Feather

The Red Kite's second (and very late in the year) fledgling left the nest about a month ago. He or she is still flying rather noisily around the garden. It is a few months before the young ones learn to tuck up their legs when they are flying, so at the moment its legs are dangling down as it flies.  Its ability to land on a branch is more due to luck than judgement. But it must be starting to grow up because the garden is full of these discarded baby feathers, a bit bedraggled in the rain today.