Red Kite

bogtreader

Two seperate people have posted on www.irishbirding.com in the wicklow section they have seen 20 Red kites in the Avoca area today 24th of november
and 15 in Redcross on the 20th of november.I dont know if this maybe of assistance to anyone.

sables2

bogtreader wrote: »

Two seperate people have posted on www.irishbirding.com in the wicklow section they have seen 20 Red kites in the Avoca area today 24th of november
and 15 in Redcross on the 20th of november.I dont know if this maybe of assistance to anyone.

HI bogtreader,
This IS terrific assistance - thanks mate. It's such a thrill to hear some 'positive' news...for a change. Looks like this re-introduction is thriving lads. God Bless the Eagle Trust.

Bsal

Found a nice video of Red Kites on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYOx-iCMZhk

snowstreams

Bsal wrote: »

Found a nice video of Red Kites on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYOx-iCMZhk

Thats great slow motion video. Red kites must be quite common in parts of the UK to be able to get footage like this!

E39MSport

snowstreams wrote: »

Thats great slow motion video. Red kites must be quite common in parts of the UK to be able to get footage like this!

I've seen groups of 20 - 30 birds in Wales. They are very common. Inspirational.

Alun

E39MSport wrote: »

I've seen groups of 20 - 30 birds in Wales. They are very common. Inspirational.

There are a number of Red Kite feeding stations in the UK, some in Wales, that are very popular tourist destinations. I've read that they can get up to 50 birds at a time sometimes.

E39MSport

I see them most days here in W. Berkshire where I spend quite a lot of time. There was one perched on top of the office block yesterday.

Never get used to seeing them though.

V Bull

In Avoca this morning and got some Kite & Buzzard photo's....:)

sables2

V Bull you are a lucky man!! Absolute stunning photos. WOW WEE....Red Kites AND Buzzards!! I love the 'fights' or squabbles.

Mothman

Just seen my first Red Kites from the garden.
2 Red Kites and 2 Buzzards riding the same thermal!

Too far away to see if there were any wing tags.

Rainbowsend

Mothman wrote: »

Just seen my first Red Kites from the garden.
2 Red Kites and 2 Buzzards riding the same thermal!

Too far away to see if there were any wing tags.

Thats excellent! I was only saying today how I hoped they would come a bit closer to home, I was out in Avoca today and was watching two of them, one was flying around with moss/weeds in its beak so maybe nesting?

Will post up a picture later.

Rainbowsend

V Bull

Rainbowsend wrote: »

I was out in Avoca today and was watching two of them, one was flying around with moss/weeds in its beak so maybe nesting?

I was also there today, around lunch time, and I think you are spot on, this guy was offering what I think is a rabbit to another Kite. Not a very sharp photo but when you zoom in on it, it looks like a rabbits head with an ear trailing behind......

trebor28

just here watching Countryfile on bbc1, Julia Bradbury mmmmmmmm, is on.

they are showing a bit from red kite country in wales i think, with an white one to make an appearance.



they said it was a genetic anomaly and that they only live for about 5 years as there feathers wear faster.

Alun

Just saw that piece too, and while I'm afraid I can't get too excited about Julia Bradbury, the sheer number of Red Kites on show was amazing .. the guy who ran the feeding station reckoned he had 600, yes SIX HUNDRED, birds once when the heavy snows were around recently.

trebor28

Alun wrote: »

Just saw that piece too, and while I'm afraid I can't get too excited about Julia Bradbury, the sheer number of Red Kites on show was amazing .. the guy who ran the feeding station reckoned he had 600, yes SIX HUNDRED, birds once when the heavy snows were around recently.

yeah and the farmer said he gave up farming to open up a viewing area for the birds.

what a life!

Birdnuts

trebor28 wrote: »

yeah and the farmer said he gave up farming to open up a viewing area for the birds.

what a life!

