First Kites of the year 2nd June 2021
We ringed our first brood of Kites tonight a brood of 3.
| Species | Ringed | Colour ringed |
|---|---|---|
| Red Kite | 3 | 3 |
| Buzzard | 0 | 0 |
Two Red Kite sightings on 4th November
Great news today with sightings of two Red Kites on 4th November.
The first a bird from Brocket Park in 2019 ringed as a nestling seen at North Creake in Norfolk. Picked up on a photo from a trail cam so shows the value of setting these things up.
The second was a bird from Benington this year ringed as a nestling and photographed at Hawling in Gloucestershire.
Thanks to both observers for the photos.
Two Red Kites in Spring Traps
Two Kite's this morning in the spring traps boty young birds. Most probably wandering now and stopped being fed by parents so some hungry birds out there. That takes the Kite total this year to 20.
| Species | Ringed | Colour ringed |
|---|---|---|
| Red Kite | 2 | 2 |
| Buzzard | 0 | 0 |
Methods
The Southern Colour Ringing Group rings Red Kite and Buzzard pulli (young in the nest) and traps full grown birds using large spring traps baited with carrion at a site in North Hertfordshire.
Nests are climbed up to by a contract climber and young removed to ring. We also fit coloured wing tags with various year codes allocated to us by the national co-ordinator which allows the birds to be relocated without needing to be recaptured. There are many more bird-watchers looking for colour-marked birds, so this greatly improves our chances of understanding the movements of the birds we are studying. Currently we are fitting Yellow tags with Black letters to Kites and Black tags with White letters to Buzzards.
If you see a bird with one of our wing tags, please send details (ring-code, date, location, species) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Ringing totals
2017 year totals
| Species | Ringed | Colour ringed |
|---|---|---|
| Red Kite | 2 | 0 |
| Buzzard |
2018 year totals
| Species | Ringed | Colour ringed |
|---|---|---|
| Red Kite | 5 | 5 |
| Buzzard | 0 | 0 |
2019 year totals
| Species | Ringed | Colour ringed |
|---|---|---|
| Red Kite | 10 | 10 |
| Buzzard | 4 | 4 |
2020 year totals
| Species | Ringed | Colour ringed |
|---|---|---|
| Red Kite | 20 | 20 |
| Buzzard | 8 | 8 |
2021 year totals
| Species | Ringed | Colour ringed |
|---|---|---|
| Red Kite | 3 | 3 |
| Buzzard | 0 | 0 |
Grand totals
| Species | Ringed | Colour ringed |
|---|---|---|
| Red Kite | 47 | 38 |
| Buzzard | 12 | 12 |