Red Kites are an iconic bird of prey, that became extinct in England and Scotland by the end of the 18th century, though they had held on in Wales. They have since been protected very carefully and reintroduced to certain areas of Scotland, including Dumfries and Galloway.
On our recent trip to that area, I was totally delighted to have a very close view of a red kite in flight, we were driving in our hire car at the time, so no photos I'm afraid! I had brief sightings of two other red kites during our trip. Very handsome birds.
The Galloway Red Kite Trail offers brilliant opportunities to see these birds.
***
While we were in Dumfries, we met JoAnne Mackay who was kind enough to give me a copy of her poetry pamphlet Grave with Lights which I've reviewed on Over 40 Shades here.
As ever, red text contains hyper-links to other web-pages where you can find out more.
7 comments:
I agree, seeing birds of prey can be so uplifting. You know their presence means the food chain is in good working order.
I first saw kites in Wales a few years ago but last year I went for a drive round Loch Ken (where I expect you were here) and was amazed at how easy to see they were. They're spreading rapidly and have now been seen very near Kirkcudbright.
I know the delight in seeing birds come back from the brink of extinction. For most of my life, there were no eagles to be seen in the wild. In recent years however,
they are proliferating along rivers and lakes in Minnesota. It's less that five miles to the nearest eagle aerie from my house. People stop and admire them at every wherever they are. Thanks goodness they're protected by law. It's even illegal to possess an eagle feather unless you're a Native American.
Kites are cool birds, congrats on your sightings.
Such talent and energy!
We have always enjoyed seeing these Kites in the Black Isle ... didn't know about this trail. It looks amazing!
all right, i have never heard of that bird before... but i did check and found that red kites do not usually live here in Hungary, but some of them do nest here and this year (2012) there were 4 individuals counted.
Post a Comment