosting behaviour is a sight to behold.
The morning is much less dramatic.

pinseeker

ludeen wrote: »

I have spotted what looked like a pair of red kites around the carrs hill
area of cork, the've been here for a few weeks now, so maybe nesting?
can anyone confirm this ? i looked on birdwatch and there is sightings in
cork area.
L.

Have had a Buzzard sighting there ludeen at least 10 times over last few months,pretty sure different birds as last 2 sightings were of a much darker bird.So guessing that may be what you saw.

Hope it is kites you saw tho:)

mgwhelan

pinseeker wrote: »

Have had a Buzzard sighting there ludeen at least 10 times over last few months,pretty sure different birds as last 2 sightings were of a much darker bird.So guessing that may be what you saw.

Hope it is kites you saw tho:)

Buzzard can come different shades, hope it was a kite you saw too.

ludeen

Thanks guys, i was unsure as i saw the white underneath, but it was only a brief glimpse as its a busy road.
L.

whyulittle

It looks like the Dublin-based Kites (one at least!) are joining up with their Northern brethren like they wanted.

A day out kiting...

Since December 2011, the RSPB Red Kite Officer, Adam McClure, had picked up the radio signal and had several sightings from an unusual visitor?one of the Dublin kites?to my embarrassment the kite was less than two miles from my house on the Ards Peninsula, Co Down.

Last Tuesday, Andrew Murray and I had a work experience student, Phillip Patton from Regent House, Newtownards working in the office and helping with some of the fieldwork. We all decided to head out and see if we could get a closer look and a photograph and Phillip wrote down his experiences of the day:

Full story at GET.

Half-cocked

Just south of Skerries is the place to be, apparently. There is a food processing plant in the area and the kites are hanging around for scraps. I saw 2 there on Saturday but talking to a photographer who said up to 8 could be seen there regularly.

Cardinal Richelieu

Half-cocked wrote: »

Just south of Skerries is the place to be, apparently. There is a food processing plant in the area and the kites are hanging around for scraps. I saw 2 there on Saturday but talking to a photographer who said up to 8 could be seen there regularly.

Windturbine?