Here are some sketches from a recent visit to the Red Kite feeding station at Gigrin Farm on the edge of Rhayader, Mid Wales.  This was my first visit to such a place, where meat is put out each day for these spectacular birds of prey.  Once the action starts at 2pm, Rooks, Carrion Crows and Ravens are already in position while the variable Common Buzzards wait patiently in the crusty snags of surrounding trees for their chance to come to ground. 

Many kites soon begin to wheel in over the site until each finds a moment for an approach, sometimes tumbling dramatically to spill air from under the wings to drop almost vertically at times before smoothly levelling out in a controlled low sweep to effortlessly collect a piece of the meat in their talons, in a similar way a fishing eagle will take fish from the water's surface. 

The stunning Red Kites seem to float effortlessly above the hillsides, steering all the while with their broad. notched tails, and splayed long fingers of the outer five primary feathers.  They are nice subjects to draw, although on this occasion my first attempts were frustrating and clumsy, as my fingers were very cold and my eyes were watering.  Like anything, it takes a while to ‘warm up' and a bit of practice to get a feel for the birds' movements, but it wasn't long before the action was all over - in about an hour.