Red Kites.

A fine sunny day for a visit to Bwlch Nant Y Arian a local nature reserve where red kites are fed each day. It was lovely in the sunshine but there was also an icily cold wind in the less sheltered areas.

We had passed the nature reserve each time we'd travelled back and forth from Devon but had never visited it or any of the other red kite feeding stations. Our walk organiser had chosen this venue especially for some of the less robust members of the group and also for me as he'd noticed me trying to get a decent photo of a red kite when we were out and about. That was really thoughtful of him.

The initial plan was for us to meet up in the large lay-by on the main road but when I got there it was full and I only just managed to squeeze my little car in. When our organiser turned up he said we'd better park in the official car park so round we went and paid out to park on site. I didn't mind as the money goes towards feeding the kites and the general upkeep of the reserve which has superb trails for walkers, bike and horse riders plus a trail bike course (like a skate park), play areas, cafe and picnic tables. 

The main attraction is the daily feeding of the red kites which takes place on the grassy area on the far side of the lake below.

First we went on a gentle walk that took us across a field with a sign on the gate saying 'Please be aware that at times there may be a bull in this field.' It would not be legal for a farmer to put an aggresive bull in a field with a public footpath running through it so after a group discussion the majority of us opted to carry on that way. No bull was spotted.

From there we walked down to another lake where we had a brief lunch stop sitting by the remains of a wooden fishing hut.

Even if we hadn't been aware of the time the appearance of tens of red kites would have alerted us to the fact that feeding time was approaching.

We made our way back to the first lake and round to the hide next to the feeding spot. There I managed to squeeze myself between two fellow photographers ready to snap away. Although it was close to the feeding site our view was quite restricted and I ended up taking a lot of  blurry photos as the kites swooped in to grab the meat thrown on the grass. The people watching from the other side of the lake were further away but would have had a better view of the whole spectacle.

Some of my photos were not bad but I found I was getting better shots of the birds in the air when I stood outside the hide. It's hard to show size but these birds have an impressive 6ft wingspan.

I kept on taking photos until my group had nearly all moved on and then had to hurry to catch them up as we headed up to the cafe. I'll definitely be coming back for another longer photographic session now I know where the birds will be.

It was good that I  got back home a bit earlier than usual as this gave me time for another session on the shelves. Last night, when Peter had gone off to bed I sanded down the places I'd filled and spotted some places that still needed filling. Having put another layer of filler in last night I was up early this morning and repeated the process before breakfast. I thought I'd only have sanding to do this afternoon but what do you know? I found a few more dips on the front of the wall so more filling followed the sanding. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll be able to declare the wall ready to paint.

A female chaffinch approaching an extra long (4ft?) bird feeder.