I knew when I started this challenge that I wanted the first bird to tick off to be one that I had never properly seen before. With that in mind, I packed my bag and set off on the hunt for a Red Kite.
Historically Red Kites have been regarded as a pest. King James II of Scotland decreed that they should be "killed whenever possible" in the 15thC and under Tudor vermin laws a bounty was paid for each bird's carcass.
By the 1870s Red Kites were extinct in England, 1886 in Scotland and the Welsh population saw a steady decrease until the 1930s when only 2 pairs were left in Wales.
As Kites became rarer and rarer their eggs become more and more valuable to illegal collectors, further increasing the decline of these birds and in the 1980s the Red Kite was one of only three globally threatened species in the UK.
In 1986 the RSPB along with what is now Natural England and Scottish Natural Heritage began looking at re-introducing Red Kites to Scotland and England. This began in 1989 with the release of six Swedish bird in north Scotland and four Swedish and one Welsh bird released in Buckinghamshire. The 93rd and final bird was released in 1994 in England
Today there is an estimated 1800 breeding pairs in the UK - around 7% of the global population.
We headed across to Dingwall and then up to the RSPB run Tollie Red Kites where a team of volunteers feed the kites daily. A converted farm building has views across to Easter Ross and the large bay window provides a warm space to watch the Kites from also with an outdoor viewing area.
βAh, could I see a spinney nigh,
A paddock riding in the sky,
Above the oaks, in easy sail,
On stilly wings and forked tailβ
1 done. 99 to go!
