Somerset Ornithological Society - Bird News
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black kite

being 99% certain i saw a black kite,it seems a shame not to share the information on this forum to the whereabouts of this bird,because of "unscrupulous people"quoting other contributors to the site.I really thought the idea of the site was to share information between fellow birders.in future maybe just a vague guide or nothing at all thank you .

Re: black kite

Dear Trevor,

You're absolutely correct, the primary purpose of this MessageBoard is to share observations of wild birds in Somerset, including so others can learn about and enjoy them.

Please take a look at Brian Hill's posting above entitled 'Vulnerable Breeding Species'. Nightjar, Long-eared Owl and Quail are all scare breeding species in Somerset so the reference to 'unscrupulous people' in the other thread related to the potential risks to these birds during their nesting period, from egg collectors or disturbance by over zealous birders and photographers, etc.

Black Kite is a very rare migrant visitor to Somerset and the chances of it breeding in the county are vanishingly small. Unless you saw behaviour that may suggest the bird is breeding, the risks referred to above should not be an issue and should therefore not prevent posting location information in this case.

However, even if you do decide not to post the location, would you mind sharing with us full details of your observation and in particular the features you used to separate it from Red Kite.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

Nick

PS. In any case, please do submit a report to the County Recorder.