Red Kites

We get red kites in didcot, the powerstation keep them to stop pidgeons nesting in the cooling towers.
they're HUGE.

My mother has taken to feeding them. Today they had a whole corned beef. cut in half. I spent a large proportion of the day documenting the plight of the corned beef so I figure I should update you on the whole story and the outcome (yeah, I don't love you enough to text you any more).

first they came and sat in the tree (its kinda bent now, they like sitting on it but its too skinny to support them..) and called for other red kites- at this point I got excited and got the camera hoping to document the corned beef's demise. they circled the garden a bit and went away again. they mistrusted the corned beef. or maybe they could see me through the conservatory roof (as my mother helpfully informed me it is made of glass so they can see through...ta. ).

about an hour later they came back..normally they kinda swoop in, grab whatever it is and fly off- they don't land to eat it. so its quite impressive.
anyway, they came back and circled the garden- there were 4 at one point casting massive shadows. all the smaller birds vanished the whole time they were flying over the house.

In the end the seem to have concluded the the corned beef wasn't going anywhere very fast. So it has survived.sat on the lawn. I bet its pleased with itself.
hopefully the hedgehogs will eat it now over nighttime- or maybe the Kites will come back tomorrow..either way it was a dissapointing ending.
:(

clearly I will never be a wildlife photographer. I lack the patience.