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Dumfries and Galloway
Red Kite re-introduction
This summer saw the beginning of a project to restore Red Kites as a breeding species in Dumfries and Galloway after an absence of well over 100 years. The result of a partnership between the RSPB, Scottish Natural Heritage, Forest Enterprise, Dumfries and Galloway Raptor Study Group and local land-owners, the partnership aims to release 90 kites over three years in order to establish a breeding population in the region.
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A site for cage construction on FE land had been ear-marked earlier in the year; construction began on 28 May and was completed on 11 June, the day before the first birds arrived.
The first 12 birds arrived from the Chilterns kite population on 12 June. All were already ringed and were aged between five and six weeks. The birds were separated into four artificial broods of three corresponding to their sizes. Several of the birds ventured out of the nests within the first few days and spent much of the time perched around the cages. Methods of care were the same as those used in the previous release projects. Human interference was kept to a minimum and the birds were fed through a hatch and sleeve. Food provided included day-old poultry chicks, rabbits, trout and venison.
A further 12 birds arrived from north Scotland on 2l June. The birds were separated into three artificial broods of four. The birds settled well, and within ten days eight of these had moved off the artificial nests.
Two more birds from the Chilterns population arrived on 18 July. One of these was a chance recovery of a healthy bird, which had fallen out of a nest in bad weather. The other was a rehabilitated bird, which had spent some time in the Veterinary Hospital at London Zoo. It had undergone an operation to repair a wing injury, sustained in the nest, and had completely recovered.
All birds were ringed, fitted with radio-transmitters and wing-tags prior to release. The colour code for Galloway is GREEN, on the left tag, while BLUE is the colour code for 2001, placed on the right wing. All birds were given individual tag letters or numbers.
The first 12 birds were released on 19 July. There was no publicity surrounding this release. These kites, from the Chilterns, left the cages readily and had all vacated the block within one hour and 15 minutes. The birds spent a few days in the vicinity of the cage clearing, returning for the food provided. The birds were encouraged out with feeding, to a longer term food-dump. By early August all 12 birds were using the feeding area.
The final complement of birds arrived in August. 13 young kites had been confiscated by the authorities in Brandenburg, Germany, having been illegally collected from nests in the wild. All were of a similar age to those collected for the release projects and showed no signs of imprinting. They were flown to Glasgow Airport in mid-July and fortunately the usual five-week quarantine requirement was waived by SEERAD. Seven of these arrived at the release site on 5 August while the remaining six had been liberated at the central Scotland release site.
The second release was on 9 August and was widely publicised. Nineteen birds, the seven from Germany and 12 from North Scotland, were liberated in front of members of all the partner organisations as well as a film crew and photographers. There was excellent coverage of the release on Border TV Regional News, and reports and pictures appeared in The Herald and two local newspapers. These birds found the main food-dump more quickly than the previously released kites, who were an obvious guide to the feeding site. The remaining two birds were released on 22 and 24 August.
Kevin Duffy, Dumfries & Galloway Red Kite Project Officer, October 2001.
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