Red kites returned from their winter vacation south and are circling our house daily. Regularly staying in one place just long enough that I manage to fetch my camera, but not long enough to take a picture. So this is a so-so picture from a few weeks ago. I also hear daily their typical cries, so even when I do not see them, I know they’re there, somewhere.
© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size
One of the last times I took my dad out after he became very frail was to see red kites. Getting him to the best viewing point in a wheelchair was fucking hard work, but he was so pleased to see them. It was at a small nature reserve off the M40 where it cuts through the Chilterns, this provides great viewing of the kites as they soar up on the thermal at the edge of the cutting seeming to be right in front of you. They were reintroduced here from Spain and have done very well, so well that this population is being used to introduce the kites to other areas of the UK. The gamekeepers of rich Victorians had killed off our original population.
“The gamekeepers of rich Victorians had killed off our original population.”
Ah, jealosy.
Such a beautiful bird!