This page will follow the developments of the kites' breeding, as news comes in from our Monitoring Teams, from our FoRK members or members of the public.
We draw your attention to the advice given on the How to help Page, stating that the kites, as Schedule 1 Birds of Prey, are protected by law and must not be disturbed at any time during the breeding process. The ringing and wing tagging of the red kite chicks is carried out under special licence.
NORTH EAST RED KITE BREEDING REPORT FOR 2011
2011 results at a glance (2010 figure in brackets)
19 known active territories (27)
18 known incubating females (19)
12 nests (13) successfully fledging 24 (24) young
6 failures (6), 3 at the egg stage and 3 early after hatching.
1 nest not used following refurbishment.
17 of the known active territories were in Gateshead. County.Durham held the other two territories in the Causey and Beamish area, with pairs successfully fledging five young (broods of 3 and 2).
RED KITES VICTIM OF HARSH WINTER?
The harshest and most prolonged winter weather for three decades may have affected the breeding success and expansion of the region's re-introduced Red Kite population.
The result was a 'standstill year' with no increase in breeding pairs or fledged young and successful nesting once again confined to the 'core' area around the Derwent Valley, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, and the Causey and Beamish district, just over the County Durham boundary.
There was no indication of a spread into surrounding districts and, for the first time since breeding recommenced after a gap of 170 years, no evidence of nesting within Northumberland although birds were seen regularly in some localities, particularly along the Tyne Valley.
However, the encouraging news was that three pairs of kites succeeded in fledging broods of three young, compared with only one set of 'triplets' in 2010.
One of the broods of three young and their toy seal head
2011 was the second year in which responsibility for monitoring was undertaken by the Friends of Red Kites (FoRK), the organisation made up of former volunteers with the Northern Kites project which released 93 kites from the Chilterns over a three-year period. Ringing, wing-tagging, completing BTO Nest Record Cards and reporting to the Rare Birds Breeding Panel was also undertaken by FoRK.
Early season survey work indicated around 19 active territories, 17 in the re-introduction area and two in the closely adjoining area of County Durham. Disappointingly, no active sites were found in Northumberland or elsewhere in Durham, despite much hard searching by the monitoring teams.
Eighteen pairs produced eggs and of these 12 pairs went on to fledge a total of 24 young. This was very similar to 2010 when 13 pairs fledged 24 young. In our report for 2010 we suggested that was a very good result in view of the severe winter of 2009-10. However, the monitoring team felt that the even harsher and more prolonged freezing conditions which faced the kites last winter may have resulted in the loss of some birds and have left others in a poor state to face the rigours of the breeding season.
During June and July 12 young were ringed and nine, which were sufficiently developed, were wing tagged by Keith Bowey and Ian Kerr and Ken Sanderson. 12 other young were not ringed or tagged because they were too large to handle safely and could have 'jumped,' or were already out of the nests.
The 2011 youngsters were fitted with white tags with black lettering on their right wings with the normal Northern project tag of pink on the left wing. Anyone seeing a tagged kite can report it through the FoRK website,www.friendsofredkites.org.ukor via their county bird recorders.
Six pairs failed during incubation or when they had small chicks. At one of these nest a female died whilst incubating and the body was eventually blown down and recovered. However, because of its condition no cause of death could be established. At the final site, a successful 2010 nest was refurbished and then deserted without eggs being laid.
There was no indication of the cause of the failures which were probably due to natural causes. It is worth mentioning that during 2011 some Peregrine sites in Northumberland failed during to bad weather so our kites may have suffered too. Careful examination of the failed sites showed no evidence of deliberate human interference. However, one was under a well-used footpath and another appeared to suffer regular disturbance from youngsters using a mountain bike route.
Several other pairs displayed and showed some territorial behaviour but no nests were found. During the coming winter, when trees are bare, co-ordinated searches are to be made of the areas involved to check for any nests which were missed so that they can be visited during 2012.
Among the 2011 pairs, both successful and unsuccessful, some birds appeared with new partners, perhaps a sign that others may not have survived the winter.
As in previous years, various odd items of decoration were found at nests, the most unusual being the head of a toy seal in one of the nests containing three chicks.
