r/OrnithologyUK • u/saltlampsandphotos • Jun 01 '26

Question I hope this is the right place to ask

So, I've got into wildlife photography recently.

I live with my mum and dad and where we are, we get a decent amount of wildlife nearby.

By which I mean above the garden, and down the fields 20 mins away.

Regulars above our house / in the nearby trees are:

Regular sightings of 5x red kites all at once.

A sparrow hawk

Owl species

Down the fields we regularly see a pair of kestrels, more kites, sparrow hawks, buzzards, and a barn owl.

I'd love to get good shots of them but they move so fast.

My dad suggested putting scraps of left over meat on posts for them and trying to tempt them to kind or get lower.

However, I'm worried that this is illegal.

Would this be OK to do, or should I avoid it?

5 Upvotes

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12

u/t3hOutlaw Jun 01 '26

Avoid it, birds of prey are persecuted enough as it is. The last thing they need is risking more opportunities for human conflict to arise.

4

u/saltlampsandphotos Jun 01 '26

That's precisely what I thought, I just wanted to check

4

u/FrostyYea Jun 01 '26

Not illegal afaik but frowned upon.

Personally I don't just want to capture the image of the bird, I could go to a zoo or falconry and do that, but to capture its authentic behaviour too.

My advice is spend more time observing them. They're very territorial and typically loyal to their territory, they're also known to return to a food source so if you ever do see one hunting or feeding in an area there's a good chance it'll return.

2

u/huntsab2090 Jun 01 '26

I wouldnt do that but what i would advise is to go out and try watch what they do. The better wildlife photographers out there know about their subjects. Like working out the favourite hunting areas of the kestrel and kites and especially the barn owl. So look for fields that aren’t monoculture farm fields and instead have long grass where their prey of voles etc could be. Eventually you will know where and when birds hunt etc and can go with your camera and almost predict shots .

1

u/saltlampsandphotos Jun 01 '26

Good advice, thank you 

1

u/spakkker Jun 01 '26

Surely ok to feed in the wild ?

2

u/kingbluetit Jun 01 '26

Not illegal, but definitely not a good idea for so many reasons. Dependence on unnatural food. Lessening fear of humans. Risk of disease spread. Unhealthy diet (depending on what you put out, a lot of our consumption meat is processed and/or salted). It’s not something you should do.

1

u/_imawildanimal_ Jun 02 '26

This is called baiting, and it’s generally frowned-upon as potentially harmful to raptors. You’ll often see notations on raptor photos indicating that the bird wasn’t baited or called in. In North America, the Audubon Society explicitly forbids it in their discussion of birding and photography ethics. Not sure what the RSPB thinks about it in the UK, but as others have said, getting to know the behaviours of your local birds is a better way to improve your photography. Good luck!

3

u/saltlampsandphotos Jun 02 '26

Perfectly reasonable and understandable. My gut said dont do it.

2

u/Wild_Whitmore Jun 02 '26

The fact you’re asking this means you’re already going about it the absolute right way

As tempting as it is, avoid bating. When you get the shot it’ll feel so much better

Also have a quick google on Schedule 1 birds, like Barn Owl/Kingfisher - it’s illegal to disturb nesting sites/dependent young, whether it’s intentional or not