Sixty Kites Are Flying
This week I have been on tour in South West Scotland showing films and birding in between. A magnificent afternoon was spent at the Kite feeding station at Loch Ken where more than sixty Kites gather at the 2pm feeding time. It’s only three and a half hours drive from Rochdale and I would recommend it to anyone
This year there are no cones in the forests so there are no Crossbills and only a few Siskins. The bonus being that all the Red Squirrels visit the gardens to be fed on the bird tables, some gardens having more than half a dozen coming. One afternoon whilst watching the Squirrels in a garden a Peregrine flew over a ridge nearby just as the local Barn Owl started to hunt. It saw the Barn Owl and darted after it only to miss as the Barn Owl flew into a thick pine, with two Kites overhead at the same time I fail to see why I am still living in Rochdale!!
After three months of Waxwings in and around Rochdale I gave up the chase of seeing twenty in a village near Newton Stewart. I can only think I must have been ill or something!
The garden has been quiet in recent days except for a record six Collared Doves together on the fourteenth. Long Tail Tits have now paired off and many Mistle Thrushes are in full song.
Gordon Yates
February 14, 2009
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