Holiday 2023 - Dalbeattie, near Dumfries, Scotland
Each year we choose a different place in the UK to stay while on vacation. In the past we have visited various places such as the Lake District, the Peaks, New Forest, Norfolk Broads, Isle of Mull, South Wales etc. We even visited the Scottish Highlands and the Cairngorms last year, and enjoyed it so much that this year we chose to return to Scotland, this time to the Lowlands, in Dumfries and Galloway.
Part 5 - Red Kite Feeding Station - 13th June
On Day 5 already! We were on holiday for just a week, and that week was flying by (pun intended!) After a very busy day yesterday exploring the Forest of Galloway which was followed by a chaotically busy evening Moth Trapping, we needed an easier day today!
Todays trip was a short drive Bellymack Hill Farm, located just to the North of Castle Douglas. I did mention in Day 4's post that the Forest of Galloway was picked as a secret location to reintroduce Red Kites after they were persecuted right across the UK.
This magnificently graceful bird of prey is unmistakable with its reddish-brown body, angled wings and deeply forked tail. It was saved from national extinction by one of the world's longest-running protection programmes. It has now been successfully re-introduced to England and Scotland. - RSPB
That 'long running protection program' includes several feeding stations located in key areas across the UK, of which Bellymack Hill Farm is one
The feeding station is basicaly a site that puts out food for the birds at the same time each day, and so they have learnt to return to the same place each time for an easy meal. This in turn has attracted an audience of bird watchers and photographers, eager to get a closer view of this fantastic bid of prey.
We know there are plenty of Red Kites here, all week we have been able to see individuals flying high overhead. But this was an opportunity to get some much better and closer shots.
The feeding station puts out food at 2pm everyday. We had a nice (and much needed) lay-in, and then after a sharp lunch we set off, to arrive at the Farm at around 1pm. This would give us some time to get a decent place to sit and to make sure the camera settings were correct
Even now at 1:30pm, there were already loads of birds here. Some circling high in the sky, some others were perched in a line of trees at the far end of the field
Finally, it was time for the main event to start...
The lady below wandered out into the middle of the field with a bucket full of er... meaty sustenance
don't ask me what it consisted it off!
Don't ask me why she felt the need to wear a bobble hat in the middle of a 28C summers day either!
Anyway, once she arrived at the wooden platforms in the middle of the field, she flung the food out for the Red Kites, who immediately swooped in to help themselves to a free lunch
The wide pictures just don't do the sight justice. Truly spectacular!
Although I did my best to take as many pictures as possible... I went for the 'spray and pray' technique.
This means I managed to take 400 pictures in the space of 20 minutes, in the hope that 3 or 4 pictures might work out ok!
I actually managed a bit more than 4 decent pictures, so instead I'll sit back and let the images do the talking...
After about 15 minutes of utter chaos, and birds swooping in left right and centre, it started to calm down again. Some of the birds landed on the platform to pick out any odd bits that had been left behind
And then I spotted a random Greater Black-backed Gull passing by, on the lookout for any scraps
By this point the majority of Red Kites had left and returned to their own territories, there were just a few birds left circling high above our heads
I've already mentioned this to several people in comments/posts on here, and also to the people I've told about our holiday... these feeding stations are well worth a visit. The views are amazing, and its a very pleasant way to spend a couple of hours.
Afterwards. we headed to the accommodation, where we spent the reast of the afternoon looking through the hundreds of pictures we took, and we'd managed to get some decent shots
and you know what? I think I managed a couple of reasonable pictures today!
All names confirmed and checked via Wikispieces
Further Research from UK Moths and NatureSpot
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