A WALK ON THE WILDSIDE---PAUL FOSTER

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Thursday 11 March 2010

Red Kites Aplenty!

Waiting patiently!
Coming in to feed!

Good close views!


Lovely feather detail!



Soaring gracefully!

With the weather being favourable ,I made the decision to visit Gigrin Farm in Powys,home to the Red Kite feeding station!The birds are fed human grade meat every day at 2 o clock by the land owner.As you can imagine the Kites Buzzards and Corvids home in on this free banquet!
Not only is it good for the well being of the birds it gives fantastic close up views of all the action!There are various hides/view points to watch this amazing spectacle unfold.Usually the corvids are hanging around first to gorge on the free offerings ,with the Kites soaring in the distance.As soon as the farmer starts distributing the meat the feeding frenzy begins in earnest.The Kites are swiftly flying in, picking up pieces of meat in their talons,never landing on the ground
but skimming in low and fast!They then proceed to digest the meat on the wing.
There must have been up to 150 Red Kites present at any one time,although at the moment numbers were well down due to distribution to their breeding territories!I`m led to believe there can be as many as 500 birds present mid winter!
It was a bonus to see a Black Kite and also a very light looking Red kite among the throng of birds there,I `ll write about these and the numerous Buzzards/Ravens and corvids in my next post.I hope you enjoy the pictures!!!!!!!!!!!



2 comments:

  1. Enjoy, they are fantastic. A place I must visit.

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  2. Paul. So that's what you have been up to !!!!

    What a great experience that was for you and you have come back with more great images. I particularly like the back view showing the great feather detail.
    I am sure you have many more excellent shots and I look forward to meeting up again soon and hearing more about your adventures in Wild Wales

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