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Birds I Have Fancied 13:57 - Sep 29 with 4864 viewsBoston

A year or two ago I started a thread about a raptor I'd spotted, well I've just had another surprise. About 30 mins ago I pulled into the grounds of Warbrook House in Eversley, Berkshire and sitting on the railed fence straight in front of me (not at all concerned about me or the car), is what I'd swear was a large adult Red Tailed Kite! I see these birds 2/3 times a week in Massachusetts and get a number of good close ups every year, but I had no idea they were in the UK...or has a zoo lost one? Will the RSPB be interviewing me on BBC2 this evening!

Poll: Thank God The Seaons Over.

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Birds I Have Fancied on 14:03 - Sep 29 with 4026 viewsdezzar

Pretty common round Berkshire area , saw loads when working down there a few years ago. See them all over the country now, due to re introduction projects
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Birds I Have Fancied on 14:03 - Sep 29 with 4024 viewsMick_S

No. They are everywhere nowadays. There are loads of them in The Wycombe area along the M40. Apparently that’s where they decided to settle in the South and have moved around the area. We have them nesting where I work in Hillingdon. Beautiful creatures - effortless flight patterns.
Someone on here will know more.

Did I ever mention that I was in Minder?

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Birds I Have Fancied on 14:15 - Sep 29 with 3992 viewsR_from_afar

They've been reintroduced in Britain and are now very common. Something which helps their case is that they are omnivores. They apparently even try to nick sandwiches off Oxfordshire schoolchildren at lunchtimes, swooping into the playground.

My great aunt is a very keen birdwatcher who has travelled around the world to see rare birds. She lives in Sheffield and on a visit to us in Bucks, got very excited when she saw a red kite. We casually pointed out that they are ten a penny down here.

My greatest raptor encounter was in Crete. We went to the start of the Samaria Gorge but rather than following 99% of the other tourists down the gorge, we walked up from its start, into the mountains. That's where we saw a lammergeier, or bearded vulture, gliding past. They are literally at the bottom of the vulture pecking order:

Black vulture: At the top of the pecking order. Huge and powerful enough to rip open a carcass.
Griffon vulture: Next in the pecking order.
Egyptian vulture: Next, has a more slender bill so it can extract the meat between bones.
Bearded vulture: Takes the bones, drops them onto rocks to smash them so it can pull out the marrow. Very strong stomach acids which can cope with large pieces of bone.

Vultures tend to have very few feathers on their heads and necks, to avoid getting them covered in gore.

They also form communications networks whereby they will cruise the skies just within sight of each other, so they can alert their mates across large distances if they see a potential meal.

I saw my first vulture in the Pyrenees. I was near the top of a mountain when I saw a group of large birds circling overhead. I had no idea what they were and stepped back to get a better view. It was as I tripped over the bones and other bits of what had once been a sheep that the penny dropped....

"Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1."

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Birds I Have Fancied on 14:25 - Sep 29 with 3946 viewsMick_S

Birds I Have Fancied on 14:15 - Sep 29 by R_from_afar

They've been reintroduced in Britain and are now very common. Something which helps their case is that they are omnivores. They apparently even try to nick sandwiches off Oxfordshire schoolchildren at lunchtimes, swooping into the playground.

My great aunt is a very keen birdwatcher who has travelled around the world to see rare birds. She lives in Sheffield and on a visit to us in Bucks, got very excited when she saw a red kite. We casually pointed out that they are ten a penny down here.

My greatest raptor encounter was in Crete. We went to the start of the Samaria Gorge but rather than following 99% of the other tourists down the gorge, we walked up from its start, into the mountains. That's where we saw a lammergeier, or bearded vulture, gliding past. They are literally at the bottom of the vulture pecking order:

Black vulture: At the top of the pecking order. Huge and powerful enough to rip open a carcass.
Griffon vulture: Next in the pecking order.
Egyptian vulture: Next, has a more slender bill so it can extract the meat between bones.
Bearded vulture: Takes the bones, drops them onto rocks to smash them so it can pull out the marrow. Very strong stomach acids which can cope with large pieces of bone.

Vultures tend to have very few feathers on their heads and necks, to avoid getting them covered in gore.

They also form communications networks whereby they will cruise the skies just within sight of each other, so they can alert their mates across large distances if they see a potential meal.

I saw my first vulture in the Pyrenees. I was near the top of a mountain when I saw a group of large birds circling overhead. I had no idea what they were and stepped back to get a better view. It was as I tripped over the bones and other bits of what had once been a sheep that the penny dropped....


I did say someone would know more than me!

Did I ever mention that I was in Minder?

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Birds I Have Fancied on 14:32 - Sep 29 with 3927 viewsMichael_Hunt2

Birds I Have Fancied on 14:03 - Sep 29 by Mick_S

No. They are everywhere nowadays. There are loads of them in The Wycombe area along the M40. Apparently that’s where they decided to settle in the South and have moved around the area. We have them nesting where I work in Hillingdon. Beautiful creatures - effortless flight patterns.
Someone on here will know more.


