{"id":2207,"date":"2024-05-31T17:38:40","date_gmt":"2024-05-31T16:38:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chilternsww.co.uk\/?page_id=2207"},"modified":"2025-04-18T14:18:22","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T13:18:22","slug":"red-kite-fright","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/chilternsww.co.uk\/?page_id=2207","title":{"rendered":"News: Red kite fright"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Beware of red kites when you stop for a snack! That’s the warning from CWW’s Janice Gilder, whose finger was slashed by a kite swooping on her lunch.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ve all admired the majestic raptors as they circle over the Chilterns, but Janice says it’s a different story when a bird of prey with a six-foot wingspan and needle-sharp claws is bearing down on you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Honestly,” she said. “It was like a pterodactyl! From a distance they look quite small and innocuous but when they are suddenly on you they really are imposing and immense.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Janice was settling down to enjoy a picnic outside St Mary’s Church in Radnage during a CWW walk in May 2024 when the kite spotted her bread roll and made its move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was a huge shock. The bird that attacked me seemed to come directly from my left and hammered into my lap. I think it was the kite\u2019s claw which not only broke the skin on the end of my finger but it also went under my nail. It was very, very painful. There was a lot of blood which was stemmed by tissue and eventually plasters.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Janice’s finger is now on the mend after a tetanus injection, but she says the incident has changed her view of red kites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I have very quickly gone from loving watching them circle around overhead, to having no interest in them at all. It\u2019s a shame because they are such elegant, majestic creatures when admired from a distance.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And she has this warning for walkers: “If you don\u2019t see them straight away, never assume they won\u2019t suddenly appear as they can come from nowhere. Now when I am eating my sandwich I make sure I fold the foil wrapping over my hand so the hand is covered. Try not to leave food lying around to encourage them to come down and feed and keep your lunchbox or bag as best protected as you can while eating your lunch.”

Despite the ferocity of the attack at Radnage, the kite failed to make off with Janice’s roll filled with Edam cheese. Instead, it swooped on a sandwich which fellow walker Lenore Kent was about to eat. “I was about to take a bite when the kite raced in from behind and plucked the sandwich straight out of my hand,” she said. “It all happened in an instant. I was lucky not to have been injured. I suppose the lesson is never to hold food out where the kites can see it.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kite warning: National Trust sign at Hughenden Manor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It’s not the first time a kite has caused problems on a walk. CWW chair Tim Axten had a narrow escape from serious injury during a hike with friends in 2023. He said: “We were on the benches at Maharajah’s Well having our sandwiches when I was suddenly was hit on the back of the head. It was such a shock. I wasn’t sure what had struck me until I saw a red kite flying off into the distance. It knocked my glasses off and they landed some distance in front of me. I was lucky I didn\u2019t have a wound. I often hold my walking pole in the air if I see red kites circling now.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a sunny afternoon in April 2025 Amanda Gatehouse was among CWW walkers enjoying a picnic by the Thames near Bourne End when a kite swooped on her ham and beetroot sandwich. She said: “It happened really fast and without warning. Luckily my hand was down and not near my face and I was just holding the corner of the sandwich so I wasn’t hurt. The sandwich was too big for the kite to manage and it was dropped nearby. The kite flew off and crows moved in. I’ll certainly be more wary and alert now as I didn’t think kites went for human food just dead animals.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Kite\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Local media have reported a string of kite attacks in recent years.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n