Can you advise on these birds of prey?

[Colin_M]

Whilst driving to Reading via the M4 today, I saw one type of bird of prey flying at several different locations around Reading. Sadly I was in the car, so no pictures, but:

- The colour was mainly red/brown
- The had a large forked tail
- They were mainly coasting/soaring.
- Each time, there seemed to be a pair, sometimes more than 2
- They appeared larger than Kestrels, more the size of a buzzard.

Now I've seen plenty of buzzards including one today so I'm sure they weren't buzzards. Normally I'd expect to see Kestrels around the motorway, but these seemed much larger than Kestrels (unless they were just flying lower today).

I was wondering if they could be Red Kites, however I reckon I saw 14-16 in total and didn't think they were that common, esp in the Thames Valley.

Anyone care to comment or offer suggestions?

[glallotments]

Sounds like red kites. Some areas seem to be encouraging them with feeding programmes and then there are huge numbers of them.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/r/redkite/index.aspx

[oldherbaceous]

It could be something to do with the snowcover, making them look to pastures new.

I would think like most birds, they can cover a large distance in a short while.

[Cider Boys]

Hello Colin

From your description and where you saw them likely to be Red Kites. Well done, I have yet to see one, saw some fieldfares and redwings today but unfortuneately no red kites.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdgui ... index.aspx

All the best

Barney

[Colin_M]

Thank you to each of you who replied. In addition to the links you kindly provided, i found a few more people via Google who actually mentioned that Kites were getting more common around Reading.

I think OH is right about the snow & temperatures forcing them to hunt more, so increasing their visibility. Saturday was a beautiful sunny day with clear blue skies along the M4 and my whole journey from Reading to Bristol was a delight - countryside blanketed in snow with all the hedges & trees picked out clearly.

It's very common to see kestrels along the roads and buzzards are increasingly common in the SW - however I think I saw more Kites in total on Saturday than I've ever seen of any other birds of prey combined, one one journey.

The next stage will be to try & get some decent pictures (but not from a moving car......).

[Colin_M]

I came across a guy called Brian Mcgeough a few years ago. He has a website of pictures that are worth visiting here.

There's also a lovely picture of a Kite caught in mid-turn here, plus another one caught head-on here.

Isn't it great what's sometimes on/near our doorsteps?