Image courtesy of Helen Olive www.redkites.net
Kite Watch Sunday, 10th July 2011
For the final Kite Watch of 2011 the weather was again kind to us, so we had good numbers of visitors, some who had already been to see us on previous Sundays.
As well as many local people we also had one gentleman from Cheshire and even a lady from New Zealand.
We had a small group of children also visit us and they were all keen to learn more about the kites, and went away with various leaflets and activity sheets.
As for the kites, Swift and Red Philip (the parents) were around in the morning, briefly flying and perching, which usually instigated a lot of calling from the chicks.
This was followed by a quiet lunch period, but then, as predicted last week, we were treated to several great views of both chicks E8 and E9 either doing tentative flights in front of the nest area, or perched where we could ID them.
Landings were still a little precarious at times, and for a short while we actually had both chicks perched side by side and facing in opposite directions on the same branch.
This was a superb and positive finale to this year's Kite Watch, and a big thanks must go to all the Rangers and Volunteers who make this such an enjoyable and successful event.
Marian Williams
And what did our visitors think of their experience on Kite Hill?
Kite Watch Sunday, 3rd July 2011
It was blissfully warm and sunny for the third Kite Watch on Kite Hill.
We had superb views of the red kite parents, Red Philip and Swift, flying around the nest area and witnessed a combat between a buzzard and one of the red kites.
A young visitor tries the Red Kite model for size!
We also saw a sparrowhawk mobbing a red kite which has strayed a bit too near to its nest.
The Gateshead Countryside Ranger and FoRK volunteers were able to inform members of the public about the red kites in the Derwent Valley and, more specifically, about the parents and young in the nest we were watching. We were well equipped with binoculars and telescopes for visitors to use and also had some entertainment packs for young children.
All in all an excellent day and, hopefully, next week, we may even witness the three young kites fledge the nest.
Harold Dobson
Kite Watch Sunday 26th June 2011
The second Kite Watch got off to a slow start Kite wise, although we had several close views of Buzzards throughout the day. Up to eight kites were seen in the far distance over Gibside, but it wasn't until the afternoon that we had closer views of our kites. One kite, having followed the line of the river up stream, was quickly seen off the territory by both parent kites. Later a buzzard following the river again, and carrying food, was belatedly seen off aggressively by one of our kites, briefly giving great views of the size and shape differences between these two birds.
Image courtesy of Tom Melton
It was only towards the very end of Kite Watch that one of the parent birds, having seen off a crow, came and circled low overhead a couple of times.
The weather was much improved from last Sunday, very warm, dry and very breezy. Visitor numbers were up, with one or two people seeing kites for the first time.
Kitewatch - Sunday 19th June 2011
Despite the leaden sky, and it being Fathers' Day, we still had a steady trickle of visitors to the first Kitewatch of the season at Kite Hill in the Derwenthaugh Country Park on Sunday, 19th June.
We had good views of Swift, the female red kite, flying into and out of the nest which was in the wood opposite the viewpoint. On a couple of occasions she conveniently perched above the nest, providing clear views of her wing-tag (43) through the telescopes. The male, Red Philip, appeared on the scene later.
Visitors asked a wide range of questions about red kites; we were happy to answer these, provide information and show, hot from the press, a photo of the three chicks, which had been tagged earlier in the week at the nest. The photo also depicted a toy koala bear's head which had been found in the nest. A number of guests took away our Friends of Red Kites membership leaflet and two even bought our t-shirt.
We encountered a heavy rain shower around midday. The photo shows Vicky, a Gateshead Ranger, coping with the wind and rain.
Other birds seen and heard were: buzzard, chiffchaff, cormorant, green woodpecker, heron, house martin, kestrel, swift, whitethroat, willow tit and willow warbler.
Harold Dobson
Kite Watch Training
Over twenty volunteers turned up for the Kite Watch training session at Thornley Woodlands Centre.
They were all issued with a Volunteer Pack containing Briefing Notes, FoRK Code of Conduct Policy, the Rota and the Commemorative booklet 'The Kite's Tail'.
Sylvia Jones introduced the session, explaining what to expect on Kite Watch, such as being prepared for ANY sort of weather, and also showed everyone some of the items, photos and literature which would be available to show visitors, (especially useful if the kites are keeping a low profile).
Judy Summerson covered our Code of Conduct policy, and also got the volunteers involved in coming up with how to handle various scenarios they might be faced with.
This was a good exercise but also an ice breaker, and got everyone chatting.
Marian Williams covered the Rota, the Briefing Notes, and gave a brief summary of the current breeding situation for this season.
Everyone was friendly and enthusiastic and eager to help.
We're grateful to one of our FoRK Members, Mick Render, for taking the photographs of the Training Event, and to Marian Williams for her account.
So, there will be further opportunities to see red kites in the wild, in the spectacular setting of the Derwent Valley. Do come. We welcome the opportunity to help you find out more about these majestic Birds of Prey, which give so much joy to young and old.
In this series of shots by David Jones, we see a typical take-off by a red kite.