I drive for a living and every so often i end up driving along the M40 motorway which has a very healthy population of Red Kites , and to turn a very dull day into something quite special i often do a raptor count along my journey , as i can only go as fast as 56 miles an hour top speed and am quite high up in my truck i get quite a good view .
I have counts normally between 15 to 20 birds and my record total was 25 Red Kites in August 2010 , however that all changed on Tuesday 8th March 2011 when i counted no less than 36 Red Kites mainly between junction 3 to 6 , i also saw 9 Common Buzzards and 5 Kestrels , i have encounted Merlin , Peregrine and Sparrowhawk on previous journeys along this motorway , i know i should keep my eyes mainly on the road but hey who could resist looking at these majestic birds ????
I have counts normally between 15 to 20 birds and my record total was 25 Red Kites in August 2010 , however that all changed on Tuesday 8th March 2011 when i counted no less than 36 Red Kites mainly between junction 3 to 6 , i also saw 9 Common Buzzards and 5 Kestrels , i have encounted Merlin , Peregrine and Sparrowhawk on previous journeys along this motorway , i know i should keep my eyes mainly on the road but hey who could resist looking at these majestic birds ????
