Wandering Red Kite

Whilst not really a ringing group sighting, we've just heard of a wing-tagged Red Kite in the county so thought we'd help track it down.

Whilst the mid-summer influx of Red Kites into west Cornwall is an annual spectacle, this year it's been quite exceptional. The last few days have seen large numbers of birds across Penwith, with the top spot going to Nanjizal, where 202 birds were counted on the 9th. On the same day, Linton Proctor was lucky enough to photograph a wing-tagged bird at Polgigga (below) and this proved to be rather exciting!

The pink tag indicates that this bird is actually from NE England, with the orange bar indicating it was a 2014 nestling. Thanks to the guys at Friends of Red Kites, we now know that this bird was ringed in the nest just a couple of miles from Gateshead Metro Shopping Centre in June 2014 and was last seen in the communal roost in the Derwent Valley in October. So why it should now be wandering so far from home is a mystery, but fingers crossed it will be seen again on it's way back north!