Monday 15 March 2010

Pembrokeshire born and bred

Two years ago one of the first kites to be born in Pembs since their extinction c150 years ago, a female yellow 'right arrow', paired with a 2 year-old male (green p1) and built a nest which unfortunately failed. Last year, the male moved c 2 miles north to pair with an untagged female but I couldn't find a nest and it almost certainly failed early on. Yellow right arrow stayed and nested very close to her first nest with an untagged male and also failed again last year, but after a very good tip off from Janet Atkinson, a very keen observer in the north of pembs, we found the original pair back together where the male hung about last year. This isn't just kite gossip - if they nest successfully this year it will be the first known Pembs chicks to be born from kites born in the county.
Despite tagging nearly all the chicks known to be born in the county, the vast majority of nesting birds are untagged. This means that they either move in from an area which isn't well monitored eg parts of Carms or I miss loads of nests!

It didn't get as far talon grappling but an established pair of kites put considerable effort into hammering a buzzard a few days ago. One of the birds, male orange '!', actually hit the buzzard and it eventually had to flee. I think Orange '!' was tagged by Gwyn in a nest c40km away and is one of the few breeding adults of known origin within the county.

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