A few more photographs of Red Kites from a visit earlier this summer to Watlington.
With us staying at a campsite under the flightpath between White Mark Hill and the town centre the Kites were constantly flying over and frequently dropping down to enjoy leftovers from barbecues etc…Fortunately the campsite gave us some fantastic photographic opportunities particularly in the evening sunshine.
The twisting and turning of the Kites long tail feather helps the birds to be remarkably agile. Even the dog’s dinner wasn’t safe with the Kites quite happy to swoop down within a few feet of us.
The morning call of the young birds roosting around the site wasn’t quite as welcome. An interesting variation on the more traditional cockerel.
In an effort to try and encourage the birds to disperse across a wider area the feeding of the Kites is discouraged within Watlington. However, they appear to be naturally gregarious with up to 30 birds being present over the town centre throughout the day.
The only drawback was Jake, our highly strung Border Collie became increasingly unsettled. We suspect on this occasion it was the Kite’s whistling call. Fortunately as soon as we left the Chilterns his behaviour returned to normal.