Red Kites Dumfries and Galloway.

Few shots from Bellymack Hill Farm.
1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


6.


7.

Shot 1 is my favourite, however I would have liked the wing tips!

Shot 4 seems to have excessive noise in the sky (mostly top left)

Shot 5 the bird is a little under exposed, could use a little shadow lift or use of levels with a mask over the sky.

Shot 7 has an uncomfortable halo - is this too much sharpening? Also the angle is a little odd, wondering if a +90degree rotation might change this.

5 is my favourite

Nice pictures, I remember visiting there 4 years ago. I did find that lots of the birds had the tags on their wings, indicating breeding years from what I recall. 3 years ago While holidaying in wales I visited the Rhayader feeding station, Gigrin farm, and found that hardly any Kites were tagged. Presumably the nests were more inaccessible to RSBP taggers.
They did look lots more natural.

Both sites are well worth visiting.

Pat

Nice ones Tom. I was there two weeks ago and could achieve nothing like these. I think number three is the bird the lady that runs the farm has nicknamed Ariel, because it carries a tracking device.

Apparently the RSPB are not involved in Grigin, it is run on a commercial basis, hence no tags. They are concerned that too much food is put out, to attract the large numbers of birds, and this may have an effect on wild behaviour. This is according to the RSPB guide at Bellymack.

A great set. Which lens did you use. Some purple fringing on #4, is that due to PP?

Best regards

Pity we missed you Barrie, could have had a mini Pentax meet!
We used the DA 300 and FA 600, #4 is the 600 and most probably down to my PP.