23/04/2023 Duncombe Park, North Yorkshire

Black Kite: This brown bird of prey with five-foot wing span and acrobatic flying skills is a close cousin to the red kite is abundant in Europe. However, the warming climate is believed to be leading the bird to expand its territory to the north.This bird has made its home in the beautiful surroundings of Helmsley and seems to be attracted to the shows, possible attracted to the bird activity or the scraps of food that may be left behind? Who knows, but it makes for a pretty reliable twitchable seemingly wild black kite. 

Duncombe Park is one of Yorkshire's finest historic houses and estates, and home to the Duncombe family and is home to a collection of exotic birds of prey including Stella's sea eagle, grey eagle buzzard, burrowing owls and a wide range of other birds of prey including black kites.

Fortunately all their captive black kites are accounted for and they aren't missing any.

Some folk are questioning the origins of the bird and although I'll leave these questions t the powers that be it looked pretty wild to me. 

Red Kite: Well, at least that was the plan, as the bird didn't arrive for the first show keeping us waiting until the second show before making a short fly past right over the main field and over Duncombe Park.

The wait paid off. 

Red kites were much more showy and occasionally came in over Duncombe Park giving some excellent views. 

Bracciano Italy

Hoopoe: Last week I took Dawn away for her birthday, we decided on visiting Rome but staying outside of the city in order to see more scenic places and have our own pool and stayed in a place called Bracciano.

Bracciano is a small town in the Italian region of Lazio, 30 kilometres northwest of Rome. The town is famous for it's large volcanic lake and for a particularly well-preserved medieval castle Castello Orsini-Odescalchi.

We stayed in a beautiful little Villa called Country House Due Miglia with our own private pool, surrounded by olive groves.

It was here right next to our hire car where I spotted a couple of Hoopoe foraging, I saw these in the area a couple of times but on our very last day the birds came particularly close.

The gardens had plenty of Sardinian Warbler, Barn Swallows, Serin, Hooded Crow and Kites over head.

Black Kite: One afternoon while Dawn spent the day sunning herself beside the pool I decided to leave the Villa and go explore. I followed a small dirt track and meandered around the wheat fields and olive groves.

It was here I got up close and personal to a Black Kite which spent an hour or so circling over a nearby Villa, it was soon joined by a second Black and then a Red Kite.

Hooded Crow: Back at the Villa I spent some more time getting some shots of the local Hooded Crows.

Brilliant mini-break, good birds albeit not a birding holiday, great sights and Villa. Seeing the Colosseum was a big highlight, that place is breathtaking.