| Home | Reference | Forums | Gallery | Maps | Blogs | News | Reviews | Directory | Events | Images |
I already have my own blog (accessible from my web site) which describes the walks that I go on - I generally walk 12-15 miles, two or three times a week, all over Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and the southern part of Oxfordshire. Here on my WAB blog I will just comment on the wildlife that I see on my walks. I love being out in the countryside and enjoy seeing all types of wildlife, but I am especially interested in birds and wildflowers.
Red Kite in Kensworth
Posted 17-02-2008 at 05:40 PM by Pete Collins
Red KiteI'm so excited! At long last I've seen a Red Kite here in Kensworth! It flew over at about 12.45pm today as I was out photographing birds in the garden again. So I was able to get this poor quality photo of it.
I love these birds - every time I see one they lift my spirits, especially when I'm out walking. I love their colouring, the distinctive shape of their tail, their plaintive calls and the way that they don't seem to fear humans the way other birds of prey do. They have often flown very low over my head as I've been out walking, and they are often to be seen in towns and villages, not just out in the country.
It's been an ambition of mine to see a Red Kite in Kensworth for a couple of years or more. I often see them in the western part of the Chilterns, but they are only gradually spreading eastwards towards Bedfordshire.
The other interesting sighting today was a Long-tailed Tit tapping on the dining room window!
Total Comments 2
Comments
 |  Nice one Pete. I'd love to get Kites over here. Sometimes in the summer Buzzards circle & once we had a Sparrowhawk fly over the garden. |
  |
| |  Thanks Deer Stalker. According to a friend up the road, there were actually two Red Kites that went over the village yesterday - she'd seen them here once or twice before, but only ever a single bird. I see Buzzards here quite often, over the valley behind us (I think they nest in a wood further up the valley). I saw a Sparrowhawk fly over at roof level the other day. I've had some close sightings of them here in recent years - once when one dazed itself by flying into a window, once when one scoffed a blue tit on the rockery outside the patio door, and most recently when one bathed itself by landing on the (anti-heron) netting over the fountain in the goldfish pond! |
| |
Recent Blog Entries by Pete Collins
- College Lake (21-06-2009)
- Fowlmere (21-11-2008)
- Fallow deer at Ashridge (17-10-2008)
- A walk near Royston (10-09-2008)
- A very long Wildflower Walk! (04-07-2008)
