Red kites back in Ireland

This video from Wales is called Feeding time for the red kites, buzzards, ravens, crows and rooks at Gigrin Farm mid Wales. April 2007.

From the BBC:

20 July 2010 Last updated at 06:09 GMT

Red kites flying high in NI skies

After an absence of 200 years, red kites have successfully bred in the forests of Northern Ireland.

This brings to 80 the total number of birds released by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in Northern Ireland.

Altogether five chicks have fledged from four nests across south Down.

Once widespread across Europe, red kites have suffered from persecution, including shooting and poisoning.

News of the breeding success news was announced by the RSPB at the third and final release of the majestic birds in County Down, part of the reintroduction programme.

The RSPB praised the co-operation of farmers and landowners in achieving the conservation milestone.

The birds are now regularly seen across County Down and further afield.

Red kites have been seen as far away as Sligo and County Wicklow.

RSPB director Dr James Robinson said the “homegrown” chicks represented a significant landmark in the reintroduction of the species.

“Their successful hatching and fledging is the realization of a dream to bring back these birds that began more than five years ago,” he said.

‘Fighting chance’

He said that while the start of the kites’ breeding in Northern Ireland boded well for the bird, there was still a long way to go.

“These five new chicks are just the start of this journey. To ensure that our population is sustainable, there needs to be at least 50 breeding pairs,” he said.

“We hope that the support which we have received will continue to give these beautiful birds a fighting chance.”

Tony Cross of the Welsh Kite Trust, which supplied the birds, said the fact that the red kite was once again a breeding bird in Northern Ireland was “a great reward for all the hard work and effort that has been put into re-instating these magnificent birds to their rightful place here”.

Red Kites breed in Ireland for the first time in 200 years: here.

September 2011: Four years after the first red kites were reintroduced to Ireland, the RSPB and Golden Eagle Trust have announced that in 2011, 16 pairs successfully bred to fledge 25 young in Counties Wicklow and Down: here.

October 2010. BirdWatch Ireland, Ireland’s largest conservation charity, welcomes the introduction of new regulations restricting the use of poisons targeting wildlife announced by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Mr. John Gormley, T.D., but claims that more work needs to be done before the countryside is free of poisons that threaten wildlife: here.

Thirty Red Kites released into the wilds of Cumbria: here.

30 more red kites arrive in Lake District: here.

November 2010: The red kites reintroduced into the Lake District by the Forestry Commission are doing well and are spreading out around Cumbria and further afield: here.

April 2011: Most of the red kite chicks released by the Forestry Commission in the Lake District’s Grizedale Forest last summer have survived the harsh winter: here.

Red Kites in Yorkshire – Growth despite poisoning: here.

Red kites soar in population around urban Reading: here.

May 2011: A record number of red kites were spotted during this year’s RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, the latest signal that the bird’s reintroduction programme has been a success.

February 2013. The recent deaths of two White-tailed Eagles in south-west Ireland have once again raised serious concerns over the continuing incidents of illegal poisoning in the country. Despite changes to the legislation in 2010 which effectively banned the use of poison meat baits, this archaic practice is still being carried out by a small minority in the Irish countryside, with devastating effects on wildlife: here.

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