Red kite

Today I went out to try and get some shots of a little grebe - probably one of the most difficult animals I have tried to get a shot of.

They are very shy and can swim for a good few meters underwater, before popping up in the most unlikely places - they are also very suspicious, so not surprisingly it kept a good distance from my hide.

I saw lots of other things, including a pair of goshawks hunting and I found another kingfisher's nest, I perched the hide about 50 meters from it, on the edge of a gravel pit, just about wide enough to sit the hide on, precariously near the edge of a sheer drop into the water of about 20 meters.

I didn't feel at all at ease, especially as I nearly drowned doing a similar caper a year ago, so I gave up on that one.

I noticed that I could maybe set a wooden palette on the soft gravel, in line with the nest, to sit the hide on, but I don't want to disturb the kingfishers.

I may have a look next week to see if it is doable ...

Anyway here is a red kite - one of many that was skimming the treetops, no doubt in search of fledglings.