Red Kites

Red Kite

Red Kites at Stilton, Cambridgeshire

Red Kites are, thankfully, a fairly common sight in the Peterborough area. Normally seen in ones and two's with the odd 4's or 5's thrown in, but Lisa and I saw 12 of these beauties the other day whilst driving down the A1. Stopping was not an option on that occasion and so I returned when time allowed and managed to watch and photograph these amazing birds which have taken up residence close to the village of Stilton in Cambridgeshire.

Red Kites

Have just got back from some time away in Scotland, Dumfries and Galloway to be precise and have got hundreds of photos to go through and dispose of. Some that I have already looked at are the ones taken on the first day at a Red Kite feeding station close to a place called Laurieston in the Galloway Hills.
The Red Kite has had a breeding programme and release schedule in Galloway for a few years and a feeding station set up on a private farm called Bellymack Hill Farm. This place regularly gets 100 kites coming to meat that is put out at 2 o'clock every day, come rain or shine and is an ideal way to get up close and personal with these magnificent birds. Shame the clouds were thick and the sun hard to come by on our visit, but that was to be the story of the entire week we were away!

More photos will follow of other creatures and some scenery.

Red Kite

We were very close to losing the Red Kite in the U.K. The bird, once very common in Britain had been eradicated as a breeding bird in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland and only a handful of birds clung on in the Welsh mountains. We were down to 1 breeding female and about 4 or 5 males. Thankfully, due to a re-introduction scheme, this magnificent bird is a fairly common sight once again in various parts of the country. We are very lucky in the Peterborough area in having a healthy population of this bird, it is an annual  tick on my PBC list and is almost taken for granted. Almost, but not quite.

Lisa and I have just spent a few days in the midst of Wales and paid a visit to a site where they feed these birds. It wasn't the famous Gigrin farm, but a Forestry Commission place called Bwich nant yr Arian. At three o'clock every day, come rain or shine (rain on the occasion of our visit), 10kg of meat is put out to tempt these birds to come down and feed. They do not disappoint. Over 90 of these birds circled above our heads and perched in the surrounding pine trees, waiting for their chance for an easy meal. At first one bird tentatively had a look and then they descended en-mass.

As I have said, an annual sight in my area, but I have not taken this bird for granted. Hopefully we have learnt from the past and will not persecute this magnificent creature to the verge of extinction again. Am I being naive?