I went to Gigrin today! Something one had obviously spooked the birds. I arrived at 1320hrs to discover that not a single kite was perched in the trees awaiting their meal. Buzzards and corvids were sat waiting like little orphans in the workhouse awaiting the arrival of Mr Bumble and food. The kites were on the wing all over the place except Gigrin. There were more spectators than kites; most of them were on the bank to the left of the hides awaiting an appearance of the national rarity.
When the food was delivered there was the usual surge by the corvids and Buzzards and even the three Grey Heron dropped in for a snack before departing to the adjacent field. After a short while the kites arrived about less than a hundred, they were still very nervous as they swooped down for a quick feed and away they remained on the wing drifting around the periphery of the site before repeating the situation several times. They did not perch in the nearby trees.
The black kite appeared during these visits displaying to the normal high standard, then spectator numbers drastically reduced at about 1440hrs. A tick had been obtained! Chris Powell was relatively happy as the augmented spectator numbers helped him cover the increased costs involved with the higher prices caused by a shortage of meat.
The greatest spectacle was around 1600hrs when most of the visitors had dissipated, the kites returned in greater numbers circa two hundred and fifty, providing another fantastic spectacle but, still they were reluctant to perch!
What is causing this unusual behaviour? I have never experienced this previously. I was at my normal vantage point, the only one on the spectator bank.
I eventually managed to read all the tags visible, nine compared with the expected thirty plus. All were tagged in Wales:-
Purple 52
Pink 29
Pink g
Pink 66
Green 13
Black 97
Black 13
Purple 97
Chris Wells.
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