KenM
Well-known member
FWIW my RK sightings so far this year are double up on last years...from mid Feb. to present in NEast London.
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Early Swift return.... (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter KenM
- Start date
FWIW my RK sightings so far this year are double up on last years...from mid Feb. to present in NEast London.
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
That goes no way to anwering my Q though Ken, whay have they not spread further in the the Midlands and I don't count Oxford as the Midlands btw
Red Kites seem to have generally preferred to fill in their core range before spreading. I remember after going to see the Oxfordshire Ibechiff at Great Tew in 2001 deciding to nip down the M40 to see how easy it was to see the Chilterns kites, because at that time they were still quite scarce in Bedfordshire and we wondered when they were going to arrive en masse.
We had the first pair of kites over the motorway just before we got to the Chiltern scarp, and after turning off we stopped on a hilltop, scanned around, and counted 20-odd. Obviously they found the habitat to their liking and found no need to spread out.
Nowadays we probably have numbers like that in Beds - it’s difficult to drive more than a few miles in much of the county without seeing one, so they’re on their way to Notts.
For some reason the reintroduction in north-east Northants near Peterborough never seemed to do as well as the Chiltern one - more rural, more persecution? It’s possible some of the early north Beds records may have come from there, but more numerous birds in the south and centre of the county probably came from the Chilterns. If the Northants birds had done better they might have made it to Notts quicker.
We had the first pair of kites over the motorway just before we got to the Chiltern scarp, and after turning off we stopped on a hilltop, scanned around, and counted 20-odd. Obviously they found the habitat to their liking and found no need to spread out.
Nowadays we probably have numbers like that in Beds - it’s difficult to drive more than a few miles in much of the county without seeing one, so they’re on their way to Notts.
For some reason the reintroduction in north-east Northants near Peterborough never seemed to do as well as the Chiltern one - more rural, more persecution? It’s possible some of the early north Beds records may have come from there, but more numerous birds in the south and centre of the county probably came from the Chilterns. If the Northants birds had done better they might have made it to Notts quicker.
KenM
Well-known member
That goes no way to anwering my Q though Ken, whay have they not spread further in the the Midlands and I don't count Oxford as the Midlands btw
Andy I was responding to aesthna’s comment regarding “the increase”, as far as the M40 RK’s are concerned...perhaps a more regular supply of offal from local abbatoirs is a factor?
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
Thanks Dave,
all points seem valid.
Being a similar species in habit and habitat, I've watched the rise of Common Buzzard in Notts over the last twenty odd years. I even get Buzzards over my home occasionally, just a mile from the City centre and I'd have expected the Kites to be thriving to the same pattern.
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Jon Turner
Well-known member
Saw my first 2 Swifts this morning - with lots of Swallows and Martins. Brought in by the rain?
Jabberwocky
Well-known member
I've yet to see one on the wing but the first one back spent the night in the camera nest box last night. It is still there this morning. It did shuffle across to the entrance just after 8am but I suspect the dull damp weather convinced it to return to the nest to sleep again.
This is the earliest they have returned here, normally around 7th May, last year it was the 8th.
This is the earliest they have returned here, normally around 7th May, last year it was the 8th.
pianoman
duck and diver, bobolink and weaver
My first (Co. Wicklow) seen 2 days ago on the 27th. The first ones are always passing through on their way north. It seems (just by my own inexpert observations) that the ones that nest in the north of the country arrive first. The first flypast at my house is brief, and if I happen to miss it then it is another fortnight before I see swifts again - and that wave is the ones that nest locally
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
Still haven't had one here yet which fits with what I expect, usually another few days.
Richard Prior
Halfway up an Alp
Just had my first two here, 20 days earlier than my previous earliest at this address: 25th May, 28th May, 23rd May in the three previous years here.
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
They're here today, right about when I'd expect them.
foresttwitcher
Virtually unknown member
Four over the village in South Bucks this evening, after having seen my first single one on 25th April and (possibly the same bird in the same area) the following evening but not again in the intervening period.
Jabberwocky
Well-known member
Three around the house this evening. The one that arrived on the 28th has been joined in the nest box by its partner. This is only 3-4 days earlier than normal arrival date here.
Lewis
Lewis
RafaelMatias
Unknown member
I saw my first ones on the 31st March (Lisbon area), about 1 or 2 weeks later than some years.
WalterRayle
Well-known member
I had a pair mating over the garden this morning, the fifth time I've seen them mating over here in the past five years. Always quite something to see,
Puffins4Life
Puffins4Life
Counted 12 flying overhead my building just now. Harrogate, North Yorkshire
Still haven't seen any Swifts yet plenty of Swallows though.
