June 12th:
Both Red starts and Pied Flycatchers have now fledged from the boxes in and around the hides.
The red kite rehabilitation unit has an additional occupant - another red kite having been attacked by crows is now residing together with our former patient. Both are eating their rations and looking fitter than when they arrived. I'm currently working on getting a video camera to bring out pictures both to our red kite interpretive centre and to the web.
June 1st:
Both Red starts and Pied Flycatchers are nesting in the boxes around the hides and beyond. The swallows have returned to their nest inside one of the hides so the windows have to kept open at all time in that one..
We have a new patient in for rehabilitation - this kite was attacked by crows while defending her nest and had all her tail feathers and some wing feathers pulled out. There was also slight pecking damage around the eyes.
She is now looking fit again but cannot leave until her feathers have moulted so it's likely to be September before her release back to the wild.
I've been experimenting with a new lens on my video camera..
There's an example in 320*240 QT movie (2.6mb)
If you are lucky enough to have broad band then there's larger version.. 480*360 movie (4.6mb
The Gigrin Red Kite Centre has become the first in the UK to hold a Licence to feed these beautiful birds. This covers the source of the food, the delivery, storage, handling, and final delivery of the food to the kites. This all stems from EEC regulations
Wednesday the 31st March:
Radio Ireland came to make a programme on the Red Kites. Not sure when it will be broadcast but it will also appear on their web site at that time. The kites coming in first are those with the full glow of the breeding season and with the sunshine of the past few day have been a truly wonderful sight. I've been making attempts at capturing them on dv and hope to have some fresh footage on the site in the not too distant future..
The 'white kite' has indeed become a regular visitor and is now much bolder in its approach to the feeding area as the other kites have accepted its presence. Jeremy Hutchings has very kindly sent me his photograph of this wondrous bird
The latest patient in the rehabilitation centre was a peregrine falcon. This had a broken wing but following a full recovery, has now been released back into the wild.
Snow showers came and went, and so did a White Kite!
1.4mb QT Movie of this you can download from here This is now likely to become a regular visitor having been excepted by the majority of the kites feeding here now.
Iolo Williams was here again today, filming this time with S4C, and Dee Doody was here filming Ravens for his TV series. Tony Cross - the Welsh Kite Trust project officer - brought in a kite for rehabilitation - it has been looked after to date by experts in Telford.
Back to normal :-)
Red Kites, Ravens, Buzzards, crows....... All arrived on cue today, and the sun shone too.
BBC filmed on Thursday with Iolo Williams, due to be broadcast in one of the first 3
Bill Oddie programmes in June.
Goshawks! The presence of one of these birds of prey in the valley has been upsetting the normal routine of the kite feeding this past few weeks. Not every day, but once or twice a week instead of the crows coming in to the feed they have clung to the trees and cawed their alarm loudly. As the kites take their queue from the crows this causes a pause of anything up to 3/4 an hour before things get back to normal.
We are going to start putting some of the food much further away from the hides in order to give the crows some confidence. Its been an odd thing to witness but the crows have been waiting for one of their number to pluck up courage and land on the meat. They then appear to wait a short time as if expecting the brave one to be suddenly snatched up.
When this doesn't happen they all become 'brave' and enter the area whereupon the red kites follow in. This behaviour has been quite stressful for us to watch as our reputation presently hangs on these black birds actions!
The BBC will be back again on the 19th for a programme to be televised in June.
The web cam is on hold at present as equipment details weren't finalised in time but we'll have another chance once the chicks have hatched.
These wonderful birds know far more than our 'expert' weather forecasters as a few days ago at feeding time the sky was teeming with kites no matter which way we looked and they were still pouring in from the hills around us.
We have learned to expect bad weather following a sudden influx and sure enough hailstorms and snow on the hills followed the very next day. The normal figure for visiting birds is now 200-300 so our meat supply has risen to meet the challenge and we now buy anything between 1/4 tonne and 1/2 tonne of beef per week.
The BBC are in the process of setting up a web cam over the feeding area and I have other projects in mind once ADSL broadband arrives in the area. (I'm currently the campaigner for Rhayader). I'm slowly learning about the wireless transmission of video and have kites nests and the rehabilitation units as possibilities for the web site in future.
