On 12/03/14 07:56, sacha wrote:
I've put this in the bird group, too. We've just seen a bird perched on
the back of one of the garden chairs, just a few feet from the window.
It had a hawk like beak and a dark body which, at rest, appeared to have
white spots over its back. The chest had a pale creamy patch and had a
red tinge in the middle of it. The eyes were dark. As it flew away, the
tail was something between a fan and a fork and barred. We would say it
was about the size of a wood pigeon and slightly dishevelled looking.
We've never seen it here before or, perhaps, we've never seen
whatever-it-is so close up.

Fromthe forky tail it would seem to have been a kite, but in the air,
they appear a bit bigger than pigeons.

--
Rusty Hinge
To err is human. To really foul things up requires a computer and the BOFH.

On Wed, 12 Mar 2014 15:44:19 +0000, RustyHinge wrote:

We've just seen a bird perched on the back of one of the garden
chairs,

Fromthe forky tail it would seem to have been a kite, but in the air,
they appear a bit bigger than pigeons.

Just a bit!

If the garden chairs are the light plastic moulded things I don't
think a kite could perch on the back it would be too heavy or the
draft from it's wings would blow it over.

Kites are big, Around a 6' wing span, that's bigger than a Buzzard
which is only 4' ish...

Think I'd go for a Merlin.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 12/03/2014 17:42, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Wed, 12 Mar 2014 15:44:19 +0000, RustyHinge wrote:

We've just seen a bird perched on the back of one of the garden
chairs,

Fromthe forky tail it would seem to have been a kite, but in the air,
they appear a bit bigger than pigeons.

Just a bit!

If the garden chairs are the light plastic moulded things I don't
think a kite could perch on the back it would be too heavy or the
draft from it's wings would blow it over.

Kites are big, Around a 6' wing span, that's bigger than a Buzzard
which is only 4' ish...

Think I'd go for a Merlin.

Buteo buteo (Common Buzzard)
Length: 51-57 cm (20-23")
Wing Span: 113-128 cm (45-51")
Weight: 550-1300 g (1¼-3 lb)

Milvus milvus (Red Kite)
Length: 60-66 cm (24-26")
Wing Span: 145-165 cm (57-65")
Weight: 750-1000 g (1½-2¼ lb)

Falco columbarius (Merlin)
Length: 24–33 cm (9.4–13.0")
Wing Span: 50–73 cm (20–29")
Weight: 165-230 g (5.8-8.1 oz)

In all cases females are larger than males.
--
Phil Cook

On 2014-03-12 17:42:23 +0000, Dave Liquorice said:

On Wed, 12 Mar 2014 15:44:19 +0000, RustyHinge wrote:

We've just seen a bird perched on the back of one of the garden
chairs,

Fromthe forky tail it would seem to have been a kite, but in the air,
they appear a bit bigger than pigeons.

Just a bit!

If the garden chairs are the light plastic moulded things I don't
think a kite could perch on the back it would be too heavy or the
draft from it's wings would blow it over.

Kites are big, Around a 6' wing span, that's bigger than a Buzzard
which is only 4' ish...

Think I'd go for a Merlin.

Solid wooden chair. Not at buzzard or a kite. Again, we see buzzards
all the time, both circling way above us and perching on fence or
telegraph poles. Several people try to persuade me it was a
sparrowhawk but it certainly wasn't, even though it was perched right
below the sparrows' roosts in the eaves of the tea room! We've seen
lots of sparrow hawks round here and would know them instantly. Ray
has never seen whatever this was in his 30-odd years living here.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

On 12/03/14 17:42, Dave Liquorice wrote:

Think I'd go for a Merlin.

Good idea - I couldn't manage a whole kite either.


--
Rusty Hinge
To err is human. To really foul things up requires a computer and the BOFH.