Out at the workshop the other day, I looked up to see a Red Kite being mobbed by Crows, Gulls, a Buzzard and a Sparrow Hawk.
About 20 years ago, Buzzards were very rare here, but now they are numerous. Thanks to Paul Getty Junior, Red Kites are now so common in the Oxfordshire and Berkshire areas that they are beginning to be regarded as a nuisance. I went past Reading on the train a couple of years ago and there were so many Kites in the sky that I did not have time to count them.
People feed them in their gardens, and there is one place which advertises the attraction of seeing them close up during their allotted feeding times. They used to be numerous in English medieval towns and villages, but since people stopped throwing their rubbish in the street and open tips they declined. There are still thousands in India I am told.
20 years ago you would only ever see or hear Ravens in desolate areas of woodland, far from the humans which persecuted them so ruthlessly. Now they have come back again in numbers and I love them.
I was sitting outside at the workshop a few years ago, having lunch with one of our members, who is a keen bird-watcher.
I said that I had seen a Raven there a couple of days previously, and he said something to the effect of bollocks. "You will not see Ravens over here. It was probably a crow."
As soon as he stopped speaking, a Raven flew right over his head.
I know I am repeating myself again, but I (and you) need a break from... no, I'm not even going to mention it.
HeHe! Nice one...!!! :).
ReplyDeleteAnd before anyone asks..Yes! I have and do
eat Rooks..they are the main/proper ingredient
in a Gamekeepers pie..Going back to the 'old wives' days..although pigeon is usually used..
The Red Kite..Amazing, lovely bird..
In the UK, red kites are scavengers that live on carrion and rubbish..Shakespeare's King Lear describes his daughter Goneril as a detested kite, and he wrote "when the kite builds, look to your lesser linen" in reference to them stealing washing hung out to dry in the nesting season...In the mid-15th century, King James II of Scotland decreed that they should be "killed wherever possible", but they remained protected in England and Wales for the next 100 years as they kept the streets free of carrion and rotting food...Under Tudor "vermin laws" many creatures were seen as competitors for the produce of the countryside and bounties were paid by the parish for their carcasses..
So the Red Kite is well worth some research
on it's history and life style..Lovely bird
of prey..! :o).
Thanks Willie. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteRed Kites have now ventured further afield into Hertfordshire so we often see them ...... haven’t seen ravens though, only at the Tower of London !!! Maybe I have mistaken them for crows .... we have lots of crows ! XXXX
ReplyDeleteRavens are larger than crows, have very croaky voices and diamond (not square-ended) tails.
DeleteI have seen the multitudes of Kites patrolling the skies in India, and was really surprised at just how many there were.
ReplyDeleteI showed a photo of them here:-
https://wherefivevalleysmeet.blogspot.com/2015/04/first-impressions-of-india.html
It's almost like that over Reading!
ReplyDeleteYes it's good to see birds coming back isn't it Tom?
ReplyDeleteYes it is Weave.
DeleteWell, we're more interested in you than in your country. Birds are good.
ReplyDeleteMe personally or us as a country?
DeleteRe Inspector M and your comment on my blog - to your comment I would add 'and he is so sexy - and at my age that makes me feel good!'
ReplyDeleteWhat I like about him (apart from his obvious sexiness...) is his endearing faults - like food and lying to his girlfriend. He's a real human.
DeleteHeHe! Yes! But he's also a
DeleteSicilian..! :o).
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