Talgarth Butcher Feeds Red Kites

The title makes it sound like Hannibal Lecter is in town, but the reality is the local (now retired but his son carries on the trade) butcher feeds red kites from his back garden.

We were fortunate to be there as he fed them and he welcomed us in to his garden, got us seats, donned his hard hat and started chopping up ‘sweets’ before throwing them to the birds…

I have never been so close to a wild red kite in my life and it was such a thrill to be able to witness them. I managed to grab some video which I slowed and if you listen with the sound on then their calls sound almost prehistoric. I also extracted a still from one of the videos

Oh, and FYI, the old chap tells me the One Show is doing a 4½m segment on this which was supposed to be on tonight but has been postponed.

I promise, I did put my phone down as well to just witness the spectacle…

Here’s one still extracted - the YouTube link for the video is below.

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Impressive! I would love to see that.

If you are ever in Talgarth (just down the road from Brecon) then he does this twice a day.

:+1:

I’ve watched them being fed in other places … and in one location probably 50+ of them. It always amazed me how they organise themselves so that they all approach from the same direction … as if they have some ATC in play.
Not the wind direction, either (though probably would be if it was windy), since it was a windless day that I saw them in a wide open field.

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Funny - yes they were constantly circling but as you say all came in from the same direction. They are also incredible aerial acrobats twisting and turning on a whim almost.

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