Red kites

braveboy2012

braveboy2012

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Gary
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Went on a falconary day today and took this. It was about the best picture of a bird flying I got.

Any thoughts?

Please be kind :eek:


Kites_small by braveboy2012, on Flickr

Gary

P.S. as an aside, while they were flying a wild one was a couple of thousand feet up watching!!! :D
 
Pretty good Gary but I'm sure that is a black kite.
None the less you have done well (y)
 
Its nice to see a kite in flight with a bit of background colour not that I am slating the fabulous kite shots that are posted elsewhere on the forum.
It just makes a refreshing change the bird seems more predatory at tree height.
Looking at the larger image on flickr I would be tempted to remove the other bird and sharpen just a touch.
Love this shot even though its a falconry centre you have one to be chuffed about(y)
 
Gremlin said:
Pretty good Gary but I'm sure that is a black kite.
None the less you have done well (y)
Click to expand...

Yeah, yeah. I love your sarcasm.

I take your point though. I'd already thought that myself.

Cheers
 
braveboy2012 said:
Yeah, yeah. I love your sarcasm.

I take your point though. I'd already thought that myself.

Cheers
Click to expand...

No sarcasm intended Gary it is a good picture, just not sure it's a red kite
but they are very similar
 
If it's Colchester zoo, they fly black kites :)
 
Thats very nice Gary (y) was this with the new lens?
I quite like the little fella in the L/H/ Corner TBH as well.

Gonna stick my neck out 3/4 of the way and say that I am (fairly) sure thats a Black kite
for a few reasons.

In virtually all Bops the centre decks (tail feathers) are the longest,
In this picture you can clearly see they are the shortest
but not really short enough for a deep fork, (as you would expect from a Red,) this is a trait of Black kites.

Red kites are well errrrrrrr redder than black kites, these tend to be more errr black, well darker anyway. ( as this one is).

Red kite are rarely used in displays they tend to be black kites.
So I am erring towards black, because of the darker colour,
And other afore mentioned reasons

Red kites have quite large white patches under their wings,
Just look at the myriad of kites shots on here for confirmation of that.

The black kites are darker / duller underneath
So really we need to see an under wing shot to be 100% :)

This is a black kite (no copyright issues its my image)
 
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Gremlin said:
Pretty good Gary but I'm sure that is a black kite.
None the less you have done well (y)
Click to expand...

Red kites, definitely NOT a black kite, here's a black kite:
black_kite_02.jpg
 
These look like red kites ( juveniles ) to me !!!

Black kites are smaller, darker and browner in colour rather than rufous.

Would help to know where the photos were shot!
 
BigBudgie said:
Would help to know where the photos were shot!
Click to expand...

You beat me to it was just about to ask that
Been to a few falconry displays and have yet to see red kites flown
 
Somelier said:
Red kites, definitely NOT a black kite
Click to expand...

I shall watch this thread with interest as we all will have something to learn from it. That is a bold statement Richard :D with all due respect that might well be a Black Kite, but I suggest you also Google Black Kite images as most of the ones on there seem to have more saturation to them and show a lot more red than your image, there might well be a reason for this which I do not know of :shrug:

A good first time image though Gary whatever the outcome (y)
 
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u8myufo said:
I shall watch this thread with interest as we all will have something to learn from it. That is a bold statement Richard :D with all due respect that might well be a Black Kite, but I suggest you also Google Black Kite images as most of the ones on there seem to have more saturation to them and show a lot more red than your image, there might well be a reason for this which I do not know of :shrug:
Click to expand...
I suspect that, if that is an image of a Black kite, it maybe a
Juvenile hence the apparent "washed out" colouration.
BUT those primaries (fingers) look a little too spread out to me (very much buzzard like)
So I am not sure what it actually is.
But as usual do stand to be reliably corrected ;)

 
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Ohh, started a debate here. Sorry to disappoint but I am out in London this evening. I have a couple of other shots of the birds that may have a bit of their underside in.
 
Gremlin said:
You beat me to it was just about to ask that
Been to a few falconry displays and have yet to see red kites flown
Click to expand...



