Red Kite Delight

It has been more than seven years since I last visited Argaty Red Kites near Doune to watch these fantastic birds in action; and as my sister from America (who is a keen birdwatcher) is in Scotland just now, I thought it would be an ideal time to revisit the Red Kite feeding station. So me , my wife and both my sisters went along to Argaty Farm last week and this is the story of our visit:
Once everybody was in the bird hide Lynn from Argaty Farm arranged for the food spread to be out on a clearing on a nearby hillside. The food consisted of a few scraps of venison (most of which was still attached to the bone/skin) as they do not over-feed these wild Kites, merely provide a light snack.
As we waited for the birds to gather I videoed this Juvenile Kite perched on and electricity pole:

You could here the Kites 'whistling' at each other as they started to gather in the trees near to the feeding station:

You can also hear my sisters (amongst others) talking over my video.................. I must invest in a directional microphone.
Meanwhile the Kites were starting to get a little closer to where the food had been spread out:

Despite their large size, Red Kites are surprisingly lightweight birds and are also a little timid. This is especially evident when feeding, as they don't like to land on the ground but prefer to swoop down and snatch their food whilst in flight. They also like to wait until other birds (such as crows or buzzards) land near the food, demonstrating that it is safe for them to feed.
After a Crow visited the food on the ground, one brave Red Kite decided it was time to grab some venison:

Sorry but I mucked up the filming of this feeding............. I didn't zoom out quick enough and got an out-of-focus video!!
Never mind I thought.......... as after one bird comes down there is usually a feeding frenzy............ I will be ready for that!
Suddenly there was a swarm of Red Kites in the sky, all egging each other on with loud whistles:

One Kite seemed to break away from the others and headed towards the hillside where the food was......................... only to land on a nearby tree:

Perhaps the Kites were too timid to come down today, perhaps they had eaten enough carrion that they had found by themselves earlier in the day, who knows they were not for dining on our venison scraps anyway.
As I never had a long lens camera with me I thought I would try some digi-scoping by using my mobile phone and my telescope to capture some images of this bird on the tree:

The first image wasn't too great but my second attempt was a little bit better:

Not brilliant, but not too bad for a mobile phone - telescope combination.
Although no other birds (other than crows and magpies) decided to come and feed it was far from boring as there was plenty of action in the skies, were the Red Kites demonstrated their fantastic aerobatics:

In essence it was just like a bunch of teenagers 'mucking about' and trying some talon grappling, either way it was fun to watch.
Everybody agreed that although there was no 'feeding frenzy' it was still a very enjoyable afternoon.
Red Kites are such brilliant birds on the wing you cannot help but enjoy watching them.

Until next time.

Take care

Teddyedward