Close Encounters of the Feathered Kind

What I had planned to do from the first week of this year was to try and film at least some of the wildlife around, and to put together a film each week. While I have had to delay the start of this, I have been doing just that this week. While I still have not got the software to edit the film, with the snow it has been quite an opportune moment to start.

I am pleased with what I have been able to film and as it was always going to take a while to edit the film anyway, I am not bothered that it may still be a couple of weeks before the film is ready. As it has been snowing I have been feeding the birds, not just seeds in the back yard, but also I have been putting some strips of chicken out to feed the Kites too. While it has not only been the Kites that have taken this chef prepared free range chicken, but they did find it and took it. I was doing this with the aim of filming them.

Well, I went trekking out ready to film them this morning. I had worked out a good location and I put the meat out first and went to set up the camera. On previous days I have had to wait an hour or two before they arrived. So as I struggled to get the camera out of the bag, the two Red Kites were swooping in and harvesting the chicken. I guess the birds did not read my memo, and were out early. That should have been no problem as I still had a bag with more meat strips in. Oh no I didn’t, they did. I had one of the Kites came down and snatched the bag from ground where it was resting against my rucksack, five or six feet from me. The Closest I have been to the Kites ever and it flew off with its shopping.

Well I had no more meat to give them and as I was at the tree line and they flew over the woods, I could only see them as they flew away to feast. I waited in vain for them to return feeling cold and disappointed at not getting the shots I was after, I was elated at have been that close to these magnificent birds. Well there is always another time. No one ever said that trying to film wildlife was ever going to be easy, but what an experience.