Off Topic Merlin (Falco columbarius)

...that's why so many Polish people have come over.

Some think it is for the jobs or the social security, but it is for the wild mushrooms!

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Or the magic ones

 

You're a lucky man, Col! I've never seen a merlin, at least, not knowingly. Was it an impromptu sighting or did you know the bird had been seen recently?

I continue to be visited by a hobby each summer, which comes for the dragonflies which hatch from a number of ponds around here. (I've just tried to attach a couple of hastily taken photos I took, but I'm getting a pop-up saying the files are too big. I upgrade onto fibre broadband in a couple of weeks, so I'll try again then).

Increasingly, I see red kites over West Sussex. I saw one yesterday. I think the males are moving across the country about now in search of a mate.

 

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I like this one. The "Kania" or Macroepiota Procer. It can have a very large radius of its cap, and believe it or not, it can be fried and is steak like. Amazing and delicious.

The only down side is, that for the uninitiated, it can be easily confused with the white toadstool, which is extremely lethal and the cause of a few deaths a year.

 

The Ortolan is supposedly the most revered by French chefs. It is normally consumed with a napkin over the head. I remember seeing Jeremy Clarkson put one away on a programme a few years ago...

 

Recipe corner - big mushrooms fried in olive oil, put on top of some toasted ciabatta smother with Gorgonzola or some other blue cheese, melt under the grill, garnish with rocket. Yummy. Pair with a robust red.

 

That's a fantastic pic Nines.

 

Mmm............."medium sized". Don't think so. Badly worded.

 

There are now over 1,000 breeding pairs in the area Beth. They mainly eat carrion, but they will take easy targets like chicks etc. They have weak talons that can't lift prey as heavy as a rabbit, so your pets are safe. They are hunting more live prey these days as there are so many of them.
If a Buzzard appears overhead mind, the rabbits are in trouble!!

 

Saw it from the road sitting on a post mate. Parked up and had a good look before it flew off. Are you sure the "Kites" are not Buzzards?

Hobbys are wonderful birds.

I love these threads.

 

Today alone I've seen a Sparrow Hawk, Red Kites, Buzzards and, I think, a Peregrine Falcon in the distance.

Great time of year to spot these birds.

 

I agree...threw us.

Pretty sure I saw a Buzzard on a tree on way to Aylesbury this morning, Kites don't sit menacingly in trees, do they (they are off "playing" their soaring games)...and looked larger and grey-er.
Also a kestrel hovering too....and of course the ubiquitous kites

My Dad loved birds of prey but in the 50 and 60 I am sure there were so many less thanks to DDT, he got so excited when he did see them. Kindled my love of them

 

Probably a Buzzard although they're not grey. They do vary greatly in colour though and their front is often very light in colour. Could it have been a female Sparrow Hawk?

 

There are a lot of buzzards here but this was definitely a kite - forked tail, rusty brown colour, broad slender wingspan etc

The first time I saw red kites in the UK was actually watching QPR play at Wycombe Wanderers! As another poster said, there are a lot now on the M40 nearby. I think they may be moving along the motorways, living on roadkill. I saw the first in West Sussex three years ago. It didn't hang around, but I had about a dozen sightings over the next year, birds just passing through. About three weeks ago, a kite arrived over here and has been hanging around. I expect it will move on like the others, but I would be willing to bet that in ten years, red kites will be a common as buzzards across most of England and Wales.

 

Yep, you know your Kite and Buzzard differences mate.

They will eventually spread throughout the Country if left un-opposed. This time of year young males wander South and then return to their original area. Population size will eventually see them spread out to look for more food.
People feeding them isn't great as they shouldn't eat processed foods. In the early days of re-introduction this was a big problem as the young were fed processed meat etc and didn't develop well.

As there numbers grow, so will instances of them taking live (lightweight) prey.

 

The first time I saw kites I was walking my dog then a puppy around west Wycombe I was seriously worried they would swoop and carry her off.
Despite that I think they are a wonderful addition to the Bucks countryside

 

In all seriousness, they were persecuted to the brink of extinction because of real misconceptions like that. Their size (5' wing span) belies the fact that they are actually quite a lightweight bird with slender wings and weak talons.

When they were first re-introduced near where I live, people were genuinely worried about their small dogs, cats etc!!

 

Malta is quite bad for it - there's been lots of efforts to encourage to stop the shooting of songbirds. I don't know much about it but it strikes me as completely outrageous and I struggle to think of any justification for it.