The Red Kite Sculpture
Visitors to the National Park Visitor Centre can now be inspired by an exciting sculptural representation of the Red Kite, bobbing and moving in the breeze. Created by Glyn-Neath based sculptor Rubin Eynon, the steel mesh representation of a Red Kite balances by its beak on top of a 4–metre high corten steel stalk. As the wind blows the bird lazily drifts and shifts, all the time turning on its beak, which is firmly attached to the stalk.
Red Kites in the Brecon Beacons
With a wingspan of nearly 2m the Red Kite is the largest bird of prey in the National Park. Eagle-eyed visitors will be familiar with this ruddy coloured bird seemingly floating in the breeze, effortlessly riding the currents by twitching and twisting its forked tail. There is no better place to watch this king of the currents than whilst out walking on Mynydd Illtud near the National Park Visitor Centre, Libanus
A celebration of success
The National Park Authority is pleased to present this celebration of the ultimate Welsh nature recovery success story – bringing the Red Kite back from the brink of extinction. It is sobering that in the 1930s only a handful of pairs bred in mid-Wales, the Red Kite’s last haunt in the UK. Gradually, through the patient and diligent work of volunteers and statutory bodies working together the native population grew. Only 20 years ago sightseers and birdwatchers had to travel to the foot of Bannau Sir Gar, in the west of the National Park to glimpse these majestic birds as their numbers grew. Now they are a common sight throughout the National Park and beyond. Despite Britain now having several Red Kite populations these Welsh birds are the only truly native Red Kites in the UK.
*This project has received funding through the Welsh Government Rural Communities – Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government