Red Kites Soaring Over Harehills

What an amazing site to see, big birds of prey soaring over the roof tops of terraced houses, fighting the wind over our parks.

These Red Kites have wing spans over five feet, which they use to gracefully glide over the terrain looking for carrion, and easy prey.

The red kites in Leeds were part of a conservation project that brought that has been going on in Britain since the 80’s. The Leeds red kites were first introduced to Harewood House in 1999, and immediately made themselves a home and started breeding there. Since then their numbers have become stronger and stronger, and the birds venture further and further out.

Red kite over Harehills Lane seen doing battle, unsuccessfully, with a pigeon

Though the birds in Britain were imported from countries like Spain and Germany, where their populations are migratory, spending summer in the North, and heading South for the winter. In the UK though, they are largely migratory, they maybe will travel to other parts of the UK in winter months, but you can usually see the birds year around over Harehills, even when it snows.

They are an impressive sight, and increasingly common, so if you live in the area, or are just visiting look up occaisionally, (safely), and see if you can spot them.

If you’ve got any photos or videos of these magnificent birds, or other interesting or striking local fauna, please feel free to share with us.

It’s also worth visiting the the RSPB’s page for Red Kite Conservation which has some great information about how the project came about https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/red-kite/conservation/

I’ve only got a few half decent photos of them at the moment, which I’ve captured from time to time, but I will aim to add more, and hopefully add in your photos too, if you want to share them, (credit will always be given).