Bellymack Hill Farm - Kite Feeding Station
| Location: | Off the B795 road, at Bellymack Hill Farm near Laurieston. Red Kite feeding time is at 2pm daily.
The hide is open from 12 noon - 4pm daily, throughout year. |
Description
The Feeding Station
Kites are fed daily at 2pm. Station is open from 12noon to 4pm.
Red kites have been congregating at Bellymack Hill Farm since the first year that they were reintroduced to Galloway. This may have been due to the prevailing SW winds which approach the hillside and create updrafts of air, enabling kites to ride the air effortlessly above the hill. The feeding station allows on lookers to get a close firsthand experience of these gregarious birds when they come in to feed.
There are viewing areas situated around the feeding area, including a hide above the field, where commanding views can be taken in of kites being fed scenic Galloway countryside and kites perching in trees and shrubs, nearby.
Other attractions
The farm also offers the opportunity to see other fantastic wildlife, with yellowhammer, stonechat and linnet all breeding here in summer. Also look out for the occasional roe deer grazing among pasture or gorse (locally known as whin). The farm is home to a number of predators, including stoat, kestrel and sparrowhawk but visitors more regularly find other life on the farm equally as charming, with puppies, goats, sheep, cattle and the odd pig or duck which can be experienced close hand.
Benefits to kites, through public support
Supporting the trail helps the local population of red kites by making them a financial asset to the area. With thirteen red kites illegally poisoned in South West Scotland by 2005 (and three more since the release period has ended), the kites, like other birds of prey, need support from people in these communities to help them establish a viable breeding population in Dumfries and Galloway.
Kites are fed daily at 2pm. Station is open from 12noon to 4pm.
The feeding station is only 20 minutes drive from the RSPB Scotland’s Ken-Dee Marshes Reserve, 30 minutes from Castle Douglas and around 50 minutes drive from Mersehead Reserve, and so can be easily integrated within a good day’s wildlife watching at any time of the year.
Red kites have been congregating at Bellymack Hill Farm since the first year that they were reintroduced to Galloway. This may have been due to the prevailing SW winds which approach the hillside and create updrafts of air, enabling kites to ride the air effortlessly above the hill. The feeding station allows on lookers to get a close firsthand experience of these gregarious birds when they come in to feed.
There are viewing areas situated around the feeding area, including a hide above the field, where commanding views can be taken in of kites being fed scenic Galloway countryside and kites perching in trees and shrubs, nearby.
Other attractions
The farm also offers the opportunity to see other fantastic wildlife, with yellowhammer, stonechat and linnet all breeding here in summer. Also look out for the occasional roe deer grazing among pasture or gorse (locally known as whin). The farm is home to a number of predators, including stoat, kestrel and sparrowhawk but visitors more regularly find other life on the farm equally as charming, with puppies, goats, sheep, cattle and the odd pig or duck which can be experienced close hand.
Benefits to kites, through public support
As the population of kites rises in Galloway, they will expand in range and chances of seeing these birds further afield will increase. Viewing these birds at the feeding station is probably one of the most dramatic ways to encounter the species, up close as they display and interact with other kites.
Supporting the trail helps the local population of red kites by making them a financial asset to the area. With thirteen red kites illegally poisoned in South West Scotland by 2005 (and three more since the release period has ended), the kites, like other birds of prey, need support from people in these communities to help them establish a viable breeding population in Dumfries and Galloway.