A wildlife enthusiast from Portsmouth has captured an extraordinary moment after a red kite swooped straight into his back garden – ending a four-hour vigil with a blink-and-you-miss-it strike.
Charlie Blake, 41, spent weeks preparing for the perfect shot, and his patience finally paid off when the elusive raptor dropped into his suburban patch in late March.
“I finally managed to capture these images of a red kite swooping down onto my garden,” he said.
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Charlie first spotted kites locally in 2020 – “just the odd one a couple of times a week” – before they became an almost daily feature over Portsmouth, Hampshire.
“They’re easily identified by their reddish colour, huge wingspan and that distinct forked tail,” Charlie explained.
For years, the birds kept their distance, soaring too high for a decent photograph.
But when Charlie started putting scraps out for local foxes, the curious kites began circling lower, eyeing the garden from above.
Still, none dared land.
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Then, in March 2025, everything changed. Watching from his kitchen window, Charlie saw a bold kite swoop in and snatch scraps from the lawn.
“It was over in a flash – I couldn’t believe it,” he said. From that moment, he vowed the next landing would be caught on camera.
He turned his garden into a makeshift hide, donning full camouflage and tucking himself beneath a camo net, his Canon 90D poking through a pin-sized hole in the mesh.
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He waited up to four hours at a time. For two weeks: nothing.
Then the moment arrived. Through the tiny gap in the netting, Charlie spotted a kite approaching.
“I kept the camera focused on the ground where I thought it would swoop. When it entered the frame, I just clicked and hoped.” he recalled.
He captured several razor-sharp images – and the bird never even knew he was there.
The photos caused a stir online, attracting thousands of admirers impressed by both the bird’s beauty and Charlie’s dedication.
“Wildlife is usually seen from a distance,” he said. “If my photos help people appreciate what we have right on our doorstep, then the hours of waiting are worth it.”
And the skies above his garden remain lively.
“There’s often an aerial battle when a crow turns up – it mobs the kite to chase it off. But the kite isn’t a threat at all. They mostly live off roadkill or scraps left out by humans.”
In Charlie’s Portsmouth garden, the kite has well and truly landed – and the results are breathtaking.
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