Message from Julie Newblé:
I haven’t managed to get a photo but I’m sure I’ve seen a red kite in the country park the last few weeks.
Reply from Friends of Southwick Park:
Ooh! Lovely. Somebody else has noticed a big bird of prey that wasn’t a buzzard. Keep us posted.
Julie:
I will try and get a photo so it can be confirmed but I’m pretty sure it is a kite, the local birds don’t like it being there at all.
FoSCP:
Something that large that isn’t a buzzard is almost bound to be a red kite around here. Any kind of picture would be great; the shape is very distinctive.
Julie:
I will try and get one. Hopefully there is two of them and they will nest.
FoSCP:
That would be wonderful!
Mail from FoSCP to Ian Bushell:
Julie has messaged me that she thinks she has seen a red kite in the park over the last couple of weeks. Does this sound plausible? Somebody else has said they had seen a big bird of prey that wasn’t a buzzard and perhaps had a forked tail. Shall I write it up?
Mail from Ian Bushell:
Not seen or heard of any Red Kite sightings but that is not to say that they haven’t been over the park. As you know, they are very much a scavenger so most likely to be seen here during haymaking season. But they are all around the area – around Bath and Salisbury are constant sightings. There are always Buzzards over the park and we have a pair of Sparrowhawks and Kestrels.
Always write it up and see what response we get.
Any other sightings? We would love to put a red kite on our species lists.
If you see birds, insects, plants that you can’t identify, send us a picture and we will do our best to help.
Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 
A red kite flew very low over our garden which backs onto the Lambrok on Chantry Gardens, on Good Friday. Unfortunately, by the time I had my phone out, it was disappearing over the trees. This morning around 6am, two egrets flew over.
I saw two kites flying over the field with the allotments in . Have also seen kites when I have been walking around southwick
It is beginning to look as though red kites have been seen on a number of occasions over the park.
We have seen several sightings of a Red Kite in recent weeks over the fields behind Blind Lane and over our garden which borders these fields. Since the fields of Poles Hole Farm, behind Bind Lane, the fields bordering the Chantry Gardens Estate and Southwick Country Park are in close proximity it seems likely this same bird would be seen hunting over the whole area. I reported sightings to the Local Officer of the British Trust for Ornithology.
Excellent news, Barbara. It seems that there are red kites hunting in the green spaces between Trowbridge and Southwick, and beyond. Yet another reason to question the wisdom of the WHSAP sites for development to the south of the town.
Yes a good point! Perhaps it also suggests the fields in Southwick have a thriving wildlife mix that should be preserved and protected fiom large development.
Yes most definitely I live top end of silver st lane and have had a pair of red kites flying overhead for a week or so. Absolutely love red kites made such a great come back 🦅
Perhaps it is a pair looking for a nest site. Here’s hoping they decide on our woods.
Single Red Kite over the park this Saturday (17th) morning – Corn, Sleeper, Sheep and Simpsons – at one point was mobbed by a pair of Jackdaws.
That’s great! Did you put it on the species list?