There are no specific records of this species for S.
Gloucestershire prior to 1957 but it was probably a resident formerly. They were
apparently 'abundant and remarkably rapacious' in the 16th century and still
'widespread over the country' as late as 1777. Evidently Red Kite was well known
in many parts of the region early in the nineteenth century but by 1850 had
greatly decreased in numbers and subsequently only occurring infrequently. Kite
stems from the Old English 'cyta' and the Middle English 'kyte' and is imitative
of the long drawn out whistling call. 'Milvus' is a direct translation from
Latin meaning Kite. Some historical names for Red Kite include; Fork Tail, Glead
Hawk, Scoul, Baegez and Bascutan.
There have been around eighty-five Red Kites reported from
S. Gloucestershire in modern times;
2011: (c.16)
One was noted in the Shire Hill
area at Marshfield in mid February; One was seen on February 17th soaring and in straight flight over Little
Stoke/ Patchway today at 13:10. It was noted at around 100
metres altitude in the Gypsy Patch Lane/ A38/ Drive Vauxhall and
Rolls-Royce area; One in the Marshfield area on March 22nd; One
in the Northwick/ Aust Warth area on March 23rd; One was seen well over Cattybrook Road, Short wood at 15:30 on March 26th; One was seen soaring high
over allotments near Cock Road Ridge in Kingswood at 10:40 on April 22nd; One
over Chipping Sodbury Common at 14:40 and the same or another at 16:00 north of
the A420 just before Marshfield on April 25th; One was seen at 07:45 on April
28th at Severn Beach; One was seen on May 1st between Falfield and Lower Stone
around ST: 67 94, 6m east of Oldbury Power Station; One was seen over the M5
interchange at Almondsbury at 15:00 on May 15th; One from Latteridge flying over
the road between the village duck pond and railway line between 17:00 & 18:00;
One was seen over Marshfield village at 17:00 on June 2nd; One was present on June 3rd
drifting low over Severn View Service towards the 'old' bridge and Aust Cliffs
at 09:00;
An adult was seen over Wick Quarry on June 6th; An adult was seen at New Passage
on September 29th;
|
Red Kite bird days in S. Glos in 2011: |
|
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Total |
|
- |
2 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
- |
- |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
17 |
Red Kite at Wick. June 2011.
Pete Blanchard.
2010: (c.25)
One was seen in the morning over
Shepperdine on January 11th;
One was seen over the M5
around two miles north of the Almondsbury interchange at 13:50 on
February 15th; One was reported in the Shirehill Valley along Broadmead
Brook near Marshfield on March 6th; One flew north over New Passage at
12:35 on March 15th and possibly the same bird was seen at 16:50 flying
south over the M4 from Woodlands Golf Club area into Bradley Stoke
estate, just W of Trench Lane bridge over the motorway on March 16th;
Two were seen high over Overscourt Wood & Plantation at Siston and
heading north on March 28th; One was seen over Pilning at 15:15 on March
31st and was noted drifting east; One was present at Orchard Pools near
Severn Beach at 11:45 and a further four (HIGHEST COUNT)
were seen circling high over
Overscourt Plantation on April 10th; One was
seen heading North over Yate at 13:40 on April 11th; One was seen in
Shire Valley at Gunning's Wood near Marshfield on May 2nd; One was seen
over a garden at Yate on May 23rd around 13:00; One was seen over the M5
Motorway at Almondsbury around 14:30 on May 25th; Three were seen on May
26th, one at 06:55 at Severn Beach, one over Westerleigh Common at
13:00 and one over Doynton; One was seen over Westerleigh Common on June
6th at 13:30; One was noted at Aust on June 16th; One was seen at
Thornbury over 'Country Wide Stores' at 12:15 on July 20th; One was seen
in the Shire Valley at Marshfield on August 9th; One was seen over
Gaunt's Earthcott at 14:00 on September 7th; One was seen on September
21st over Marshfield village at 14:00 subsequently over Rushmead Lane at
14:15; One was see over the M48 near Aust being mobbed by corvids then
heading towards Olveston on November 30th; On December 25th at around 12:45 one was seen flying south above
farmland just north of Thornbury Castle.
|
Red Kite bird days in S. Glos in 2010: |
|
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Total |
|
1 |
1 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
28 |
2009: (c.12)
An adult was seen drifting north over Rushmead Farm
in the afternoon (also West Littleton) at Marshfield and one was seen at Cadbury Heath on March 15th;
One on March 17th at Doynton; One from Swineford on March 20th; One was seen near Oldbury village
at 12:50 on May 3rd where it circled and flew high north; One was seen just
after midday drifting north over the sheep fields at Aust Warth on May 5th; One
was seen drifting south over Orchard Pools at Severn Beach late morning on May
6th; One was seen drifting north over the A432 at Yate around 17:55 on May 12th;
One was reported over New Passage at 17:20 on May 13th; One was seen on June 3rd
at around 13:05 over Station Road, Staple Hill before heading towards
Mangotsfield; One was reported from Swineford on July 4th; One was noted just inside the S. Glos boundary at Church Road,
Hanham on July 20th; One was noted drifting north-west over Middledown Road at
Marshfield on October 12th.
|
Red Kite bird days in S. Glos in 2008:
|
|
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Total |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
16 |
Red Kite at Marshfield. (1 & 2) April (3,
4 & 5) May 2008. Rob Laughton.
