Went to Gigrin Farm yesterday, with the hope of seeing the black kite there. My colleague and his son (who got a dSLR for Christmas) took my wife and I. I loaned my 400mm lens to the young lad, so used my newly acquired Sigma 180mm macro lens.
Not designed for such photography, but the lens performed very well.
Here's a red kite. Apart from resizing and a little tweaking in levels, I've not altered these two at all.
This is just a small section of the image
The black kite appeared eventually among the hundreds of reds, but didn't stay long These images have been heavily cropped.
Nice photo's Richard.
Is the Black Kite more rare than the Red.
Yogi.
Nice photo's Richard.
Is the Black Kite more rare than the Red.
Yogi.
They are very common on the Continent and are regular visitors, mostly in the spring and especially to Norfolk, though I believe that there is a breeding colony somewhere in the south west. As far as comparisons to the red, Gigrin has in excess of 300 reds, so a single black is an event!
If you've never been to Gigrin, then do go, it's an experience to remember.
Nice sharp photos Richard..
I was there last [ summer ] amazing to watch.. I stayed in Flintshire and motored down to Powys.. we saw a kingfisher in the Wye along the riverside walk.. it was a memorable day..
george..
Nice sharp photos Richard..
george..
Thanks, George. The pics would have been better if I'd used my 400 lens, but the young lad was enjoying himself so much that I hadn't the heart to take it away from him.
My colleague is a REAL twitcher, used to travelling to the far ends of the UK and abroad to get a glimpse of a rare bird, but this was his first visit to Gigrin and he was gobsmacked.
Nice set Richard
specially with a macro lens !
Any sign of the White (Red) Kite ?
Nice set Richard
specially with a macro lens !
Any sign of the White (Red) Kite ?
Yes, saw it, but once agai, I didn't manage to get a decent pic - I reckon it's jinxed as far as I'm concerned 
lol i havent even seen it yet, hopefully this year
If anyone is a member of the Camping & Caravan Club, the Trailer Tent & Folding Camper Group hold a meet there each year during the summer on the field above the feeding paddock. Last time we were there, we were charged a one-off fee of £2 which allowed us to use the hides for the whole of our stay - good value. Being on site meant we stayed on in the hides well after the normal visitors had left, so had better photographic opportunities, because the birds would come in closer.
Nice shots! Never been to Gigrin (the commerciality puts me off) but we've stopped off at Bwlch Nant-yr-Arian
http://www.nantyrarian.com/ to catch a feeding (late autumn) on our way to Aber and virtually had the place to ourselves with the 100+ kites (one other 'tog) - only fee is car parking @ £1.50 all day!