With the amount of ground nesting birds like Lapwings etc and the devastation they can cause it's perhaps good that they haven't got a foothold here yet. I remember reading an article a few years ago that not one single lapwing chicken was fledged around the M40 corridor because of the predation by Red Kite.
From what I can remember from conversations around the start of the original re-introductions, Red Kites are notoriously slow at expanding their range. The argument was that relying on the existing Welsh population would take too long for birds to start re-colonising suitable habitat in England. I'm pretty sure the Surry birds have benefitted from casual supplementary feeding by people leaving their Sunday dinner left overs on the lawns etc. in the same way the Tregaron birds did from the local abattoir in the 1960's and 70's, but even there it seemed to take quite a few years before I first saw one within the confines of the M25, despite seeing groups over Hemel Hempstead for several years. They do make it over the moors, as I've seen individual birds along the moorland edge at Dovestones several times.
-- Edited by Mike Chorley on Thursday 26th of June 2025 09:46:26 AM
Red Kites still havent shown any sign of breeding in any part of Lancashire either. I dont know whether the numerous Kites around Surrey originate from the spread of the Buckinghamshire reintroduction, but if so they seem to have spread more rapidly in that part of the world than from Leeds. Could the expanse of grouse moors between GM and Leeds be enough of a buffer to slow down the spread our way?? The last time I passed through Leeds, over the Easter weekend this year there were two Red Kites pretty much in the city centre! Maybe we will in time see them more regularly over our way.
There was a Red Kite release programme at Harewood House which started in 1999 and has been really successful. Harewood has the postcode of 'Leeds LS17 9LG', hence why they breed in that area.
What are the prospects for Red Kite breeding in the GM area? Despite odd sightings over the years, unless I am mistaken, they are yet to settle here. They seem to do OK on the wrong side of the Pennines, even quite close to major urban areas eg Eccup Reservoir near Leeds. But not GM. Why not despite similar habitat around the connurbation periphery?
