The return of red kites across Britain is continuing with a breeding pair spotted in a county for the first time in 153 YEARS.
The couple and three chicks were discovered by lifelong birdwatcher Terry Fenton near his Cotswolds home at Hucclecote, Glos,.
Terry, a 56 year-old forester, has been monitoring the site for a number of years and said it is the first time he has seen chicks.
He said: “In 2011 I didn’t find the nest and last year we found a nest but the birds didn’t breed.
“This year I went back and crawled through a hawthorn bush so I could see the nest without disturbing the birds and I could see one sitting in the nest incubating eggs.
“I was really thrilled.”
Terry returned and ringed the three chicks but sadly one has not survived.
He added: “In 1982, I worked for the Forestry Commission and I worked on monitoring the progress of goshawks reintroduced to the Forest of Dean.
“Now 30 years on here’s another reintroduction – we might even see them in Cheltenham in 20 years’ time.”
Red kites – among Britain’s most distinctive birds of prey with their V-shaped tail – were almost driven to extinction in this country 40 years ago.
They were reintroduced into England in the Chilterns in the early 90s and have since spread westward and are now a common sight in Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire and the West Midlands.
