April, 2014
Chilterns is one of the best places to see the Red Kite (Milvus milvus) 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.
For more than 400 years the Red Kite 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. Chicks were brought in from Spain and Sweden and released at specially protected sites where they were allowed to fly free. It was 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 woodlands, chalk grassland, hills and varied farmland of the Chilterns provided ideal habitat for the birds.
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.
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 small wood to Watlington Hill, where one of the best points for Red Kite photography is. 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 birds. Red Kites were soaring overhead for the biggest part of our journey.
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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 a 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. Wind direction is very important for Kite photography. The kites tend to fly into the wind, so it is ideal if light and wind are in the same direction.
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Sometimes they just chase each other purely for the thrill.
Red Kites can stay in the air with hardly a beat of its wings. Their body is relatively small and surprisingly lightweight but they have a wingspan of 175-179 cm (60-70 in), whilst buzzard - 109-136 cm (43-54 in).
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They swoop down the air while twisting their forked tail like a rudder.
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Red Kites are well known for their agility and marvellous aerobatic skills. They make tight turns and sudden twisting dives which we watched with fascination. Photographing this particular high speed moment was not very easy even against the blue sky.
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The real challenge began when we had to photograph kites with the trees at the background. There were some frustrating moments trying to track the birds but finally we have managed to capture couple of shots we were quite pleased with.
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Watching sunset from Watlington Hill was one of the memorable moments. We used to keep fingers crossed for clear skies. It looked that most of the time it helped and we had a few opportunities to make silhouette pictures.
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Just after the sunset we used to head home following the same path through the fields and small wood. We would like to say it was a scary and spooky, but to tell the truth we quite enjoyed late walk under the light of full moon and our torch. One late evening we have noticed that something tiny moved on the path. When we got closer and lit the area, we saw a tiny wood mouse. We stood still for good couple of minutes and this little beauty didn't pay a slightest attention to us. Unfortunately we packed away our cameras and didn't have a chance to photograph it.
Overall we have to tell that we had a really enjoyable time photographing distinctive Red Kites. Back in London, for couple of days we couldn't stop looking for Red Kites in the sky. Of course with no luck but it's good to know that once near extinct bird is recovering steadily in most parts of the UK.