More raptor fun

The Alpujarra may be one of the best places in Europe to see birds of prey, but South West Scotland isn't far behind. In two days we saw about a dozen buzzards and two sparrowhawks (one of them was dead, but you can't have everything). Quite amazing though, was the red kite feeding station at Bellymack hill farm near Laurieston. I would estimate there were at least fifty birds there yesterday; the farmer says they sometimes get more than seventy, which is probably the entire population for Galloway. Feeding is at 2pm, and a few hungry birds are soaring over the feeding site by 1.30, with numbers steadily increasing until the bucketfuls of chicken bits are strewn over the grass and the feeding starts. It's a take-away arrangement - each bird will swoop down, grab a piece of meat in its talons, and fly off to eat and digest it in some nearby trees, perhaps coming back for more after half an hour or so. They take the food while on the wing, and hardly touch the ground itself, if at all. There's a fascinating moment at the beginning of the feast, when the birds are all circling above the site but not eating. Nobody wants to go first - but then appetite gets the better of manners, and the first bird swoops. Then suddenly they're all at it, like fat women at a wedding buffet. Here's a picture - unfortunately it just looks like dots in the sky, but that's my inadequate camera, I'm afraid. The colouring on the birds is fabulous, although of course you can't tell from this shot. One thing you can notice is the distinctive 'v' shape of the tail feathers.