It's been a bird-of-prey filled few days for me as well. Yesterday afternoon looking for kites close to home I picked up a distant small and compact raptor which flew strongly north east high above Nant Silo east of Penbontrhydybeddau. I lost sight of it in/above forestry north of there. I had a good long look at the bird, trying to turn it into a kestrel, even though I hardly ever see them here. But I'm fairly sure it must have been a female merlin. Then a minute or so later a goshawk appeared just where the merlin had disappeared! Had the merlin seen it from a mile or more away and decided to give it a piece of its mind?
This morning I did a circular walk lasting an hour and
a half and during that time found five kite nests each with incubating birds on
them. Two were about 100 yards apart. Salem really is red kite central
Jerry Moore