They were extinct in the UK until Sir John Paul Getty created a breeding programme at his family estate close to Watlington - Stokenchurch in the 1990's. That's the reason they first populated the western Chiltern Hills. Since then their numbers have increased so well that the birds have had to migrate further afield. (Similar to the London population I suppose?)

Thanks to a "considerate" neighbour we regularly have up to 12 or so descending for the free meal that he leaves out.
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Birds I Have Fancied on 14:43 - Sep 29 with 3881 viewsMick_S

Birds I Have Fancied on 14:32 - Sep 29 by Michael_Hunt2

They were extinct in the UK until Sir John Paul Getty created a breeding programme at his family estate close to Watlington - Stokenchurch in the 1990's. That's the reason they first populated the western Chiltern Hills. Since then their numbers have increased so well that the birds have had to migrate further afield. (Similar to the London population I suppose?)

Thanks to a "considerate" neighbour we regularly have up to 12 or so descending for the free meal that he leaves out.


Do they eat parrots? We’ve got them too, Bos.

Did I ever mention that I was in Minder?

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Birds I Have Fancied on 14:43 - Sep 29 with 3881 viewsNW5Hoop

Birds I Have Fancied on 14:32 - Sep 29 by Michael_Hunt2

They were extinct in the UK until Sir John Paul Getty created a breeding programme at his family estate close to Watlington - Stokenchurch in the 1990's. That's the reason they first populated the western Chiltern Hills. Since then their numbers have increased so well that the birds have had to migrate further afield. (Similar to the London population I suppose?)

Thanks to a "considerate" neighbour we regularly have up to 12 or so descending for the free meal that he leaves out.


Not quite: there was always a population in Wales, but they were extremely rare.

I wrote several thousands words about them a couple of years back, for anyone interested … https://www.tortoisemedia.com/2019/06/03/return-of-the-red-kite/
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Birds I Have Fancied on 14:45 - Sep 29 with 3877 viewsted_hendrix

We built Red Kite House for the Environment Agency just outside Wallingford years ago.

Red kites have been around for ages now.

My Father had a profound influence on me, he was a lunatic.

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Birds I Have Fancied on 15:02 - Sep 29 with 3809 viewsdmm

I regularly see red kites in the skies above where I live, along with buzzards and the occasional kestrel. Beautiful creatures.

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Birds I Have Fancied on 15:06 - Sep 29 with 3788 viewsHantsR

I'm a keen birder and got to photograph and record quite a few interesting, sometimes rare species in the New Forest and South Coast.

My favourite, given that this is a QPR site, has to be a Hoopoe!?
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Birds I Have Fancied on 15:53 - Sep 29 with 3692 viewsguitarzan

I saw a hoopoe in Menorca. Gave me quite a turn as they are so rare
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Birds I Have Fancied on 16:19 - Sep 29 with 3599 viewsR_from_afar

Birds I Have Fancied on 15:06 - Sep 29 by HantsR

I'm a keen birder and got to photograph and record quite a few interesting, sometimes rare species in the New Forest and South Coast.

My favourite, given that this is a QPR site, has to be a Hoopoe!?


You might see a white-tailed eagle down here, they have recently been reintroduced:
https://www.forestryengland.uk/blog/white-tailed-eagle-project-february-2023-upd

I saw some, from a distance, when I was on the Isle of Mull.

"Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1."

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Birds I Have Fancied on 16:58 - Sep 29 with 3543 viewsPlanetHonneywood

Red tailed kites; critiquing the police and other social services; reminiscing Michael Gambon; live updates from the golf in Rome; exploring various musical genres; and providing public service information on train strikes...is it me, or would we be better off avoiding mention of you know, the football lot out of W12?

'Always In Motion' by John Honney available on amazon.co.uk
Poll: Who should do the Birmingham Frederick?

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Birds I Have Fancied on 17:17 - Sep 29 with 3509 viewsStainrod

This thread has not lived up to the expectations of the title
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Birds I Have Fancied on 17:35 - Sep 29 with 3480 viewsRanger_Things

Last year while in Somerset I spotted a Sea Eagle. The thing was fcking massive, more pterodactyl than bird.
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Birds I Have Fancied on 17:42 - Sep 29 with 3451 viewsJuzzie

Birds I Have Fancied on 17:17 - Sep 29 by Stainrod

This thread has not lived up to the expectations of the title


lol! Let's keep it that way for Clive's sake!
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Birds I Have Fancied on 19:22 - Sep 29 with 3337 viewsRebalhoop

Birds I Have Fancied on 15:53 - Sep 29 by guitarzan

I saw a hoopoe in Menorca. Gave me quite a turn as they are so rare


Saw one in Majorca,and we were staying in the Puput Villa,
Puput is apparently another name for a Hoopoe..
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Birds I Have Fancied on 19:38 - Sep 29 with 3296 viewskernowhoop

Birds I Have Fancied on 14:15 - Sep 29 by R_from_afar

They've been reintroduced in Britain and are now very common. Something which helps their case is that they are omnivores. They apparently even try to nick sandwiches off Oxfordshire schoolchildren at lunchtimes, swooping into the playground.