Just like to add that the ICBP centre at Newent were flying a red kite the other day, I am still struggling with in flight shots myself and appreciate how difficult they can be so top marks to braveboy, nice shot, however here is the red kite I took

Rob

DSC_7697.jpg
 
braveboy2012 said:
Ohh, started a debate here. Sorry to disappoint but I am out in London this evening. I have a couple of other shots of the birds that may have a bit of their underside in.
Click to expand...

That would be good Gary, have a great evening :D
 
Yep, that's the one. The bird of prey centre at shuttleworth.

Here are some others that may help you guys decide.

@Gremlin, sorry, I thought you were saying the original was too dark, which it maybe is a little :shrug: I hadn't heard of a black kite :amstupid:


IMG_4527 by braveboy2012, on Flickr


IMG_4548 by braveboy2012, on Flickr


IMG_4520 by braveboy2012, on Flickr


IMG_4557 by braveboy2012, on Flickr

Thanks for all the positive feedback. I think these two had just come out of a year in plumage (if that's the right phrase) so they probably are quite young? Sorry, not the twitcher that I used to be:bonk:
 
Cobra said:
Thats very nice Gary (y) was this with the new lens?
I quite like the little fella in the L/H/ Corner TBH as well.
Click to expand...

Cheers mate. This was with the new lens @146mm (@lens) with shutter speed priority of 1/1000th just to try to freeze the action a bit. As it was a bit overcast the aperture was quite big so this shot where the bird was in one focal 'plane' came out quite well.

Wasn't sure about the little fella in the corner but left him in as it's easier than taking him out :LOL: And, tbh, I did think it gave a bit of interest to the photo in a different sort of way :shrug:

Missed the bird show at London zoo so hopefully no debates for tomorrow. :LOL:
 
Gremlin said:
Not at all stupid and I stand corrected on the breed, it is a red kite from those last pictiures
Click to expand...

I wouldn't go that far to say I'm not stupid :LOL:

Red kite it is then. Thank you Holmes!
 
Back to the originally posted image.

Gary, that's a cracking shot. Personally I would crop out the perched kite, using a 7 x 5 landscape on the kite in flight works well.
I do like the shot as it is but there is too much space between the kite in flight and the perched kite ( only my opinion though ).
A little bit of tidying up and that's definitely one for the album.
Well done.

Graham

braveboy2012 said:
Went on a falconary day today and took this. It was about the best picture of a bird flying I got.

Any thoughts?

Please be kind :eek:


Kites_small by braveboy2012, on Flickr

Gary

P.S. as an aside, while they were flying a wild one was a couple of thousand feet up watching!!! :D
Click to expand...
 
braveboy2012 said:
I think these two had just come out of a year in plumage (if that's the right phrase) so they probably are quite young? Sorry, not the twitcher that I used to be:bonk:
Click to expand...

I suspect that you mean that they had just come through their annual moult, probably the first one for these particular birds.
Red kites moult annually and non breeding birds start their moult earlier in the year than those that are breeding. These juvenile birds certainly look as though they have just finished the moult ( bright shiny new feathers ).
 
BigBudgie said:
Back to the originally posted image.

Gary, that's a cracking shot. Personally I would crop out the perched kite, using a 7 x 5 landscape on the kite in flight works well.
I do like the shot as it is but there is too much space between the kite in flight and the perched kite ( only my opinion though ).
A little bit of tidying up and that's definitely one for the album.
Well done.

Graham
Click to expand...


I agree totally, great shot, really nice seeing such a creature from a perspective you dont normally get. Love the contrast on the green background but the little fella in the bottom left is a tad distracing for me. well done ! :clap:
 
BigBudgie said:
I suspect that you mean that they had just come through their annual moult, probably the first one for these particular birds.
Red kites moult annually and non breeding birds start their moult earlier in the year than those that are breeding. These juvenile birds certainly look as though they have just finished the moult ( bright shiny new feathers ).
Click to expand...

Yeah, that rings a bell. They were two weeks out of their moult and getting used to being flown again.

Sorry, was suffering from concentrating on taking pictures and not listening! :D
 
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