Red Kite sightings

There's been a number of sightings of a Red Kite in Audlem in the past few days.

One sighting was of one of the birds of prey flying over the western end of the village and another of a bird seen on the Woore Road out of Audlem.

This magnificently graceful bird of prey is unmistakable with its reddish-brown body, angled wings and deeply forked tail. They are roughly buzzard sized, another bird that was almost unknown locally but is now seen daily.

Red Kites were extremely rare in Britain thirty years ago with the only area where they were found being a remote part of mid-Wales. It was saved from national extinction by one of the world's longest running protection programmes, and has now been successfully re-introduced to England and Scotland.

Red Kites have been released in a number of areas – the Chilterns, where they often seen from the M40 south east of Oxford, and at Rutland Water – where largish colonies are now well established.

There were three sightings in the Audlem area a couple of years ago including one landing in a garden in Salford and another from Longhill Lane near Brookfield Golf course.

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