My great aunt is a very keen birdwatcher who has travelled around the world to see rare birds. She lives in Sheffield and on a visit to us in Bucks, got very excited when she saw a red kite. We casually pointed out that they are ten a penny down here.

My greatest raptor encounter was in Crete. We went to the start of the Samaria Gorge but rather than following 99% of the other tourists down the gorge, we walked up from its start, into the mountains. That's where we saw a lammergeier, or bearded vulture, gliding past. They are literally at the bottom of the vulture pecking order:

Black vulture: At the top of the pecking order. Huge and powerful enough to rip open a carcass.
Griffon vulture: Next in the pecking order.
Egyptian vulture: Next, has a more slender bill so it can extract the meat between bones.
Bearded vulture: Takes the bones, drops them onto rocks to smash them so it can pull out the marrow. Very strong stomach acids which can cope with large pieces of bone.

Vultures tend to have very few feathers on their heads and necks, to avoid getting them covered in gore.

They also form communications networks whereby they will cruise the skies just within sight of each other, so they can alert their mates across large distances if they see a potential meal.

I saw my first vulture in the Pyrenees. I was near the top of a mountain when I saw a group of large birds circling overhead. I had no idea what they were and stepped back to get a better view. It was as I tripped over the bones and other bits of what had once been a sheep that the penny dropped....


Blimey RfromAfar! I am going to Crete next week. I may have to reinforce my baseball cap at the weekend.
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Birds I Have Fancied on 21:25 - Sep 29 with 3171 viewsHantsR

Birds I Have Fancied on 16:19 - Sep 29 by R_from_afar

You might see a white-tailed eagle down here, they have recently been reintroduced:
https://www.forestryengland.uk/blog/white-tailed-eagle-project-february-2023-upd

I saw some, from a distance, when I was on the Isle of Mull.


Thanks. As it so happened, I managed to get good hotographs of 2 white tailed eagles on a trip down the River Beaulieu. I've also got good photos of Osprey, Spoonbill, White Stork and Hobby ( Falco subutteo) amongst many others in my area. Love it down here!
[Post edited 29 Sep 2023 21:28]
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Birds I Have Fancied on 21:34 - Sep 29 with 3143 viewsthame_hoops

Birds I Have Fancied on 14:32 - Sep 29 by Michael_Hunt2

They were extinct in the UK until Sir John Paul Getty created a breeding programme at his family estate close to Watlington - Stokenchurch in the 1990's. That's the reason they first populated the western Chiltern Hills. Since then their numbers have increased so well that the birds have had to migrate further afield. (Similar to the London population I suppose?)

Thanks to a "considerate" neighbour we regularly have up to 12 or so descending for the free meal that he leaves out.


On my local residents page on Facebook, there’s weekly posts about people feeding red kites lol
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Birds I Have Fancied on 21:38 - Sep 29 with 3137 viewsHoopstar

See red kites all over the place around mid-Sussex, even see them occasionally in Haywards Heath itself. Beautiful creatures - they've fully moved into my running route just outside town. Love seeing them circling over the woods and fields. Probably thinking I'm bound to drop dead soon enough with the noises coming out as I slog up another hill.
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Birds I Have Fancied on 21:54 - Sep 29 with 3117 viewsloftboy

Birds I Have Fancied on 17:17 - Sep 29 by Stainrod

This thread has not lived up to the expectations of the title


I bet Woking got excited when he saw this thread 😂😂😂

favourite cheese mature Cheddar. FFS there is no such thing as the EPL
Poll: Are you watching the World Cup

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Birds I Have Fancied on 23:39 - Sep 29 with 3020 viewsBazzaInTheLoft

Seriously lads, when we‘re not arguing about identity politics or trying to flog cryptocurrency, this forum can be proper nice sometimes.

What a lovely thread. Proper cheered me up.

The incredible success of the reintroduction of UK raptors over the last 10/20 years is a proper good news story that we all deserve.
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Birds I Have Fancied on 01:10 - Sep 30 with 2953 viewsnumptydumpty

Robin red breast...

Soon after my mum died, both of my sisters and myself and my dad also, we all were sat in parents' garden and a Robin came up very close to us, all on separate occasions.

Said "Hello Mum" to the little bird myself.

Old wives tale says they appear to comfort if loved ones have lost someone.

But so tame, literally landed on my lap, when I saw the little bugger !!!
[Post edited 30 Sep 2023 1:26]

Walking in a "Mackie Wonderland"
Poll: Where will we finish next season ???

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Birds I Have Fancied on 06:28 - Sep 30 with 2847 viewsWilkinswatercarrier

Birds I Have Fancied on 14:43 - Sep 29 by Mick_S

Do they eat parrots? We’ve got them too, Bos.


We have Buzzards living in Richmond Park. In the summer they went over our house and the parakeets were going nuts. Clearly they are a good snack for the Buzzard.

So any bird that eats parakeets is welcome in London!
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