Blogs

The kite chicks that is. They have finally taken the plunge and are now no longer on the nest. over the last couple of weeks they had only been appearing at infrequent intervals. Usually just after the parents had dropped some food off at the nest. Mum and Dad have finally got bored of waiting hand and foot on the youngsters now, so the chicks will have to look after themselves, foraging for carrion in the surrounding fields. Who knows, you may just catch a glimpse of them circling over the centre.

If you've been meaning to come to Top Lodge to see the kite chicks on the nest, you'd better get your skates on. The three chicks are getting ever more adventuresome. In preparation for their first flight they have taken to 'branch hopping', where they leave the nest for nearby branches and then half jump/half flutter from one branch to another. As a result, its not always possible to see all three birds on the nest camera. Indeed, somtimes you can only see the tail of one bird, with the others nowhere to be seen!

All of which gave us a slight problem on Sunday, when a BBC film crew came with Mike Dilger (best known as the wildlife expert on The One Show) to tell the story of our kites. Luckily the kites behaved impeccably, so watch out for them on 'Inside out', sometime in the Autumn.