BBC 2 Natures Calendar went out at 6pm this evening. Wonderful to again see the enthusiasm of Janet Sumner when witnessing these beautiful birds descending from a blue sky.
Kite numbers have been huge during the last weeks as the storms have made it difficult to find food. Tomorrows forecast is for another horrible day but should be brighter over the weekend.

Rehabilitation centre - a Barn Owl is our current resident. There should be video on the site soon if a couple of technical problems can be overcome - one is that the infra-red light is too bright..

26/11/06
5:30am came around all too quickly and the 6am radio interview - I'd expected more questions and found myself trying to fill in while waiting for the next - Not to recommended on live radio!

Tony Cross of the Welsh Kite Trust has very kindly volunteered to take over the feeding and the providing of knowledgeable information to visitors when I take a 7 day holiday at the end of January 07 - it will be the first time off the farm for a break in over 14 months so the offer is very much appreciated.

Cameras for the rehabilitation area are in hand - now a video server is needed - seems never ending! We hope to have a working system in place before Christmas.
22/11/06
Well, its been a while since I opened this page but that doesn't mean its been quiet here! Kite numbers are between 250-400 on a daily basis despite the fickle weather so the meat requirements have again risen.

HTV actually filmed some of the preparations I have to make each day before we open the farm to visitors so those that saw the programme will understand that what they see in the afternoon is the 'shiny side' of the kite feeding operation..

Radio 4 are interviewing me tomorrow for a programme to go out in January (no date yet), and Radio Wales rang to ask if I'd be willing to do live interview on Sunday morning - at 6am! Aarrgh! I've got to get some earlier nights in this week..

For those of you not subscribing to the Welsh kite Trust magazine I can now reveal that, providing that the Countryside Council for Wales give the relevant license, Welsh kites from are to be sent to Ireland to re-populate the island. This will become another base for the Native genes so help protect against unforeseen calamity. Gigrin rehabilitation aviaries will be home to kite chicks for this project. Cameras are still being sought for this area. All now depends the CCW decision.

4/11/06
Not the best of starts to the week with both tractors having clutch replacements. The first tractor to return from the garage refused to start so I had to feed the kites from the boot of the car! Kites were a little wary at first but soon overcame their shyness. The white kite is now visiting in the middle of the afternoon and again when the younger kites arrive.

The wireless infrastructure is in place so cameras are now being sought.

The BBC rang to say that we are to be on "Nature's Calendar" BBC 2, 6pm. on the 6th December.
ITV news came here on Friday, and Monday will see Dee Doody (wildlife filmer/presenter) and film crew arriving.. at 9:30-am!
Plenty going on as you can see!!

28/10/06
Its that time of year again - the clocks are changing so feeding time will be at 2pm tomorrow and every day after, until next March

27/10/06

Filming for Irelands premier wildlife station (sorry - I don't have the name to hand at the moment) took place earlier in the week and another TV film crew are due here in the not too distant future.
Despite heavy rain over the 48 hours earlier the kites turned up in good numbers albeit 45 minutes late. Subsequent days have seen them turn up bang on time each day. Several kites from outside Wales are now being seen - one from the Black Isle in Scotland and another from Northumberland were here yesterday.

14/10/06
Numbers of kites continue to fluctuate between 200 - 300/day - today was one of those with the higher number.. Things will doubtless settle down when the colder weather arrives.

We had a one of this years red kite chicks in for two days. It had been found near Tregaron with foam coming from its beak. A trip to the vet and a couple of nights in rehab have done the trick and the bird was released during feeding time today. Tony Cross arrived with his daughter so the honours went to Amy to see the kite off.

5/10/06
It poured today but hundreds of kites came through the rain for their lunch. Another delivery of meat arrived so cutting up the 1/4 tonne of beef is the next job.


I've done a little more work on the web site - there are now two Jigsaw puzzles for those with Java browsers - most have these days. I'll be adding more photographs/puzzles as time allows.

28/9/06
The feeding of the kite will be done by Christine Powell today as I'm laid low with a tummy bug. Christine usually comes here once a week to help me cut up the weeks supply of meat but has done that job herself today.
Bill Tickle (yellow jacketed volunteer) will be here parking cars etc. as usual, and my mother will be in the shop with Mrs.Tickle so there shouldn't be too great a disruption to normality.

21/9/06
Apologies for the lack of news lately but, keeping up with the work needed on the farm together with the daily kite feeding and other duties have been taking their toll on my health so late nights in front of this Mac have been few and far between.

Both the Honey Buzzard and the Red Kite have gone back to where they were found. The kite is now back in the wild but the buzzard will need to winter over here as it won't be fit enough to migrate to Africa this year.
The big bird on the left is a Golden Eagle x Stepp Eagle and was photographed just a few miles from here at Bwlchgwyn Farm which raises organic chickens.. . The bird was caught and is now back with its owner.
More info here..
Installation of the wireless network is under way - it will bring in video from the rehab centre and from the surrounding wood - there are a few holes to fill in around the buildings, and more equipment to install before completion but its looking promising.

Earlier news