Kites and Cakes on our Raptor Course

Sarah Quantrill attended Mike Russell's recent 'Beginners Guide to Raptors' course and sent in this report.

The raptor course was based at Burpham village hall to give us easy access to the Burgh, a site on the Downs north of Arundel, where red kites and buzzards are frequently seen. Mike’s presentation on raptors concentrated on those we may see in Sussex. They are a talented group - some lining up to play football, others playing at pirates and some seen cycling! Mike went thought the characteristics that would help us to identify these birds. Of course in the field this is another story as they are usually some distance away and you may only be able to see their silhouette so can be quite a challenge.

After lunch we headed out to see what we could find. Unfortunately the showers which had been forecast were heavy and prolonged. Over the years Mike has quietly encouraged regular course members to bring homemade cake so the rain gave us an excuse to indulge while sheltering under a tree. But despite the rain we had excellent views of red kites and buzzards flying together providing a good opportunity to compare and contrast. Although raptors were the focus of this course we were all just as pleased to see yellowhammers, reed buntings, linnets and corn buntings. We also had good views through the telescope of hares. With Mike’s tips on where to see raptors I look forward to more searching the skies of Sussex.