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Welsh Kite Trust
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Breeding Red Kite in Herefordshire
By Chris Wells
In the last Issue of Boda Wennol Tony Cross reported that I had confirmed a Red Kite nest in Herefordshire, the first for over a century. I am very pleased to be able to report a bit more about this historic event and to be able to provide a happy conclusion to this particular Kite Tale
During summer 2003, reports were received by the Trust of Red Kites present in the north of the county. Despite visits by fieldworkers nothing positive was obtained. However, a local resident, (who I shall call "John" to avoid identification of the site) plotted all the various sightings in the area. In spring 2004, John and I analysed his information and by early April, after many periods of observation, we had identified an area where we believed the nest to be located.
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On 12th April, having agreed access conditions with the owner, I finally found the nest, which was only visible from close range due to the density of the woodland, situated about 50ft up in a Sitka Spruce tree. The choice of nest tree was quite a surprise; there were many more traditional deciduous trees that appeared to be more suitable.
A subsequent visit on 27th May confirmed that the adults were still attending the nest but I was unable to confirm at this point that there were chicks present.
At mid-day on 18th June, I saw an adult bird leave a tree near to the Sitka Spruce. After watching for a while I saw a single chick stand up briefly, stretch its wings then disappearing back down from view into the safety of the nest. So history had been made, the Red Kite had breed successfully in Herefordshire after a period of absence in excess of one hundred and twenty five years. Not only was this a return of breeding Red Kite to the county, these were the first pair of indigenous birds to breed in England since the middle of the nineteenth century.
Such was the significance of this event that Tony Cross and I were keen to record the event as fully as possible. We returned to the nest the following day and Tony climbed the tree, photographing the chick in the nest before ringing and tagging it for future monitoring. The chick, possibly a female, weighed in at a respectable 925 grams and we estimated she was about five weeks old. Worryingly there were the remains of several rats in the nest but on close inspection the chick seemed perfectly fit and healthy.
On 16th July, John and I returned to the nest site where we observed our little friend perched on a branch above the nest. It was almost fully fledged but the feathers lacked the brightness of the adult birds. It was certainly an "ugly duckling" compared to the parents. After a few minutes it took to the wing and flew out of the wood where we observed it soaring confidently above the nest site.
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I cannot close this article without thanking the landowners (who still wish to remain anonymous) for their co-operation. Without this help the scientific data could not have been obtained. I must also thank John, for without his help I may not have located the nest site in an area of the county that previously I only visited infrequently. Needless to say I shall return in spring 2005 to see if the birds nest again.
I am always grateful to receive reports of Red Kite in Herefordshire or near its borders with other counties and can be contacted through the Trust at HYPERLINK "mailto:info@welshkitetrust.org" info@welshkitetrust.org
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