Beautiful Red Kites feeding at Bwlch Nant Yr Arian, Mid Wales
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Beautiful Pictures
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Stunning
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Cracking pictures there.
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OOI how close to the birds were you?
We took a family holiday to Brecon 2yrs back, only just over an 1.5hrs or so from home and on one day we drove to look at Castell Bronllys and ended up in Talgarth where we saw some red kites circling. Ended up following them to a garden and got speaking to the owner who is the retired butcher whose house still backs on to teh butchers shop (and now run by his son). Anyway, turns out he’d been feeding kites for years using offcuts, etc and invited us in.
He sat on his garden furniture and said ‘I’ll be back in a mo’. Next thing you know he’s chopping up meat and giving us a personalised red kite feeding session. We were no more than a dozen feet from them. Just wow. I have a video somewhere around, must dig it out.
EDIT: yes, they are beautiful birds
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Thank you It’s a real priveledge privilege to experience these magnificent birds.
Thank you appreciate it.
Thank you, it’s a lovely experience being so near.
I think I was around 40-50 meters away, I had a Nikon D500 with a 200-500 lens. Nant Bwlch Yr Arian is an amazing place to watch Red Kites as many as 200 will feed and will circle around around an hour before. The visitor centre which has a cafe has closed but it’s still open to explore, loads of walks and cycle trails. You only pay for patking. Here’s a video from my iPhone on the day I took the photos
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The feeding still takes place every day, only the cafe is closed.
Wow!
Ive not been to Nant Bwlch Yr Arian, but have been a couple of times to the red kite centre (Gigrin Farm) in Rhayader - also in mid-Wales. It’s very close to the Elan Valley and its very impressive series of reservoirs and dams and i tend to combine visits to both.
Gigirin Farm must be of a similar size as they also feed between 150 and 200 red kites a day.
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Super photos there, Nant Bwlch Yr Arian is a whole valley with cycle paths etc and you only pay for parking. From nearly facing extinction Red Kites are now quite prolific in number and have been seen up here in North Wales. I wouldn’t fancy a tangle with one and my drone.
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Interestingly, or not, a bit of one of the vids popped up on my FB memories for yesterday 2yrs ago. It also reminded me I had shared it to YT:
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I remember that one … and commenting that it’s as if they have their own ATC with the harmonised circuit pattern. 
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I live near the Chilterns where they were re-introduced some time ago. They fly over my garden every day. They are often around when I’ve flown my Air 2S, and don’t seem very interested if you don’t hassle them. I’ll be interested to see if it’s the same with my Mavic Pro 4 - quieter and deeper sound. I’m used to flying with them in thermals when paragliding, they just treat you as one of the gang, helping each other find the lift. Magnificent beasties, they can thermal and ridge soar on nothing.
My Flickr red kite album Red kites | Flickr
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Super video, thanks for sharing, I wasn’t any good at RH circuits !
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Great Flickr stream thank you, I used to see quite a few near the M40 when I used to drive there.
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Driving along the M40 is where I saw my first red kite. I believe the odd one has been spotted in Lancashire now.
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They are magnificent birds
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