Stokenchurch Red Kites

[tufty]

I am (at last) going for the Baltimore Oriole at Headington, Oxford on Saturday and all being well will have a few hours spare after. I know they get good numbers of Red Kite in the Stokenchurch area (over the M40) but where is the best place to view the birds and where do they roost (I've heard it's quite a sight to see)

Many thanks for any help

[SimonC]

I asked a similar question a while back and got some good information HERE (http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=10686)
You might want to check the thread out (& anyway, my posting this will bring this thread to the top again for a while ;) )

Cheers

[helenol]

Tufty,

You can see some great sights of red kites driving through the main road in Stokenchurch. You can also carry on through to Ibstone where they are also in abundance. another place is Christmas Common.

As Simon says (!) check out the other thread regarding kites. If you need any info regarding directions etc, PM me, I'll try and help.

[tufty]

Many thanks for the very helpful info.
I've printed all the stuff off and will hopefully get good views of the Kites.

Thanks

[tufty]

Thanks again for the info on the Kites, eventually got brilliant views (and some piccies) of the Baltimore Oriole at Headington, then after dinner we headed to 'Christmas Common' and saw 35 Kites in the air at once (magnificent sight) including many flying right over our heads - Fantastic.

[helenol]

Great news Paul. One can always guarantee a fantastic sight of the kites in these areas. Did you manage to take any photos of the kites?

[tufty]

Sorry about the late reply, been very busy lately, had 300+ threads to get through tonight !!!!!!!!!
I didn't get any shots of the Kites. I had my Digiscoping set-up but had problems getting on the birds, what I needed was a DSLR, but no matter how many times I tell my wife, I still can't convince her that I NEED one.
Hopefully with the new Nikon out in February/March and a possible Fuji S3pro, I might be able to pick up a good deal on a 2nd hand Fuji S2pro.

[Varanus]

I live just outside oxford and spend much of my time looking for birds of prey these days and can confirm that Bix is an escellent site to see them also if you head down the hill towards the nature reserve you will see many more along that road glideing about on the currents over the hills its not uncommon to see 10-20 at a time and ive never been there and not seen any less than 4-5 also in the area the buzzards are doing well often seeing 3-4 at a time

[oldbaldman]

There is a garden centre on south side of A40 between Piddington and Stokenchurch has a camera on a nest used by kites in breeding season. Pictures are sent to a TV in the cafeteria of the garden centre. Hope this helps someone.

dave

[Helen O]

There is a garden centre on south side of A40 between Piddington and Stokenchurch has a camera on a nest used by kites in breeding season. Pictures are sent to a TV in the cafeteria of the garden centre. Hope this helps someone.

dave

I am the volunteer coordinator for this nestwatch. At the moment the camera is up and running, although there has only been a few sightings so far of the kites.

The updated nestwatch diary can be seen on the website redkites.net