counting coots

If you are a birder of sorts, then you may be asked the question "where is the best place to see Red Kites" and it used to be tricky.  But it isn't any more.  In certain areas it is almost impossible not to see them.   If you leave the M40 on the junction for Stokenchurch and just wander around in the area of Chinnor, Princes Riseborough etc etc you cannot get away from the fact that they have Kites.  They are bloody everywhere and there are bloody loads of them!  Everywhere!  Loads of them!  They really are pleasure to go and see but I have a couple of questions.  Is this a sustainable population? Can an area like this realistically support this many large carrion feeders? Is there any detrimental effect on other species in the area – crows, buzzards etc? Are the Kites being fed to maintain the population? Is this happening to bring money into the area for people? Do the Kites know that it is my Dads birthday today?

These are all pretty much rhetorical questions, and I reckon that the answers are roughly no, no, probably, surely yes and dur.

Don’t get me wrong, I like seeing them and I’m glad they are there. I don’t feel hypocritical in supporting the work that was done on the Kite population and dissing the Bustard program or the lunatic Sea Eagle in East Anglia idea. The population existed and was in danger – it’s slightly different. I just have this feeling that the population is just a little bit too high, and maybe they should be left to fend for themselves a bit more.