| Red Kite chasing Kestrel
A few weeks ago I went for a walk near Hambleden, near the Thames in the south of Buckinghamshire - a great place for seeing Red Kites. At one point on my walk, I saw two birds flying downhill across a field, one very low to the ground and the other a little way behind it and a bit higher off the ground. My immediate reaction was to assume they were both Red Kites as I'd already seen so many of them that day, but then I realised the first bird was far too small and I realised it was a Kestrel. It was clearly being chased by a Red Kite! The Kestrel turned sharply a couple of times as it flew low over the field, trying to shake off its pursuer, and eventually managed to reach the sfety of some small bushes in a hedge, where the much larger bird couldn't get it.
I wondered why the Kite was chasing the Kestrel - has anyone any suggestions? Is this a known aversion between the species? I know Kites and Buzzards seem to share habitat quite hapily, as I've seen them in the sky together several times - in fact I'd just seen them together over the same field where I saw the Kestrel.  |