Kites in the Sun

16 Replies

Dunnock

Two days ago I did a quick bird survey whilst drying the breakfast pots. It was the normal suspects – pigeon, magpie, blue tit, great tit, robin, dunnock. Julia had seen the blackcap and blackbird earlier on. It would have been a reasonable list for the survey at the weekend, so I was quite pleased with it, particularly as it was the result of about 20 minutes, rather than a full hour.

As I wiped, I saw a red kite approach.It was quite low and all the colours were clear in the sun. Yes, it was a sunny day today, and not too windy. It was a lovely thing to see, but for garden bird counts, not admissible. Of course, I didn’t have my camera with me to take a photo. Cameras and washing up don’t mix well.

I’m now signed up and ready for the BTO Birdwatch. It’s similar to the one we did at the weekend but it’s done every week. In order to be consistent I have decided that we will do it during breakfast – from preparation to washing up.  That means it will be every day at roughly the same time and for the same length of time. It is, they say, about the birds, and not about the amount of time you can spend watching.

Of course, we have also had squirrels on both mornings

This morning I did the same thing. This time the kite flew over pursued by a crow. It is the first time I have seen kites two days in a row over the garden, and the first time I have seen one being mobbed. I’ve seen buzzards and sparrowhawks being mobbed but never a kite. I suppose that’s because I see more buzzards and sparrowhawks than I do kites.

The rest of the bird count was an example of consistency, as we saw exactly the same species as we had done yesterday, though the numbers were a little higher. It’s going well so far and I have found a retirement activity that doesn’t involve starting at a screen in exasperation. Yes, the writing is going slowly. In fact I have just spent two hours trying to “improve” a poem. Turns out that not only can I not improve it, but it wasn’t actually that good in the first place. I like the central idea so I will give it a radical rewrite tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Julia did have her camera this morning – this is her picture of one of the two kites.

Red Kite

16 thoughts on “Kites in the Sun”

    1. quercuscommunity Post author

      It’s strange – we seem to be missing some of the more common varieties (sparrows and chaffinches). When I last lived in Peterborough the Red Kite was virtually extinct in the UK and there were no Magpies within 80 or 90 miles.

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  3. Anonymous

    I love to see the kites when I visit my brother-in-law in Marlow. You are lucky. I hope that we are going to see more pictures of them. I ought to do that birdwatch too, but I never get organised.

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    1. quercuscommunity Post author

      I’m hoping to be an organised and long-term member of the BTO scheme, but I also know I start things I never finish. 🙂

      We saw a dozen kites in one group in the Chilterns. Give it a few years and who knows what might happen here.

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      2. quercuscommunity Post author

        Good luck with that. They have made steady progress round here – the Chiltern and Rockingham Forest populations seem to have joined up and have almost met the Yorkshire ones in Nottinghamshire.

  4. Lavinia Ross

    Good luck with the BTO birdwatch and the rewrite, Simon.

    The hawk came by again this morning, dampening enthusiasm at our bird feeder. It was still below freezing when he left with empty talons. He was shopping early.

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    1. quercuscommunity Post author

      It’s the echo of “Rear Window” isn’t it? A man staring out of his rear window and finding new meaning in his life. Admittedly my plot tails off a little after that, though if Julia were to get her hands on the squirrel we might have a murder to write about.

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