The spring of 1999 was the eighth breeding season for the reintroduced red kite population in North Scotland and in terms of nesting pairs and fledged young, the most successful year so far. Thirty pairs laid clutches of eggs, a 30% increase on the 1998 figure of 23. One other pair occupied another site but didn't breed. Unfortunately, both hatching and fledging success was the lowest recorded (though still relatively high compared to Welsh birds) - 26 clutches (87%) hatched and 22 nests produced fledged young (73%). A milestone total of 51 young were reared, 1.7 young per egg-laying pair or 2.3 young per successful pair.
Most of the failures occurred during periods of prolonged cold wet weather in mid-May and again in early June and affected mainly first time breeders. One long-established pair failed due to unintentional disturbance from a mechanical digger repairing a burst water pipe under the nest tree.
A very sour end to the season occurred in late July, when a brood of three young which had all fledged several weeks earlier were found dead at the nest. Post mortem revealed that all three had massive internal bleeding and had died through ingestion of Bromadiolone, a so-called 'second generation' anticoagulant rodenticide. A field investigation by staff from SOAEFD revealed the likely source as poisoned rats from a farm within one kilometre of the nest. What is possibly even worse is that both adults from this site, a 6-year old pair which had previously raised eight young in three breeding attempts, disappeared at the same time, and are probably also dead from the same source. (See the article on Rat Poison and Kites)