Yeah - he had so many visitors that he set up an interpretive centre which became so successfull, he didn't need to farm anymore!! Great if this kind of thing caught on over here!!:cool:

sables2

Was in Avoca yesterday (Easter Sunday) Co. Wicklow yesterday. I saw a Red Kite. I was living in hope to see one. Initially i was in Red Cross, and i said to my self: "it might be worth the extra few miles drive": i was rewarded When i arrived in the quaint village it was swarmed with tourists and visitors. I didn't expect to see a Kite to be honest, as i was scanning the wooded area out side the village with my binos. As i was walking back to my van up the hill, i looked over my right shoulder and low and behold, there he was souring up high over the river at the bridge. Unfortunately, never had my camera. It wouldn't have made a jot of difference as he was at least 400m away. I knew immediately it was a Red Kite with stricking 'forked' tail and rusty brown wings. My FIRST sighting and i was elated going home.
The guys were right on here: Avoca seems to me a 'sure thing' indeed for a sighting. PS: Saw a Heron flying away too.

gzoladz

Hi all,

We will be going on holidays to Wexford in two weeks and I am hoping to detour on they way and spend a couple of hours in Avoca, Wicklow.

I have read in other threads that it is possible to watch eagles in that area.

Appreciate if someone can please point me in the right direction as to where in Avoca I should be looking.

Thanks,
G

Judgement Day

Where are you getting your info from? Just curious, as the only mention of eagles on Irish Birding.com for County Wicklow is from Oct/Nov 2010 and for a White-tailed Eagle.

Half-cocked

I think one of the sea eagles did pass through the area last year, but it's proably the red kites you have heard about. Not eagles as such, but still worth going to look at. Avoca is a good spot to see them.

gzoladz

JD, I follow this phorum almost an a daily basis and I red it here a couple of times.
HC, you are correct, perhaps they were red kites. I wanted to use a word to refer to all the raptors in general but I obviously picked the wrong one.

Where in Avoca? I am not familiar with the area.

Thank you for amswering.
G

Half-cocked

Assuming you are travelling from Dublin, take the N11 south and watch for signs for Avoca when you are getting close to Arklow, about 1 hour journey time from Dublin city centre. I suggest you buy an Ordanance Survey map of the area. Discovery series sheet 62 would be the best. You can explore the area around Avoca to find the Kites. It is a very picturesque part of the country.

Mothman

Renamed to remove eagle from title and merged with Red Kite thread.

gzoladz

HC, thank you very much.
Motham, thanks for merging them.

cuddlycavies

First find Avoca town. Take the Arklow road from Aoca. About .5 mile outside is a church on the RHS. Park near there. To your left is the river valley. Wait there and if conditions are right Kitess and Buzzards will be soaring over the valley.

gzoladz

cuddlycavies wrote: »

First find Avoca town. Take the Arklow road from Aoca. About .5 mile outside is a church on the RHS. Park near there. To your left is the river valley. Wait there and if conditions are right Kitess and Buzzards will be soaring over the valley.

This is very good, thanks a lot. I will be there in just over 1 week, will let you know how I get on. Really excited about it.

E39MSport

Was there yesterday - saw nothing around Avoca itself.

I took the Arklow as cuddly suggests but went further up to Woodenbridge (about 2 miles) and parked opposite the pub. Very good view from there and saw a few. Then proceeded to the right about 1 mile and took a right up a narrow road uphill. Again, excellent views and saw more again even though the weather was a bit severe. (beware the man eating donkey - the so'n'so (sorry Mm) drew blood)

If you continue it leads on to the Rathdrum road.

Sadly, only fleeting glances really, they were covering great distances in the wind but great to see them.

I can understand why I saw one in Kildare North. It's prime territory all the way from Avoca to Ballymore Eustace and on into Kildare

gzoladz

Was there this week, unfortunately with very little time. I did not see any Red Kite but loads of smaller birds.

I need to go back with more time, and hopefully, with someone with more knowledge.

Will see if there is an outing with any of thr bordwatching groups.

slowburner

The kites appear over my neighbour's farm in twos and threes, almost every weekend, if the weather is fair. I don't know why - perhaps they want to hide from weekend observers .
For the dedicated - those who don't mind being about at dawn & dusk - they can be seen on their way to and from the roost, in the vicinity of Moran's garage on the Vale road, just north of the village of Avoca.
Just a word of caution, though. There are those who would love to know where the roosts are - for reasons that don't bear thinking about. One kite was shot further down the road a couple of years back. So obviously, precautions should be taken to avoid drawing attention to the roosts.