My kids live in Wales and are rather blase about these birds. In vain do I try to get them to understand that I was 35 before I saw one.
The present status of this marvellous bird in England and Wales (and to a lesser extent Scotland) is one of the most heartening conservation stories of my lifetime. There were about a dozen nesting pairs in the UK in 1963, and now around 2000.
Yes, an incredible turn around. The tiny Welsh population was centred around the area North of Llandovery in mid-Wales. At that time they had almost mythical status as a G.B. breeding species and I went to look for them there circa the late sixties and very nearly failed to see one at all. I have been back much more recently and there are so many now you just cannot miss them as you drive around the area. In one field outside Tregaron that was being ploughed I saw eight.
The reintroduced English birds have been phenominally successful and are still spreading their range- I read somewhere they could be regarded as a pest in years to come!
On previous trips to Whipsnade roughly following the Chilterns all the way, I've counted up to forty on an hour's journey, including a few even flying around above the Industrial and Council estates at Aylesbury- scavenging?
Yes, an incredible turn around. The tiny Welsh population was centred around the area North of Llandovery in mid-Wales. At that time they had almost mythical status as a G.B. breeding species and I went to look for them there circa the late sixties and very nearly failed to see one at all. I have been back much more recently and there are so many now you just cannot miss them as you drive around the area. In one field outside Tregaron that was being ploughed I saw eight. /QUOTE]
I am only an hour or so drive from the area where the relict Welsh population was centred and visited the area quite often when young . I was not lucky to see any when they were still rare .
I was sat here last week and looked up to see 2 kites circling just above the house !
The Kite Feeding station at Gigrin Farm is well worth a visit to see the vast numbers of kites , buzzards and corvids attracted to the afternoon feed .