As in 2010, a rather worrying aspect was that almost all the successful breeding took place in the 'core' re-introduction area with little sign of birds spreading out to colonise new districts, apart from the two pairs in the Causey and Beamish area. This raised fears that as well as winter mortality further illegal persecution could be involved. For example, in west Northumberland where kites bred in earlier years, a total of five poisoning victims have so far been found in areas with game-bird shoots. It appears that area remains a 'black hole' for kites trying to move into otherwise ideal nesting habitats.
The situation led FoRK to organise a series of talks to various organisations in the area culminating in a public event in Hexham in March to launch a
'Think Kite - Act Right' campaign, which resulted in a lot of positive publicity in both the local and regional press and on radio and television.
During the event much information was received from local residents and farmers who believed they had seen kites in the district. One of the monitoring teams spent long hours checking out all of these reports and although they located many pairs of Buzzards no kites were found.
IAN KERR and KEN SANDERSON (on behalf of FoRK)
Core area of Kite Breeding 2011 Map based on Google Earth
Introducing one of this year's chicks - E7
Images courtesy of Roly Ingram
seen here flying with nesting material. They have held a territory in that area for the last four years, successfully raising 6 chicks in that period.
Introducing the triplets of Paddock Hill
Image courtesy of Ken Sanderson
These chicks are well feathered and thriving. Somehow, a toy also found its way into their nest!
The parents are Red Philip, Wing Tag 15, and Swift, Wing Tag 43. This partnership refutes the theory that kites mate for life; they clearly don't, as Red Philip's history shows.
RED PHILIP
Image courtesy of George Francis
Adopted by: St. Philip Neri R.C. Community Primary School, Gateshead
Male/Female: Male
Release Date: 19th July 2004
Key Activities up to July 2009:
Since release, Red Philip has spent most of his time in the lower Derwent valley and Barlow Burn. He was briefly taken into captivity in August 2004, when he was thought to be injured. After examination showed he was fit and well, he was released back to the wild the next day. In spring 2005, he set up a first year territory with WT16, but did not breed. In late May he moved out of the area but was back on 8th July, over Rowlands Gill as 2005's first young kites were released into the Derwent valley. He then disappeared from the area again but returned in September and has stayed locally since. In November 2005, it was noted that his radio transmitter had stopped working but his wing tags have been read indicating his health and presence. In April 2006, it was discovered he had paired up once again with Flag, WT16. They successfully built a nest, laid eggs and, in late May, hatched the first red kite chicks in northeast England for nearly 200 years! One chick was successfully raised and fledged the nest in late July 2006. The young chick has since been named 'Geordie'.
Image courtesy of Ian Forrest
Flag and Red Philip successfully bred again. In spring 2007 they built a nest in the Derwent Walk Country Park, approximately 350 metres northwest of their 2006 nest site. Two chicks were successfully raised which fledged in mid-July 2007. Both chicks have been fitted with wing tags A3 & A4 respectively and leg rings.
Flag and Red Philip bred successfully for a third consecutive year. In spring 2008 they built a new nest in the Derwent Walk Country Park, about 60-70 metres downstream from their 2007 nest. They raised two chicks that have been fitted with leg rings and wing tags B7 and B8 respectively. Both chicks fledged in July 2008. One of Flag and Red Philip's chicks from 2007 bred successfully at one year old! In spring 2008, WTA4 (Farra Flame) was seen displaying with WT71 (Sky Dancer) they went on to build a nest together and had two chicks, one of which was raised to fledging. This chick has been fitted with a leg ring and wing tags B9 and fledged in July 2008. WTA4 therefore made WT15 and WT16 grandparents at the ripe old age of four years old!
SWIFT
Image courtesy of John Bridges
Name: Swift
Wing Tag: 43
Adopted by: Whitemere Community Primary School, Gateshead
Male/Female: Female
Release Date: 16th July 2005
Key Activities up to July 2009:
Since release, Swift has spent the majority of her time in the lower Derwent valley and Barlow Burn. She was seen foraging and feeding at Lintz Hall Farm near Hamsterley Mill in August 2005 and again in March 2006. Her preferred roosts have varied between Barlow and Sherburn Tower Farm at Rowlands Gill. Swift has been regularly seen foraging and feeding in Barlow Burn and lower Derwent valley
She was recorded roosting with WT40 and WT89 during the spring of 2007.
