M40 Red Kites

[KentYeti]

Can anyone suggest a decent spot to watch and photo the Red Kites that swarm over the M40 between junctions 5 and 6 please?

Other than the hard shoulder of the motorway!

[Ringo1968]

Originally Posted by KentYeti

Can anyone suggest a decent spot to watch and photo the Red Kites that swarm over the M40 between junctions 5 and 6 please?

Other than the hard shoulder of the motorway!

Go to a village called Stokenchurch. You can't miss these birds flying low over the place looking for food.

[PeteD]

Kill 2 Birds with 1 stone and have a day out on the Cholsey & Wallingford Railway. There's usually 3 or 4 kites to be seen at low level around Wallingford Station. Alternatively have a drive round the back roads between Nettlebed and Henley on Thames.

Pete

[Simon Davey]

I had some success in a lay-by on the A404 between Marlow and High Wycombe.

However, I was approached about trespassing in a horse field, I got a little carried away.
The lady was very understanding and didn't ask me to leave, but she would have preferred that I asked permission first.

[RoyW]

Originally Posted by Ringo1968

Go to a village called Stokenchurch.

This would have been my suggestion - but to be honest, you will probably do just as well if you pull come off the motorway anywhere near where you see kites and try random back-roads nearby.

Originally Posted by Simon Davey

However, I was approached about trespassing in a horse field, I got a little carried away.
The lady was very understanding and didn't ask me to leave, but she would have preferred that I asked permission first.

Tut tut!
It's often not all that difficult to get permission to enter private land for reasons such as wildlife recording/photography - as long as you ask first!
The difficult bit is finding out who you need to ask - and it often becomes more difficult if you're not local to the area.

[Matt Smith]

Another good area is the lane running up the dry valley that leads to BBOWTs Warburg Reserve north of Bix Bottom. Some days dozens of kites can be seen, and you can park at the roadside at various spots.

[Simon Davey]

Originally Posted by RoyW

Tut tut!
It's often not all that difficult to get permission to enter private land for reasons such as wildlife recording/photography - as long as you ask first!
The difficult bit is finding out who you need to ask - and it often becomes more difficult if you're not local to the area.

Indeed, ashamed I was too, I'd followed a kite and gone from the main road through a hedge to the side of the field.

Here's a shot I managed, which the landowner really liked.

[Jim Ford]

Watlington is the 'Kite Capital of the UK' - you'll see more than you can count! Watch them from on the hill and in the town, particularly in the evening when they come down really low (and you feel you should duck!). Someone also has them nesting in their garden.

Jim

[RKB]

You can park at just off Junction 6 at the Lewknor-London bus interchange (basically a line of bus stops at the bottom of the slip road).

They are fed in gardens by many people in Watlington, and you can commonly see 50+, many at rooftop-height. There is also a roost at the walled estate along the B4009 at Shirburn, and driving south along that road between the M40 and Wallingford at any time of day will easily turn up double figures.

If you've got time, go early and take a roadkill rabbit/pheasant (or something from the butcher - even a cheap tesco chicken) and find a spot along the B4009 around Watlington/Shirburn where you can put it in a field and use your car as a hide from about 30-50 m - they will likely be on it within the hour, and you will get stunning views of birds feeding on the ground and flying low. Early mornings are best, before they've been fed elsewhere.

A big food itme means they have to land to feed, small items mean they'll do spectacular swooping dives to grab stuff.

[KentYeti]

Some fantastic advice here. Thank you all so much.

Will be getting a cheap chicken as soon as I can be sure of some decent weather and heading in that direction.