Kites are coming home
A BIRD of prey is making a comeback.
They’re coming home, they’re coming home, red kites are coming home.
I am getting more and more reports of this wonderful bird of prey flying over Greater Manchester and pretty soon they will be nesting here.
A friend of mine had an argument with himself the other day after seeing a bird of prey soaring above him. He told me: “It must have been buzzard, but I thought it was a red kite. No, it was a buzzard, but it had a forked tail…”
It was a red kite. They are easy to recognise when you see them, because of that tail, like a V for Victory salute.
Red kites were hunted to extinction in England by our predecessors, who understood little about birds of prey in this country. Some of the present day ‘hunter botherers’ are just as clueless.
Yet, there are reports of this bird clearing up some of our mess, eating dead stuff in towns and city centres back in history.
They are no competition, they are scavengers eating carrion or small mammals, like rabbits. There is no rivalry with us, so why did we kill them all off?
Anyway, more enlightened souls have carried out restoration projects, in Yorkshire, Wales and south west Scotland. If you are ever around Castle Douglas, 50 or so miles across the Scottish border, make sure you visit the red kite breeding station, it is breath-taking to watch hundreds of birds turning up for a feed.
Eventually, these birds will move into the North West, they are certainly having a look, househunting as their territory stretches out.
The red kite is a large bird of prey with a wingspan approaching two metres.
You will see it first but you should be able to hear it ‘mewing’ as it flies above you.
It has angled, red wings that are tipped with black and have white patches underneath in the ‘hand.’ It has a long, reddishbrown, forked tail.
It adds to a host of birds like buzzard, hobby, kestrel, marsh harrier, hen harrier and all the owls that are great hunters in our wild places around the region.
And the great news is that red kites and ospreys are showing an interest in coming here to nest, which is brilliant.
Stop press: Hen harriers have had their best year for ages, with quite a few pairs nesting in the Forest of Bowland and some reports of birds in other Pennine areas. ●●To support the work of the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside. Text WILD09 with the amount you want to donate to 70070. For more information about Cheshire Wildlife Trust call 01948 820728 or go to www.cheshirewildlife trust.org.uk.