Raptor ringing

A real highlight of the last two weeks has been the opportunity to climb up to raptors' nests (under the supervision of licensed ringers with all appropriate permissions) to help with the ringing and tagging which is so important to managing the conservation of these beautiful birds.

Me climbing an oak tree in the Washburn valley to a buzzards' nest in rather ungainly fashion. Not something I'm very practiced at and it's a long way down!

A buzzard chick, close to fledging. Was this the one that clawed my finger?

Four chicks in this nest is a good number. These first three shots are by Andy Jowett.

The view from a red kites' nest in the Wharfe valley with corpses of 1 rabbit and 3 jay chicks in the larder and the ringing team in the background. It's thanks to these people that I'm 70 feet up this tree!

Kite chicks returned to the nest with wing tags in place. The one you can see is orange on the left wing (denoting a Harewood, Leeds bird) and green on the right (indicating that it hatched in 2006). It's number 14. Let me know if you see it around!

It was real privilege to be this close to the birds and impossible not to get good shots from this range.