Red Kite at Marshfield. June 2008. Len Ingram.
2007: (16)
On January 1st one was reported in flight just north
of Thornbury at midday; A winter adult was reported over fields opposite
Tanner's Walk at Marshfield at 14:30 on January 4th; An adult was seen in flight
at ST: 639 828 near the Grange Hotel at Winterbourne on January 23rd, it was
last seen heading NNW towards Almondsbury at 14:25; On January 24th an adult was
noted at 10:00 in flight north over Old Passage/ Aust Warth; One was seen on
April 6th at Marshfield at ST: 782 741 over the Tormarton Road at 09:00 and the
same or another was seen over Wick on the same day; On April 14th an adult
drifted over Aust Warth heading inland at around 10:30; On April 14th one was
reported at 10:30 over fields just inland of Oldbury Power Station car park,
then drifted north. This report represents the first record at the site; On
April 27th one was reported from New Passage; On April 28th one was reported in
the morning circling on the south side of the M4 a half a mile before junction
18; On April 28th one was seen at Oldbury Power Station at 15:00 drifting over
Lagoon II heading upriver; One was noted by security staff at Oldbury Power
Station between May 21st and 25th; On June 1st one was circling above fields
between M5 J14 and Leyhill Prison at 14:00; One was seen on June 15th on the
south side of Marshfield at around 07:50, it was noted drifting low from the
south-west being mobbed by hirundine before turning back south-west then south
and was lost to view towards Ringswell; One was seen in flight over the M5 near
Tytherington on June 16th; One was seen over the Hanham/ St. George boarder on
August 23rd at around 17:15; One was reported heading east at Iron Acton on
October 6th.
Red Kite at Aust Warth. April 2007. Richard Ford.
2006: (6)
A juvenile/ immature was noted flying north over
Frampton Cotterell in the afternoon on February 19th; An adult was reported from
the Marshfield area around ST: 793 745 at about 15:10 on April 22nd and
again on April 25th near Cold Ashton at the junction of the A46/A420 at around
14:00; The second Severnside record flew over Northwick Warth at 10:45 on June
5th, it was watched slowly drifting off east over the rifle range; On June 13th
one was noted over the A38 near Thornbury; One was seen on June 14th near
Marshfield in the early afternoon at ST: 776 777 right on the S.
Gloucestershire/ Wiltshire boarder and again near Tormarton on June 15th; One
was reported over the Boyd Valley at Wick on September 10th.
Red Kite at Northwick Warth. June 2006.
Paul
Bowerman.
2005: (4)
On March 20th an adult was seen flying east over
Severn Beach; An individual was watched over Filton Airfield on May 6th; A
presumed adult was watched at 16:55 on May 14th in the Shire Valley near
Tormarton; A single bird was watched in the Rangeworthy/ Iron Acton area on May
21st; An adult was seen early morning over the junction of A46/ A420 on June 5th
at Cold Ashton.
Red Kite at Severn Beach. March 2005. Paul
Bowerman.
2004: (1)
A single bird was seen over the M4/ M5
junction at Almondsbury on April 29th.
2003: (1)
One was watched on May 10th at Hinton
Hill near Dyrham Park. ST: 745 766.
2002: (1)
One was seen in flight heading east on
March 28th at Stoke Gifford.
2001: (1)
An adult was seen on June 3rd near
Shirehill Farm to the north-east of Marshfield and drifting
south-west.
2000: (1)
One was seen on August 28th over
Eastwood Park near Tortworth.
1999: (1)
One was seen in flight at Easter
Compton heading north-east on July 30th.
1997: (1)
One was seen in flight high and
heading south-east on February 2nd at Tortworth.
1996: (1)
One was noted on April 27th at
Frampton Cotterell.
1994: (2)
One was seen on March 2nd at Filton
and was watched in flight heading east over the airfield;
One was seen on May 1st at Downend.
1988: (1)
A single bird was seen on March 26th
at Hanham Mills.
1985: (1)
One was watched flying over Elberton
Wood on April 20th and seen to disappear into the wood.
1957: (1)
On March 3rd one was seen near
Tockington flying south-west at approximately 300 ft.
Salient features noted were the large size, forked tail and
wings longer and less rounded than in Buzzard with
characteristic light patches on undersides.