The first part of august 2008 was wet, very wet in
much of the UK. Jean and I spent almost two days visiting Rhyader and
the Elan valley, to see the Red Kite feeding centre and some of the huge
'waterworks' providing water for the city of Birmingham some 80 miles
away.
In Rhyader itself, I could see that the river was
running above normal summer levels. As I took the photograph, the rain
started once more.
We arrived at the feeding centre at about 2 pm as a
wall of rain approached.
We sat and waited in one of the many
hides until the bewitching hour: 3pm.
Being summer, there were many children too. 3pm is
the time at which the meat is put out for the Kites.
No sign of let up of the rain.
even the sheep looked pretty miserable.
The tractor carrying feed arrived...
...some tasty morsels of beef; approximately 1/4 ton
each week.
The crows are always first, we were
told. They come along and suss out the lunch menu.
Then, someone spots a lone kite sat in a nearby tree,
you'll have to look hard!
One lone kite soars in the near distance.
After one hour, no real sign of a
feeding frenzy so we drift away somewhat disappointed.
A short drive to the first of five
reservoirs: Caban Coch.
There's a lot of white water here!
even the small feeder streams are flowing at winter
levels,
As we arrived back at our accommodation
for the night, we can see that the sky is full of birds up at the
feeding centre just a few hundred yards away.
