Red Kites Delight

Just spent a very enjoyable week in Dumfries and Galloway and visited the Bellymack Hill Farm Kite Feeding Station, well worth the visit.
Here are a few shots by my good lady and myself.
Hope you enjoy.

1
FA* 600mm, f8, 1/750, ISO 200.
[IMG]http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr132/tomkeet/1SIX_5393.jpg[/IMG]

2
FA* 600mm, f8, 1/1500, ISO 400.
[IMG]http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr132/tomkeet/6SIX_5705.jpg[/IMG]

3
DA* 300mm, f6.7, 1/500, ISO 200.
[IMG]http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr132/tomkeet/2_IGP8168.jpg[/IMG]

4
FA* 600mm, f6.7, 1/1000, ISO 400.
[IMG]http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr132/tomkeet/5SIX_5683.jpg[/IMG]

5
FA* 600mm, f6.7, 1/1000, ISO 400.
[IMG]http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr132/tomkeet/4SIX_5624.jpg[/IMG]

6
DA* 300mm, f9.5, 1/1000, ISO 200.
[IMG]http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr132/tomkeet/3_IGP8233.jpg[/IMG]

Wonderful. I'm envious of your visit, the lens and the results.

Crucial to have enough light I guess

Lovely set of imagss Tom.

John

hi tom
very nice shots
a bit to far for a pentax meet
neil

Wonderful images!

Bjørn

Cracking shots Tom, was the 600 lens hand held? Its such a pity they have to tag these birds, but still nice to see such lovely photos, thanks for sharing.

Super set Tom. Looks like you had good light too. Its on the to do list over autumn/winter.

Like John mentioned above it really is a shame that these birds are tagged the way they are, it stands out more for me as I'm so spoiled for choice round here!

Number 3 stands out mainly because it's unusual for me to get a shot of a kite where they are flapping their wings and also because of the colours that the DA* 300mm gives. Really wish I didn't have to sell mine to fund the big gun!

One thing I've found with kites is that they are awkward to post process and was wondering if you had any thoughts on that!? Good job all round BTW!

Nice shots!

It annoys me that they tag birds... worse still when they
put transmitters and solar cells on them

I'd like to put a couple of tags on the noses of the people
that tag the birds and superglue a GPS transmitter on their
heads so that I can see where they go and what they get up to

Wonderfully agile creatures, good shots too

Thank you for your nice comments.
Agree about the tagging comments, such a shame to see beautiful birds tagged this way.
We had one shot were the transmitter antenna protruded from the Kite’s back feathers “Radio Controlled”!! link

I cant recal any of the Kites we shot at the Harewood House meet last year having tags, maybe you should try there Tom (let us all know when your going)

PS isn't number 5 a Buzzard or have you got its tail from a funny angle?

We quite a few good overall sharp shots with 600mm and 300mm but no matter what I did in LR body and wing detail was missing, came to the conclusion it was down to the light and back ground and catching the Kite just right.

Some of the Kites at Bellymack Hill Farm were not tagged but needless to say I missed them!
Harewood House good idea Alan, fancy organising a meet.
Number 5 just the angle Alan "tagged!!".

Problem with HH is the entry fee which is IIRC about £10 per head, although in winter I believe this is about half that. a lot to pay if the Kites dont show up. I hear there is a lay by somewhere on one of the nearby backroads that can be a good spot, but I've yet to find it.