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Naturetrek’s Bret Charman recently travelled to Wales for a wildlife photography event like no other in the UK. The Red Kite feeding centre of Gigrin Farm was Bret's destination for a few hours of photography heaven.
Red Kite by Bret Charman
Gigrin Farm has been the UK’s official Red Kite feeding station since 1992, after the RSPB had witnessed the feeding of the local birds by the late Mr Powell. At that time only six kites roosted at the farm over the winter but now there can be up to 400. The farm is now also the official Red Kite Rehabilitation Centre for the Welsh Kite Trust. The facilities are fantastic with everything you would need, from a small shop selling warm drinks (a must on a cold day), toilets, a small education centre, and of course the viewing hides.
After a long drive from Hampshire (nearly four hours), through some extremely beautiful landscapes, I arrived at Gigrin Farm. I arrived a good hour before the feeding started, which gave me plenty of time to set myself up in the hides without disturbing the gathering birds.
Nothing had prepared me for the spectacle to come on my first visit to the centre; however this was my second visit to the site, so the adrenaline rush came a little earlier, knowing what we were about to witness! The person who feeds the kites turns up in a tractor with a box of meat on the back. He then spreads the meat out in all directions with a spade and then the birds descend. There are not just tens of birds but hundreds. The sky is moving with them, their agility becomes apparent instantly and the speed at which they can dive down onto the meat is astonishing. It is hard to pick out a subject and photograph it, there are just too many and in the end you lose the bird you were following and start all over again.
Of course to get the very best photographs you need the best light but, this being Britain, it is hard to get the timing right. After a beautiful spring and some lovely warm weather, it was rather disappointing to arrive on a day of heavy showers and mainly overcast skies. That does not detract from the spectacle, however, and in fact it makes it a little more challenging for the photographer.
After nearly three hours of photographing these wonderful birds of prey it was time to leave. There is a B&B at the farm where you can stay if you book well ahead, and plenty of others around, but I was heading to Devon and the wilderness of Dartmoor. A wonderful day of wildlife watching and some successful photography always leaves a smile on my face.