Feeding time: 75 Red Kites circle the snowy landscape of Lampeter, West Wales Effortlessly gliding above the snow-covered fields, these red kites know a good thing when they see it.
Food is often hard to come by in winter for the birds of prey - but not when a kindly local has set up a feeding station.
Up to 75 red kites are in on the secret and queue up for their lunch every afternoon.
Graceful: Red Kites have a wingspan of nearly two metresTheir benefactor has been feeding the birds at the undisclosed location near Lampeter in West Wales for 16 years.
So many red kites now turn up that she has to provide 28lb of chopped meat to keep them happy.
'They come rushing at me, completely surrounding me,' she said.
'I protect myself with an umbrella but if it's too windy I wear an old motorcycle crash helmet which I bought in the market for £2. Last week one walloped me on the bottom - it was sticking out more than I thought.'
The woman, who is licensed by the Department of the Environment to feed the birds, said that when she started out in 1994 she was catering for just seven.
Red kites had been hunted to the point of extinction but their numbers have recovered in Wales.
The species has been reintroduced in other parts of the UK. hen a kindly retired couple first started to feed a pair of Red Kites in 1994, they had no idea how popular their afternoon snacks would become.
source: dailymail
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