April, 2014
For more than 400 years the Red Kite (Milvus milvus) was killed as vermin and became extinct in England and Scotland. In the early 1930's only two breeding pairs of Red Kites were known to survive in Wales. Today the Welsh population is thought to number between 750 and 900 pairs.
The English reintroduction of Red Kites took place in 1989 in Chilterns. Nestlings were brought in from Spain and southern Sweden. It is a very successful conservation story. The English population increased rapidly as birds started breeding at one year old, unlike Welsh birds that often don't breed until their third summer. In addition, clutches were larger than in Wales. The habitat was able to support a healthy population.
The Red Kite is almost entirely restricted to Europe. In Britain it is present throughout the year, whilst the majority of birds in central Europe move south to spend the winter in Iberia.
Chilterns is one of the best places to see the Red Kite in England and is definitely well worth visiting. We have spent several days photographing this beautiful bird. It was a peaceful break just couple of hours away from London.
The first reddish-brown bird with angled wings and deeply forked tail we spotted along M40 motorway between High Wycombe and Oxford. We took a 2-3 mile path across the fields and a small wood to Watlington Hill, where is the best point for Red Kite photography. Most of the days we were rewarded with good weather. The walk was nice and not too exhausting. One of the days we were pleasantly surprised to spot Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) perched on the top of a hedge. Chaffinch, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Robin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Pheasant were more common. Red Kites were soaring overhead for the biggest part of our journey.
The easiest way to reach the top of Watlington Hill is from the car park. There is another, more challenging way - a steep walk which to be honest leaves you panting a bit.
Watlington Hill provides beautiful panoramic views especially on a nice sunny day. One clear afternoon from the top of the hill we saw a tractor working the land and dozen of Kites following it. Much as gulls do, the kites were following in the wake of the tractor and picking up insects. It was really unusual sight for us, but probably very familiar to people living in the area.
Red Kites are beautiful and graceful birds. For hours we watched them soaring and gliding over the fields.
Red Kite can stay in the air with hardly a beat of its wings because of a relatively small body and wingspan of nearly two meters (five and a half feet).
Kites are surprisingly lightweight. In spring adults weigh around 900 grams (1.9 pounds) which is less than a mallard.
They swoop down the air while twisting their forked tail like a rudder.
It is a glimpse of a second when Red Kites twist, turn and swoop through the air. They are incredibly agile birds and focusing this particular diving moment does not come easy.
It was great that we were lucky to have nice blue skies and afternoon sun which reveal brownish chestnut colors of the birds.
A real challenge was to photograph Red Kites diving through the air at the ground. With the trees at the background, it was tricky to track the birds but we have managed to capture couple of shots we were satisfied with.
Most of the time we were lucky with the weather conditions. Just one of the days was more challenging than others; the wind direction have changed and we ended up having poor lighting choices. The kites tend to fly into the wind, so it is ideal if light and wind are in the same direction.
We used to come to this amazing place in the morning and leave the hill after the sunset. The time at dusk was very exited and challenging making silhouette pictures of the Red Kite.
Overall we had a really enjoyable time photographing these distinctive birds. Back in London, for couple of days we couldn't stop looking for Red Kites in the sky. It's good to know that once near extinct bird is recovering steadily in most parts of UK. The future for the Red Kite is now much brighter but it is still under threat because of poisoning, shooting and egg collecting.