Red Kites over Wanstead?

Arriving at the Warren Road entrance to Wanstead Park on 19th March in preparation for a photographic shoot relating to the state of the Grotto, I was thrilled to watch a Red Kite flying over. Travelling generally east-west, it was being harried by a crow; presumably this was one of the local population that wasn't happy about seeing another new resident so soon after the Parakeets.

It's not the first kite to have been seen locally, one was seen flying over Northumberland Avenue in September last year, and I suspect that we may see more as time goes by. * (see note below)

That sounds a bit like the title of a song, and thinking about the name, I was reminded of the words to a song by that folksy 60's singer Donovan. In a version of the traditional song "Pretty Peggy-O", Donovan sings the lines; "See the red kite in the sky, pretty Peggy- O; See the red kite in the sky, pretty Peggy- O; See the red kite in the sky, as I watch the summer die..." etc. I did wonder at the time whether he was referring to the bird Milvus milvus or a toy on a string, but whether he was referring to a bird or a toy doesn't really matter, because the thing-on-a-string was named after the bird anyway. It was probably a good idea to use the English name in the song, rather than the scientific one, though.

A couple of weeks ago I stayed for a few days near the Bucks/Berks border, and it was a daily source of enjoyment seeing a kite hanging in the sky, or two playing together, or a group over a town. They are so common in that part of the Chilterns and nearby areas that it would seem likely that they'd spread further afield - and the area around Copped Hall in the north of the Forest looks to me a likely spot (not that I can see things from a Kite's point of view, of course). It has woods and rolling hills and farmland - and plenty of carrion-suitable roads from the Epping one to motorways.

And if they did take up residence around there, then it is not to far-fetched to imagine them patrolling down here as well.

Here's my not-very-good long-distance view of the Kite and its persecutor.

Red Kite, Warren Road, Wanstead - 19 March 2010

* This happened -  on March 24th there was one over Valentines Park,and on March 26th, again one over Wanstead Flats.

Paul Ferris