Swift remains in Gateshead.
In spring 2008, Swift was seen displaying with WTA7 in the lower Derwent valley, though they did not nest together. It is believed that Swift paired up with another kite and managed to raise two chicks as she was seen in late July 2008 with two juveniles!
Since early October 2008, Swift has been spending the winter nights at the red kite winter roost near Sherburn Towers housing estate in Rowlands Gill, Gateshead.
Information: Archives
Much of the work is thanks in no small measure to the constant monitoring done by our two Teams and other volunteers, who send in sightings from all over the region.
Catherine Hall of Rowlands Gill sent in this photograph of a juvenile red kite. A female is normally at least two years old before she will mate and have young, but there have been instances where a female has produced eggs at a younger age.
It spends quite a lot of time around her area, especially early in the morning by waking her at 6.30am!
Previous information
Despite the cold weather in February red kites, like most birds of prey, began displaying and defending their territories. Non-breeding kites and maturing juveniles will have paired up in the winter roost and "moved out" to forge territories of their own. As the weather becomes only marginally warmer, male kites will begin refurbishing or building new nests ready for the female to lay her eggs and start incubating in April. Behaviour, too, can be aggressive as the kites prepare for the tiring season of raising young and defending their territories. In this image, shot by Ross Forsyth, a kite is having to defend itself and possible food from an attack by a buzzard.
Our monitoring teams spend a significant amount of time locating these territories and nests. Once a nest, or potential nest has been identified, a close watch is kept and progress reported to our Kite Officer, Ken Sanderson. What is interesting is that some of these nests may be in residential gardens, the kites not seeming to mind routine human activity. What a fantastic experience for those people lucky enough to have these magnificent birds of prey setting up home next door!
The monitoring team would like to thank all those people who report sightings of kites engaged in breeding activity; from these observations we are able to confirm many territories.
One of the first signs is when we see kites carrying nesting material as seen in these three images kindly sent in by Mick Render, one of our Members.
and in this one of B6 by Catherine Hall
The kites carry considerable quantities of material for nest-building. Here we see how large the nest is.
Image courtesy of Dave McCutcheon
Image courtesy of Northern Kites Archive
Where do they nest? As their wingspan is five and a half feet, they cannot easily penetrate dense woodland, so they build their nest in tall trees, in deciduous or evergreen forests.
Image courtesy of Ian Fisher
The effort being put into the breeding season is again being divided up between the Monday team, headed by Ken Sanderson, and the Thursday squad of which I am a member.
For monitoring purposes this season, the area has been divided into two with the main road running up the Derwent Valley through Rowlands Gill. The Monday team are operating in the area on the Gibside Estate side and the Thursday team on the other.
Last year, the Thursday team, Anna, Tim, Alan and myself had the pleasure of watching a pair building the base of their nest in a tall Scots Pine. The remarkable thing about it was that we were watching from the conservatory at the home of an ecstatic couple in Rowlands Gill who just couldn't believe that kites were building at the top of their garden around 25 yards away. If only the rest of us could be so lucky!
At this stage we are simply locating pairs which appear to be holding territories and, of course, looking for the early nests. The work is hard and occasionally frustrating, as with some cases where pairs are present in eminently suitable nesting areas but don't appear to be doing very much about it.
The Monday team has also had some fascinating sights. Although normally very sociable and gregarious birds, Red Kites do on occasions vigorously defend their chosen patches from others. On one occasion last year, the team witnessed a terrific tussle between rival birds at one of the sites in the Barlow Burn which ended with one of the birds being vanquished from the area.
We are very grateful for reports of any possible sightings away from the core area. Please send in via the mailbox, giving as much detail as possible. This is especially relevant for areas in County Durham, in Tynedale and in the north of Northumberland.
We hope that our Hexham Campaign Think Kite- Act Right will encourage Tynedale residents to look out for the kites and act as our Eyes to the Skies so that the kites can breed safely.
In this photograph, Ruby is sitting on her nest, which appears to include rubbish and sheep's wool.
