• Clare
  • 1 Aug 2021 2:18 PM
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An afternoon at Bwlch Nant yr Arian ...... with a few red kites.

  • Gardenbirder

    In reply to Dave - CH:

    We're fine, as far as we know, and are pretending that all Covid restrictions still apply; roll on the booster jabs...
    Good news that you did not suffer too badly from the flooding, but sounds like it was a nightmare for those in the nearby villages. Hail 6 cm across--scary, not to mention that it only takes a rock the size of a grapefruit to kill a person if it hits them in the head, and I Imagine a ball of ice about half that size could do a lot of damage to anything, people, animals, buildings, cars, etc.. Now..."shovelling hail out of the cellar"--eh?! How did it get in there or are cellars over there very different to those in the rest of the world?!

    Clare, Apologies for hijacking your thread--sorry!

    Kind regards, Ann

  • Dave - CH

    In reply to Gardenbirder:

    Glad to hear you're well. Those restrictions do still apply, in that they're, where possible, a sensible idea. (My opinion.)

    We're doing the same, so you're not alone.

    I shovelled the hail out of the cellar after I opened the side cellar door to unblock a drain. Which was blocked with... hail. It wasn't my best idea ever, but I wasn't going out in weather like that while I had a choice.

    We lost a lot of Storks here. Youngsters and adults. Fourteen I believe. Many more are in rehab. And they're just the animals we know about.

    Still, it was nice to hear of kids putting hundreds of fish back into a river; scooping them up off the street. There's hope yet.

    Our cellars are the usual kind. Big and cool, with (very well secured) access from the garden. The only real difference is that they occasionally involve me. And a shovel. And a not-so-bright idea.

    Clare (and Kites)---over to you (with apologies),

    Dave 

  • Seaman
    Ann,up here in N Yorkshire we have no official kite feeding station in fact it is discouraged but the Kites have spread and bred very well despite persecution from certain quarters. The land owners of the release site did not want any feeding station in the. area. I have been watching and counting our local Kites since their release in the late 1990's and I've never tired of it, they are quite an easy raptor to i d so even non birders recognise and enjoy them. One thought against feeding stations is that the birds tend not to spread away so much whereas in Yorkshire the birds have spread over a wide area. We were talking to some locals near one of the Scottish feeder station and they considered too many birds a bit of a pest. The station in mid Wales certainly saved the UK birds it was the only place we knew to see these magnificent raptors, my first Kite in England turned out to be a Scandinavian bird

    Pete

    Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can

  • Dave - CH

    Pete, Ann,

    If you fancy wading through an academic paper, I've one to share with you (can't really post it here as that wouldn't be fair on the authors).

    It was sent to me by an acquaintance at BirdLife Switzerland and it covers human feeding of raptors, particularly kites, and has some interesting insights.

    "Friend me", or whatever it's called and I'll drop it into a message. Then, if you prefer, "unFriend me" (just like in real life ;-) ).

    You may recall that in the past I mentioned a friend of ours who fed kites for decades. We used to watch the show morning and evening. Our best count was 11 Black and 2 Red (accompanied by a cheeky kestrel). Nelly's kite feeding days are over, sadly. But we'll be talking birds with her when we visit next week.

    Here it's not uncommon to see large numbers of birds congregating (naturally, so to speak) on food sources. In the past we've counted a mixed group of over 40 mixed kites in a small area of cultivated agricultural land.

    They are, indeed, very beautiful birds. And while (for me, at least) they're easy to ID once you're used to them, they do show a surprising amount of variation in flight modes and shapes, which also helps to keep one on one's toes when there are other big birds up.

    Dave 

  • Seaman
    Request sent Dave.
    A friend of ours wrote a piece for the recently published boom "The Red Kites Year " describing the setting up of the release of the Yorkshire birds,he even got an OBE for his work.

    Pete

    Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can

  • Dave - CH

    In reply to Seaman:

    OBE? That's nice. And well deserved by the sound of it Pete.

    I've accepted the request, but when I try to PM you the pdf, I get the error "user file storage is disabled".

    I'll take this offline (into a private message) and we'll see if we can sort it out...
  • Gardenbirder

    Morning all. I should be asleep so apologies but I will respond at a later time once I've had a bit more sleep and done numerous chores, and.. well, eventually I hope!

    Kind regards, Ann

  • Seaman
    Dave I tried to pm you not sure it worked

    Pete

    Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can

  • Dave - CH

    In reply to Seaman:

    Wendy S said:
    I tried to pm you

    Thanks, Pete, for letting me know. There doesn't seem to be a notification system for PMs. I would have missed it.

    The paper on kites should now be in your inbox.

    All the best - 

    Dave 

  • Mike B

    Fabulous photos Clare, and I'm pleased you both had a fabulous day.

    Thanks for sharing Clare.

    I've lost track of who said what, but one thing I do recall, ice cream and chips vs gulls, well, if a gull, or any creature for that matter wants my ice cream, I'd hand it gladly to them, as I'm not a fan of ice cream or lollipops.....

    Oh, and hail stones 6cms in diameter!

    Mike

    Flickr Peak Rambler