Last summer I was treated to the rare site of seeing a Red Kite as far to the South East as Surrey by sheer chance. I was visiting a friend on the Surrey - East Sussex border and we were outside. Suddenly my friend looked up and began to stare into the sky, only to rush back inside to get his camera without explaining anything!

I then looked up to see the Red Kite circling above the house. I couldn't believe my eyes as it is very rare to see a red kite let alone in Surrey. The next day while speaking to neighbours my friend said that they had actually seen a pair of kites in the sky and that maybe they were coming down South to begin nesting.

Needless to say we haven't seen them since! I'd be very interested to know if anyone else from the South had seen or heard anything about this pair of magnificent birds.

In response to whomever saw a red kite on the Surrey/Sussex border last summer, there's been at least one passing thru close to London recently. Last Saturday (28/7/07), my wife saw a red kite above our house. Now, we all know identification can be tricky, but as a) the forked tail is pretty unique b) it passed over three times and c) we have relatives near Stokenchurch and see them close up frequently and in quite large numbers (red kites, not relatives), I'm certain she was right.

We live in Thornton Heath, which may sound to the uninitiated like a hamlet in the deep Surrey woods but is actually just the built up area between Croydon and Streatham, albeit with several bits of woodland, and it's the closest sighting I've come across to London proper. Keep me posted,

Wow a red kite meaning a red bird. oh i would love to see one in front of mt eyes. I think you people are lucky to have assisted such a site.

Red kites are a spectacular sight, and it is nice to see them reappearing in England and the rest of the UK, not just in Wales.

Kingfisher

This post was last modified: 31-07-2007 06:29 AM by Kingfisher.

It certainly does sound like a Red Kite, thanks for letting us know about the sighting. The same thing happened when I saw the bird, it circled over us two or three times before moving on. I rarely see Red Kites so it would have been quite hard for me to identify 100% accurately, but like you my friend sees the regularly on his travels so he was certain.

They certainly are a wonderful bird to see. For anyone who's not familiar with their shape, here's a picture:


more pics can be seen at: http://www.rkmas.co.uk/red_kite.html

This post was last modified: 01-08-2007 07:42 AM by wild canon.

That's is a brilliant picture wild canon, thanks for sharing. Did you take that? If you did, where was it taken?

Yes, it's one of mine, taken at Watlington, near Oxford, just a few miles from the Stokenchurch Cutting on the M4. The camp site that we stay at there is great, we put out raw meat (scrounged from local butchers) onto the ground and just wait, within minutes there are dozens of red kites in the sky, then suddenly they dive down to get the meat, it's a terrific experience.

The ones on the linked web site are from Gigrin Farm, Rhayader, in central Wales. If you want to see kites in a spectacular display, that's the place to go. They have a camp site there too. The best thing is to wait until all the other people have gone, then sit on the seats at the rear of the hide and just wait. The birds come closer and closer without all the folks pointing out of the hide windows and the photographic opportunities are superb

It is a beautiful photo, and thanks for sharing the ones from the website as well. Gigrin farm sounds like a good choice for a holiday. Out of interest, which camera did you use to take the pictures?

I used the Canon 300D, then 400D with the Canon 100-400 IS USM lens