gerry 'theranger' obrien of conkers

Recently I've had the pleasure of visiting Gigrin farm near the town of Rhayader in mid Wales to observe the Red Kite Feeding & Rehabilitation Center. Red Kites are stunning raptors that have suffered from centuries of persecution in Europe, leading to their extermination in most of the British Isles by the end of the 19th century.
Only in rural mid Wales did a few resident pairs of Kites manage to hang on, luckily around this time some visionary landowners had the foresight to set up an unofficial protection programme to try and safeguard the population. Over the next 100 yrs generations of commited landowners, dedicated individuals and organisations such as the Welsh Red Kite Trust & the RSPB helped the population to gradually increase in numbers. Gigrin farm became the official Red Kite Feeding Station in the Winter of 1992/93 and has helped establish mid Wales as a stronghold for raptors in the British Isles. Kites that have been rehabilitated at Gigrin have been re-introduced to other parts of Britain & Ireland and now thankfully this magnificent bird is becoming a more common sight in our skies once again!

Red Kites are distinctive because of their forked tails and striking colour, their wingspan is almost 2 meters wide but they have a relatively small body in comparison (weighing only 2-3Ibs) this makes the bird incredibly agile and to observe from close range a flock of 70 plus swooping, scavaging and feeding in flight is an incredible sight! Add to this feeding frenzy, visits from Buzzards, Ravens and Crows and you have truly a spectacular wildlife spectacle, I'd highly recommend it!

*Red Kite picture has been kindly donated to me by my wildlife adventure companion, Ian Kenny who is a multi award winning event and wildlife photographer! You can follow Ian on Twitter @Kenny_photo or check out his blog www.professionaleventphotographer.net
We're already planning our next wildlife adventures...