John Wale reports that we have a reliable sighting of a red kite in the eastern area of Bearsted Woodland Trust at about 6.30 am during period Wednesday 22nd / Thursday 23rd March.
The observer, David Gibson, said he saw a large bird of prey gilding slowly across Moore Meadow. It had pale reddish flashes from a distance, and a delta shaped tail. He has seen them before in the Chilterns but not in Kent.
John contacted Simon Ginnaw of the Maidstone Group RSPB who confirmed that "it is known there were 2 pairs of Red Kite breeding in Kent last year, both on the North Downs. So it could potentially be an individual from those pairs or last years young. Very exciting!"
Please keep your eyes peeled and contact BWT if you see another!
Red_Kite_Thurnham_Aug2017.jpg
My wife and I saw a large Red Kite hovering above our heads around March time near Cross Keys - this could have been the same bird that was seen in the BWT. Last Friday I was dropping down from White Horse Woods and witnessed three buzzards scouring the (now-harvested) fields with a Red Kite sailing above them. I am sure we will see more and more sightings as they breed - will they follow the success story of the Chilterns and the M4/M40 corridor?
Many thank to Ian Clark for alerting us by email!
Whilst traveling north along the A249 in the Stockbury Valley yesterday we
saw the unmistakable shape of a pair of red kites above the road (fork tails
the giveaway) being mocked by crows, Great to see them and fortunately we
were in a queue towards the roundabout A249/M2 juction so did have a little
time before they flew south towards Thurnham.
Helen Rumsey wrote to us via this website to say We recently stopped for petrol on Bluebell Hill and saw two red kites wheeling around above us. My boyfriend, who was with me, lives in Northamptonshire, where they regularly fly over his house, and have even come down into his garden. It was fantastic to see them in Kent, where I thought there weren't any!
Michelle Cripps has emailed to say that red kites have recently been spotted at Chilham. John Wale adds that in 2018 the local RSPB confirmed there were sightings along the North Downs escarpment. They thought there could be breeding pairs, which is exciting considering how far we are from the Chilterns where they were reintroduced some years ago. It is very gratifying to hear you have seen them again this year.